If it seems that you’ve heard it all before when it comes to food self-sufficiency, don’t doubt yourself; you most likely have. We have been going around in circles rather than moving forward. Hence the cries of progress, the fist-pumping and the back-slapping are all window dressing aimed at giving credence to the myth.
An example presented itself last Friday in the Ministry of Agriculture’s early launch of Agriculture Month—observed in October—with a cook-off competition in its Regent Street compound. The competition itself is an excellent concept, but why is it being presented as new? Those of us old enough to remember would know about similar cook-offs and demonstrations back during the Forbes Burnham administration when attempts were being made to replace wheat flour with local alternatives like rice and cassava.
The calabash was one of the first cultivated plants in the world, grown not primarily for food, but for use as a water container. The bottle gourd may have been carried from Africa to Asia, Europe and the Americas in the course of human migration.
This tough prehistoric stubby looking tree belongs to the family Bignoniaceae and is rarely seen much taller than 15 feet with a leafy canopy that provide a natural shady cool playground for Guyanese children. Continue reading →
Nick Hanauer: Beware, fellow plutocrats, the pitchforks are coming
Published on Aug 12, 2014 – Nick Hanauer is a rich guy, an unrepentant capitalist — and he has something to say to his fellow plutocrats: Wake up! Growing inequality is about to push our societies into conditions resembling pre-revolutionary France. Hear his argument about why a dramatic increase in minimum wage could grow the middle class, deliver economic prosperity … and prevent a revolution. (TED Talk)