October 2024 - Collab - lists.millets2023.space

GSA Global Millets Expo, Purdue University, 8-9 Nov. 2024
by Don Osborn 05 Nov '24

05 Nov '24

Just came across a webpage for this event - GSA Global Millets Expo, at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, on 8=9 November. (in 2 months' time): https://ag.purdue.edu/events/department/foodsci/2024/11/gsa-global-millets-… GSA probably stands for Graduate Students Association. The event page is under the Department of Food Science (of the College of Agriculture at Purdue). A forward link to registration is apparently forthcoming. The description on the webpage:(copied below) does not include any details about the program "Welcome to the Global Millets Expo at Purdue University, a premier event uniting government bodies, universities and key stakeholders from around the world to elevate the global presence and availability of millet, a group of ancient grains with deep roots in African and Asian agriculture. These small-seeded grasses are not only highly nutritious but also incredibly resilient, thriving in harsh climates with minimal water compared to traditional staples like wheat and rice. As the world faces growing challenges in food security, sustainable agriculture, and malnutrition, millets offer a promising solution. This expo aims to harness the rising global interest in these climate-resilient and gluten-free grains, particularly in regions like the United States, where millet has been underutilized. Join us in exploring the immense potential of millet to revolutionize agriculture and contribute to a more sustainable and secure food future." Does anyone know more about this? Or have contacts at Purdue - Food Science who might be able to provide more info? Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance

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Article in Mother Jones
by Don Osborn 21 Oct '24

21 Oct '24

A very nice article spotlighting millets is featured in the Nov.-Dec. 2024 issue of Mother Jones. Entitled “Against the Grain: What to Eat When the World Dries Up: It’s time to pay attention to foods that will thrive as the climate changes,” and written by Miranda Lipton, it features quotes by Amrita Hazra (The Millet Project), Chef Pierre Thiam (Yolélé), and NAMA co-founder, Jonathon Landeck. https://www.motherjones.com/food/2024/10/millet-fonio-drought-climate-chang… DO, EL, MI, US NAMA

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Two videos on kodo millet
by Don Osborn 20 Oct '24

20 Oct '24

Here are links to a couple of short videos on kodo millet. Both are from India: "Domestication of Kodo millet (Paspalum)," Genomics Lab, 20 Nov. 2020 (5:41) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBJEMF5TcDc (This is fast paced with some very basic info and some more advanced. Pay attention! From info given at the end, it seems to have been produced for a class.) "All That You Need To Know About Kodo Millet | Dr Sarala," Millet Magic, 21 Feb. 2021 (9:15) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmC7qy-98Vc (This video also has info on the historical background of kodo, the growing of this crop, preparation for cooking, and then much discussion of purported health benefits. This could easily have been a podcast instead, as the video itself is mostly just the presenter talking.) Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance

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Suppliers & buyers of millets (expandable spreadsheet)
by Don Osborn 20 Oct '24

20 Oct '24

Attached is an Excel spreadsheet with information on outfits involved with proso millet in wholesale. These apparently include everything from farmer coop grain elevators to seed suppliers to import/export outfits. It is modified in format from a one-page document Joni shared a couple of weeks ago, and includes additional info such as websites, and an attempt to characterize the nature of the various organizations (right hand columns). It turns out that the info on the sheet Joni shared was already online in an earlier version (dated 03/02/2020) at https://ag.colorado.gov/sites/ag/files/documents/Colorado%20Millet%20Suppli… . This spreadsheet version is a draft, and most importantly, it is intended to be something that we can expand, if there is interest in so doing. I am not aware of any existing directory of organizations working with millets from harvest through trade to processing and marketing. A spreadsheet of course has the versatility to be converted to a database on the one hand, or dropped in part or whole into text documents as a table(s) on the other hand. Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance

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Joanna Kane-Potaka on the Regenerative by Design podcast (10/10/24)
by Don Osborn 19 Oct '24

