I must take issue with the phrase "one of the few foods native to North
America" and would like to reciprocate Geoffrey's reference with a reference
to a book that my mother wrote called "The Taste Makers: How New World Foods
came to Old World Kitchens" which describes numerous foods from the Americas
which have made their way to the rest of the world. I believe that she
describes 16 different foods, and while some are from South America, many
are from the north. She did not include the Jerusalem artichoke, and I am
sure that there are other omissions as well. Since my mother, Vicki
Oppenheimer, was an anthropologist, she focussed on foods that had cultural
significance.
Information on the book can be found at http://milpah.silvert.org/tmfinal/
and the entire book can be downloaded there in PDF format for free, although
it is also in print and available for sale. Even for those who are not
foodies, there is some material of ecological interest as well.
Bill Silvert
----- Original Message -----
From: "Henebry, Geoffrey" <geoffrey.hene...@sdstate.edu>
To: "William Silvert" <cien...@silvert.org>; <ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU>
Sent: domingo, 17 de Janeiro de 2010 19:24
Subject: RE: [ECOLOG-L] now I've seen it all - says Orwell
With respect to the biofuels potential of one of the few foods native to
North America, Helianthus tuberosus, let me suggest an entertaining read:
The Great Jerusalem Artichoke Circus: The Buying and Selling of the Rural
American Dream by JA Amato.
Here's the synopsis from the publisher's website
(http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/A/amato_great.html):
In 1981, near the end of America's second post-World War II energy crisis,
and at the onset of the nation's most recent farm crisis, American Energy
Farming Systems began to sell and distribute what it deemed a "providential
plant" destined to be a new and saving crop-the Jerusalem Artichoke. This
volume recounts this story of the bizarre intersection of evangelical
Christianity, a mythical belief in the powers of a new crop, and the
depression of the U.S. farm economy in the 1980s.
Enjoy!
Geoff Henebry
