On 06/12/2014 02:07 PM, Drew Lawson wrote:
In article
Todd writes:
On 06/12/2014 12:46 PM, Drew Lawson wrote:

Remember, this whole subthread started with you saying that we
should stop farming grain, and David asking how you suggest feeding
the 7 billion humans without grain. You have yet to address that
question.

My suggestion is that we cut back on the things that
cause T2 Diabetes and substitute them with safer things.

The things I eat work fine. Do you need a list?
You will find them at any grocery store's produce
section. Some you have to go to specialty stores,
like Mexican Supermarkets.

Sure, a list would be great.

Off the top of my head: tomatoes (love the heirlooms),
avocados, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, asparagus,
broccoli, pruslane, summer squash (zukes), eggplant,
jicama, nopalas, peppers (all kinds), blueberries,
raspberries, boysenberries (if I can find them),
lemons, onions, garlic, shallots. Probably more.

I am trying to grow tomantillos. (I probably misspelled
half of the above.)

List the foods that will take the place of grain in the global food
system. Remember that grain is essentially non-perishable. It can
be shipped on slow-moving ships, and handle long, unrefrigerated,
transit to where the people are.

If you can't do that, then people will starve.

Hi Drew,

Googling that is like googling the word "it". Tons
of hits on how to grow wheat, including in your own
back yard. Not to waste too much time on it, I found
various links. They are not real good, so I wouldn't
spend too much time on them, if at all:

http://www.noble.org/ag/soils/croprotation/
http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Tutorials/Wheat_farming
http://www.organicgrains.ncsu.edu/al...graincrops.htm
http://southwestfarmpress.com/grains...ternative-crop

I am sure there are a lot of others hidden under how to grow wheat,
whose hits are in the hundreds.

We grow onions for seed out here and are starting to
grow garlic. Not sure if it is for seed. You could easily
use that land for something else. Wonderful smell when
you drive by those fields. They could grow wheat too,
but then they'd probably go broke.

Let the market decide what is grown. Wheat allergies
are becoming more of a pain in the ass for a lot of people,
not just celiacs. And they are finding it is not only
the glutin, but wheat in general.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/does-...n-non-celiacs/

Have you ever heard of crop rotation? If only wheat could grow
on that land, how would you rotate? I mainly base my opinion
on just looking over the fruited plains. All kinds of stuff
mixed in with the wheat. Also, sustainable farmers take
these burned out wheat fields and grow lots of other stuff
on them.


I'm happy for you that you like your new diet and lifestyle.
However, that does not address the question.

I think we need to deliberately try to hybridize towards fat
and away from carbs. In the mean time, you can grow all
kinds of other things on land that wheat grows on. Let a
free and open market dictate what.

What are these "all kinds" of food? They need to grow in the same
climates as grain, and handle the same soil types and water
requirements. They also need to produce on average the same
calories/acre as grain. Otherwise, you cannot meet the current
food demand, and people will starve.

The market does not decide what will grow where.

You grow what you can sell. So, I have to disagree
to an extent. There are obvious limitations of
what you can grow where. But very few soils can
only grow one thing. There is no such thing as
soil that can only grow wheat.



In the Philippines, where they are not fat, exercise A LOT,
eat rice, and consequently have a T2 Diabetes problem,
they are trying to transition to a special type of corn.

http://balita.ph/2013/07/29/corn-for...research-prof/

That article says nothing about "a special type of corn," unless
you consider white corn to be special. The article is about switching
from rice to corn.

By the way, I asked, and that variety of corn is not available
in the United States.

Asked who? Which variety?


I researched it months ago. I came up with the type of corn
they wanted to switch to and called a few seed companies.
I think Burpee was one, but I don't recall. Talked to some
very nice people. Sorry for the lack of information. If
you are interesting in growing the stuff, I am sure you
could probably figure it out too.

Burpee's sweet corns taste like candy they are so sweet.
I mean the ones I grew years ago were so, so sweet!
I think most of Burpee's emphasis is on those varieties
(Diabetes be damned).

-T