19 Oct '24

Joni, I hope you won't mind my posting about your recent Regenerative by Design Podcast episode in which you interviewed Joanna Kane-Potaka. Entitled "Unlocking the Power of Millets in Regenerative Agriculture with Joanna Kane-Potaka" (10 Oct. 2024; 45 min), I'd highly recommend it for anyone interested in millets: * (Apple) https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/unlocking-the-power-of-millets-in/id1… * (Regenerative by Design homepage, which has links to other podcast platforms) https://www.regenbydesign.info/ As most of the readers of Collab know, Joanna is an international strategic marketing expert and smarter foods evangelist. She has recently served as Deputy Director General for Strategy, Engagement, and Impact at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and before that as Assistant Director General for External Relations at the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). She also serves as executive director of the Choosing Smarter Foods initiative. The podcast interview is a lively and wide-ranging conversation between two women with notable expertise on millets and crop/food diversity, globally and in North America. Topics covered include, for example: * Joanna's background * Some of the back story to India's proposal for the International Year of Millets (2023) * marketing of millets - successes & challenges * the "smarter foods" concept and importance of staples * processing capacity as a limitation on bringing millets to market * nutritional variation among millets, and need for research on this * farmer interest in millets and crop diversity generally * adaptation of various millets to diverse agro-ecologies, and again, need for research on this * the crop research cycle, which has tended to favor development of a small number of major cereal crops * prospects for the future On the topic of smart(er) foods (good for health, good for farmers, and good for the environment), you may also be interested in a statement on the occasion of World Food Day (10/16) by Joanna and Dr. Raj Kumar Bhandari. It's entitled "How we can progress towards smarter food systems": https://www.governancenow.com/views/columns/how-we-can-progress-towards-sma… Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance

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Kodo millet as a promising forage crop, 1895
by Don Osborn 18 Oct '24

18 Oct '24

Kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum), also known as ricegrass paspalum, is our millet-of-the-month. It is both a crop, notably in India, where its grains are used for food, and a weed, actually considered noxious in some locations in the US and elsewhere. For historical interest, here's mention of kodo as a promising forage crop in 1895. This item was apparently syndicated and run verbatim in a number of local newspapers beginning in early 1895 until 1897. The below is the earliest I saw: "Experiments conducted at the Alabama Experiment Station with Ragi millet, Eleusine coracana, and Kodo millet, a species of Paspallum, both obtained from the Madras Presidency, seem to prove that these plants will make good pasture crops for cows and other stock, and also be profitable hay-producing plants in the Southern States." ("Notes," Dowagiac Times [Michigan], 21 Feb. 1895, page 3 https://www.newspapers.com/image/1095765279/?match=1&terms=%22kodo%20millet… A more complete search would use other terms for the plant, but it is also interesting that this appears to be the earliest use of the term "kodo millet" in English language press in North America. There are not many other mentions that I find via Newspapers.com. The most recent is from 2016, and mentions a presentation on millets our friend and colleague Prof. Dipak Santra, in July of that year: "July 21 seminar to cover millets, India," Star-Herald / Farm & Ranch, 17 July 2016, page 29 https://www.newspapers.com/image/989992896/?match=1&terms=%22kodo%20millet%… Returning to the syndicated 1895 item, I do not know its source. Also, it appears to be the earliest reference to finger millet using the name "ragi." Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance

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Re: [Collab] Collab Digest, Vol 33, Issue 1
by gww374＠gmail.com 13 Oct '24

