Sigh. You might want to think twice about quinoa ...

[Flaxbee]

I love the stuff, but of course, there are always repercussions:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/16/vegans-stomach-unpalatable-truth-quinoa
Can vegans stomach the unpalatable truth about quinoa?

Not long ago, quinoa was just an obscure Peruvian grain you could only buy in wholefood shops. We struggled to pronounce it (it's keen-wa, not qui-no-a), yet it was feted by food lovers as a novel addition to the familiar ranks of couscous and rice. Dieticians clucked over quinoa approvingly because it ticked the low-fat box and fitted in with government healthy eating advice to "base your meals on starchy foods".

Adventurous eaters liked its slightly bitter taste and the little white curls that formed around the grains. Vegans embraced quinoa as a credibly nutritious substitute for meat. Unusual among grains, quinoa has a high protein content (between 14%-18%), and it contains all those pesky, yet essential, amino acids needed for good health that can prove so elusive to vegetarians who prefer not to pop food supplements.

Sales took off. Quinoa was, in marketing speak, the "miracle grain of the Andes", a healthy, right-on, ethical addition to the meat avoider's larder (no dead animals, just a crop that doesn't feel pain). Consequently, the price shot up – it has tripled since 2006 – with more rarified black, red and "royal" types commanding particularly handsome premiums.

But there is an unpalatable truth to face for those of us with a bag of quinoa in the larder. The appetite of countries such as ours for this grain has pushed up prices to such an extent that poorer people in Peru and Bolivia, for whom it was once a nourishing staple food, can no longer afford to eat it. Imported junk food is cheaper. In Lima, quinoa now costs more than chicken. Outside the cities, and fuelled by overseas demand, the pressure is on to turn land that once produced a portfolio of diverse crops into quinoa monoculture.

[cbayer]

1. I'm glad I can't stand the stuff - one less thing I have to feel guilty about.

I saw a documentary about bananas that said the same thing. If we prize the staples that poor people survive on in under-developed countries, we may inadvertently harm them.

[Warpy]

2. I never ate it while I was eating wheat

not even when I was a veg head. I thought it was like eating a mouthful of fleas, the texture is really weird.

Now I'll eat the hulled stuff in summer as a sub for bulgur wheat in tabouli. It's OK that way. It would probably be OK in most salads, although it's something I won't seek out, thanks.

The food fad will eventually collapse and they'll be on to some other miracle food. I've already been through the spirulina, Jerusalem artichoke and amaranth crazes. This one will eventually fade away, too.

My starch staples these days are rice, corn and potato. I also use sorghum and tapioca when necessary. Quinoa doesn't appear on my radar except for the two big bowls of tabouli during the hottest part of the summer.,

[freshwest]

3. Boycotting quinoa or asparagus as mentioned at the link, is not the solution. The solution is ending

the system of cash cropping, land reform.

Those who grow and sell quinoa should be selling it cheaper to their neighbors who don't grow it, but there's the profit factor. Or rather, the ownership factor. Those who own the land aren't starving.

The only thing being taken into account is the money for the owners, and not the general good. If Ameicans quit eating either of these products, another one would be found for the insatiable greed of the wealthy in those countries. I don't eat quinoa; aparagus isn't worth the expense for me, but this isn't about Americans or other first worlders ripping these people off until one believes it's all first world and their are no beneficiaries to this grossly unfair, unsustainable way of agriculture.

First world wealth does play a large role, no doubt about it. It's not just these crops, but corn for ethanol, timber, mining and other corporate enterprises that are starving people amd destroying the environment.

Bethel is buying up water supplies and people are doing without. Mexican and Central American landowners divert water for resorts and golf courses for the rich and powerful. They take water that people depended on for thousands of years in rivers, as well as the ecosystem as a whole.

It's sick, but Asian buyers of food stuffs are also imbalancing the food chain in other areas. They have to do so or they will starve, so it's not just a first world problem. What can we do?

I'm not sure, but democratization and support of labor and land reform are the only things I see possible. But so many people have sold out to big business, or in their case, landed oligarchs, where does one begin to right this wrong?

But thanks for the article, it's always something to think about. We need to focus on local producers if we can, to take the pressure off other markets. There have been partnerships that were thought to be helping people, like fair trade produce, but there are complaints about that, too.

[MADem]

4. Eat local as much as possible. That's what I always say.

I mean, hell, don't go back to the 1800s, necessarily, but if the bulk of your food is locally produced, you're not screwing with the world too much. When one thinks about the cost of transporting all that quinoa (I can't stand the stuff either--keep it, Peruvians) it's just an environmentally unsound meal.

I guess that crap can't be grown anywhere in the USA, is that the problem?

It's fine to have the occasional Swiss chocolate, or those figs from Iraq, but someone who is eating stuff from afar as a dietary staple every day is polluting the world. Perhaps people ought to be mocked for being environmental pigs instead of being lauded as trendy if they indulge in too much stuff from afar. They should not be made to feel like elites, but instead be made to feel like energy hogs.

[supernova]

5. I like quinoa but I've given up grains

and cereals period, in favor of low-carb nutrition. I do better on that overall. I think the concept of us of European ancestry backing off it in favor of those to whom quinoa is a cultural staple is a good one.

I'm in a business incubator class now. The incubator is for people starting their own food businesses. One of my classmates is a Latina who is also gluten intolerant. She makes traditional tamales and other staple foods out of quinoa, rather than corn. They are delicious.

[HappyMe]

6. The Peruvians can have my share.

I don't like it at all.

[TheManInTheMac]

7. I like the taste of the stuff, but--call me oddball--something about the little tails freak me out.

[SoapBox]

8. Thanks for posting...interesting.

And that even QVC (the TV shopping channel) is helping with driving up that price!

They are having a Quinoa recipe contest...submit your Quinoa recipe, they will select what they think is the best and then
on one of the shows, they will make it on air.

*rolling eyes*