The Wild Side of Everyday Food

 by Anne Munier

Thousands of years ago, in what is now Mexico, people chewed a wild grass called teosinte, enjoying the sweet juice from the stalks. The plant was short and bushy-looking, with lots of stems going every which way. People didn’t bother much with the seeds, because they were covered by a hard, protective case.

But every once in a while a mutation -- or unexpected slipup in the plant’s genetic structure -- came along, and suddenly some plants appeared without seed casings. This wasn’t great news for the plant -- animals could eat and digest these unprotected seeds, so the plant was less likely to reproduce. It was pretty good news for people though, who got to finally taste the seeds!

Teosinte seed head. Photo credit: Two Row Times

In truth, even the “naked seeds” weren’t anything to get too excited about -- there were only a few per seed head, which were dry and potatoey-tasting. But they were good enough for people to eat, and even to plant a few (perhaps inadvertently at first, when seeds accidentally fell into the soil near people’s home). 

Hard little teosinte seeds. Photo Credit: Two Row Times

These seeds produced more naked-seeded teosinte. Over time, people learned that when they planted the seeds from their favourite plants -- say those with the biggest, juiciest, or sweetest seeds; or those easiest to grind into flour; or those less vulnerable to pest attacks -- many of the next generation’s plants would have these same characteristics. 

Over hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, farmers changed the plant from a bushy wild grass with lots of tiny seed heads, into a tall, straight plant with a few large cobs, each containing hundreds of big seeds. Not only did the plant provide more food, but it was easier to harvest, easier to eat, and, well, it just plain tasted better. In short, about 9000 years ago, these Mexican farmers turned the wild grass teosinte into maize (also called corn), now one of the most important food crops in the world! 

Lots of changes on the journey from teosinte to corn! Check out how large the cob is compared to a coin. Photo credit: Nicole Roger Fuller, National Science Foundation

The process of changing wild plants (and animals!) into domestic ones by choosing the favourite ones to reproduce is called selective breeding. It’s the basis of agriculture! While corn was being domesticated in Mexico, the same process was happening with wheat in the Middle East, bananas in New Guinea, rice in China, and millet in Africa (among so many others). 

Wild relatives of modern potatoes. Photo by L. Salazar

 

A commercially-sold banana beside a wild relative. Photo by A. D'Hont

Carrots still look much like wild carrots, though larger and juicy!

It’s Thanksgiving as I write this, one of many harvest festivals celebrated around the world. As we honour food, family and friends, I think of the special debt of gratitude we owe Indigenous People in all parts of the world who -- over millennia and still today -- learned and shared so much about the local environment, and how we can sustain communities with the gifts of nature.

(Traditional knowledge has many stories for the origin of corn/maize, taro, camas, and other important foods. Some of these stories are shared in books and online resources. Indigenous people keep this traditional knowledge as part of culture, history, and how the world is understood.)

Chicks in the City

By Claire Eamer

I usually live a peaceful, semi-rural life on a small island in the Salish Sea. There are plenty of animals in and around the island, both wild and domestic, but our particular patch of island rarely features anything much bigger than a hummingbird. And, admittedly, the occasional passing raccoon or river otter, but we discourage them. They tend to leave smelly presents behind.

This week, however, I'm in the city - smack in the heart of Victoria, British Columbia. I'm helping out some absent friends by taking care of their chickens. Chickens. Three of them. In the city. Honest!

City chicks Inky, Pinky, and Ponky gobble down a delicious broccoli leaf.
Alan Daley photo.

It appears that urban chickens are not as surprising as I'd thought. In fact, with my new awareness of city chicks, I spotted this article in The Guardian about a fashionable new trend in Britain - chickens as household pets. ("Oh no!" my friend wailed via email. "We're hipsters!")

Now, in fairness to my friend, these chickens don't wander through the house like the ones in the article. Inky, Pinky, and Ponky have their own very pleasant accommodations in the yard, opening into a well-fenced run. They pay the rent with three fine fresh eggs a day, which both sides consider a fair deal.

Getting to know the girls got me curious about chickens in general. I had researched them several years ago for my book about the science and history of food, The World in Your Lunch Box, but I thought I'd take another look. And here's a bit of what I discovered.

Ponky (or perhaps Inky...or Pinky) channeling her
inner dinosaur. Claire Eamer photo.

Domestic chickens are descended from red jungle fowl, a bird species found in southeast Asia. Of course, over millennia of domestication, humans have bred and modified them into a huge variety of colours, shapes and sizes. And just as huge numbers. There are more chickens than any other bird species in the world - and more than there are humans. A 2009 United Nations report estimated that, on average, there are three chickens for every human on Earth.

Chickens aren't the peaceful seed-and-chickenfeed-eaters you might imagine. They'll happily chow down on insects too, as well as small lizards and mice. After all, chickens are the little modern cousins of dinosaurs - and if you look closely, you can see the resemblance.

Chickens' ability to produce eggs reliably and frequently (one a day each from Inky, Pinky, and Ponky) is impressive. That's a lot of energy and chickenfeed going into egg production. Here's a short video that explains how it works and how long each step in the process takes.

Surprisingly (to me, at least), making the shell takes up most of the day - 20 hours out of 24. And then we break the shell and throw it away. Sorry, girls!

If you want to know more, check out this collection of fun facts about chickens from the Smithsonian.

So What DOES The Fox Say, Anyhow?

Sci/Why alum L. E. Carmichael was on TV last week, talking about domesticated foxes and her new book, Fox Talk: How Some Very Special Animals Helped Scientists Understand Communication.

For the real answer to the question, "What does the fox say?" check out this clip:


Lindsey's book is available in soft and hardcover editions from Chapters, Amazon, or your favourite independent. If you're interested in the enhanced ebook, consider buying it direct from the publisher, with a bonus stuffed fox!