13 Oct '24

Yes, the Taiwan repatriation does seem similar to reintroducing proso to Mongolia and Turkey, except I sent varieties developed by Nebraska, which may, or may not have had ancestral lines from early 20th-century Asia…..Gary Sent from my iPhone > On Oct 7, 2024, at 6:01 AM, collab-request(a)lists.millets2023.space wrote: > > Send Collab mailing list submissions to > collab(a)lists.millets2023.space > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://lists.millets2023.space/mailman/listinfo/collab > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > collab-request(a)lists.millets2023.space > > You can reach the person managing the list at > collab-owner(a)lists.millets2023.space > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Collab digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Shade tolerance in millets (example of foxtail millet) > (Don Osborn) > 2. Re: Shade tolerance in millets (example of foxtail millet) > (Joni Kindwall-Moore) > 3. Millet culture & cuisine in Taiwan, & repatriation of foxtail > millet (Don Osborn) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sun, 6 Oct 2024 10:37:13 -0400 > From: Don Osborn <don(a)milletsalliance.org> > To: collab(a)lists.millets2023.space > Subject: [Collab] Shade tolerance in millets (example of foxtail > millet) > Message-ID: > <CA+RHibW+FAfhk5_h3insRvVyUG_ixip-E1EnYKx9M0MeXd0msQ(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" > > In a recent posting about browntop millet, I noted a mention of that > millet's apparent shade tolerance.* This trait is not something I've seen > discussed for any grain before - and my assumption was that one always grew > grains in full sunlight. > > Well, I have since come across this study of shade tolerance in foxtail > millet, where it is grown in an agroforestry system with Chinese chestnut: > Liu Dan, Cui Yanjiao, Zhao Zilong, Zhang Jing, Li Suying and Liu Zhengli. > 2022. "Transcriptome analysis and mining of genes related to shade > tolerance in foxtail millet (Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.)." Royal > Society Open Science. 9:220953 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.220953 > > Is this a trait that appears in millets other than browntop and foxtail? > > > Don Osborn, PhD > (East Lansing, MI, US) > North American Millets Alliance > > Note: > * > https://lists.millets2023.space/pipermail/collab/2024-September/000648.html >

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Food Tank on millets
by Don Osborn 13 Oct '24

13 Oct '24

There are various food and ag focused US-based food and agriculture policy organizations. One prominent one - Food Tank - has on its website - https://foodtank.com/ - various articles on or relating to millets. Most of these are a few years old, but still of interest. For example: MILLET(S) * "Millets and Sorghum: Forgotten Foods for the Future," by Madelyn Vital (April 2018) https://foodtank.com/news/2018/04/icrisat-millets-sorghum-forgotten-foods-f… Nice overview article including quotes from friend of NAMA, Joanna Kane-Potaka, who was then with ICRISAT as Director of Strategic Marketing and Communication. For lists of articles tagged "millet" or "millets" (there is some overlap of the two), see: - "millet" (9 articles, 2018-2023) https://foodtank.com/news/tag/millet/ - "millets" (12 articles, 2018-2023) https://foodtank.com/news/tag/millets/ SORGHUM * "Op-Ed | Flour Power: The Strength and Sustainability of Sorghum," by Angela Garbacz (Nov. 2023) https://foodtank.com/news/2023/11/op-ed-flour-power-the-strength-and-sustai… A pastry shop owner in Nebraska who uses sorghum flour writes of its qualities and the importance of crop diversity and cover crops. She sees a role for chefsto "steer the conversation, as well as farmers' practices, toward regenerative agriculture..." For a list of 11 articles tagged sorghum (2017-2023), see https://foodtank.com/news/tag/sorghum/ FONIO * "The Small Seed Changing West Africa," Food Tank (April 2018) https://foodtank.com/news/2018/04/philip-teverow-fonion-seed-africa/ This is an interview by Katherine Walla of Philip Teverow, co-founder of Yolélé (with Pierre Thiam). Philip Teverow gives some background on fonio, the founding of Yolélé, and the considerations that went into developing the business. Also some discussion of future considerations (still valid today). I'd read this article in tandem with James Courtright's feature article, "The Fonio Revival" (Roads & Kingdoms / Slate Magazine, 26 Nov. 2017), which sheds light on what was happening with fonio in West Africa that prepared the way for Yolélé and other exporters of fonio. https://roadsandkingdoms.com/2017/the-fonio-revival/ Back to Food Tank, for a list of 5 pieces tagged fonio (2014-2023), see https://foodtank.com/news/tag/fonio/ TEFF * "Opinion | Can a 200 Year Old Farm Pivot from Cash Crops to Ancient Grains?" by Claire Smith (April 2019) https://foodtank.com/news/2019/04/opinion-can-a-200-year-old-farm-pivot-fro… As has been mentioned on this list previously, Claire is the founder of Teffola, and her family farm in Michigan produces teff, largely for Teffola products. This article is her story about that business. (This is the only item tagged teff on the Food Tank site) Claire's article is apparently the only one tagged "teff," but a Google advanced search turned up another, general, article about teff on the Food Tank site: * "Indigenous Crop: Teff- Ancient Crop with Modern Potential," by Brett Aronson (Feb. 2014) https://foodtank.com/news/2014/02/indigenous-crop-ancient-crop-with-modern-… For more background on Food Tank, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_Tank Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance

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Millet(s) identification: What is in these 2 packages?
by Don Osborn 12 Oct '24

12 Oct '24

Attached is a photo of a pair of clear packages of millet(s), side-by-side. The main language on the packages is Chinese, and since these are intended for market in the US, there is also some English. These were seen recently on the shelves of a local store specializing in Chinese and other international foods. Here are two questions about the packages, for which you will not need to read Chinese (and the English text won't help): 1. Which millet or millets appear to be in the packages? 2. Do the grains in the two packages look the same or different? After a while, I'll offer my take, but wanted to get your expert opinions, as best as you can tell from what is provided. I can forward the full-sized image (20 MB) offlist to anyone who wants to zoom in. TIA, Don Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance

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Millet culture & cuisine in Taiwan, & repatriation of foxtail millet
by Don Osborn 06 Oct '24

06 Oct '24

Here are two items on millets in Taiwan - a survey article on the subject, which mentions six millets and how they are used, and a video on "repatriation" of varieties of foxtail millet originally from Taiwan (thanks to David Brenner for sharing the latter). THE ARTICLE & ABSTRACT Takei, Emiko. (2013). Millet Culture and Indigenous Cuisine in Taiwan. Proceedings of the 2013 International Conference on Chinese Food Culture. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267747587_Millet_Culture_and_Indig… "Millets (small grain crops) have been important in many ways for Taiwanese indigenous people. They have served as staple foods along with upland rice, taro, and sweet potato. Historically, millets had a higher status in rituals than rice. Recently, foxtail millet has become a symbolic food for Taiwanese indigenous people in most regions of Taiwan. Botanically, millets in Taiwan include introduced and endemic species. Five species, foxtail millet小米 (Setaria italica), sorghum 蜀黍 (Sorghum bicolor), common millet 黍 (Panicum miliaceum), finger millet 穇子 (Eleusine coracana), and Job’s tears 薏苡 (Coix lacryma-jobi subsp. ma-yuen) are thought to be introduced. Taiwan oil millet 台湾油芒 (Spodiopogon formosanus = Eccoilopus formosanus) appears to be an endemic domesticate in Taiwan. This little known millet was confused with other cereal crops for almost a century since it was first botanically identified. The main uses of millets are for food (starch), alcohol production and fermentation with meat and fish (which can then be stored). Glutinous varieties of foxtail millet, common millet and sorghum are used for making sticky cakes (pounded or steamed). Although some community leaders have tried to promote foxtail millet cultivation, most local varieties have already disappeared, and other millet species (especially finger millet and oil millet) are endangered. To help preserve millets and millet culture, the conservation of genetic resources and further documentation of folk knowledge are desired." THE VIDEO "Diverse millet seeds are brought home to Taiwan after 30 years," Taiwan News Formosa TV, 23 Oct. 2022 (11:17) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyx13QCKk1M "Thirty years ago, an American researcher brought millet seeds from Taiwan to a food bank in the U.S. Now, Taiwanese researcher Kuo Hua-jen has brought those seeds back home as part of the efforts to ensure a diverse food supply. The seeds’ return was met with great fanfare, but there is concern that excitement could fizzle out, since millet is not a lucrative crop in Taiwan, and there is little motivation to grow it. Kuo and others hope to find ways to add value to the crop, to ensure it survives." The actual repatriation happened in 2011: https://grin-u.org/diverse-millet-seeds-are-brought-home-to-taiwan-after-30… The American researcher in question was Dr. Wayne H. Fogg: https://www.registerguard.com/obituaries/p0171729 (This dynamic of bringing back varieties of a millet reminds of Gary's experience taking proso millet varieties from the US back to Mongolia and Turkey.) Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance

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