Hitting the Books: 'Miracle Rice' fed China's revolution but endangered its crop diversity

Feeding the planet's 8 billion people is challenge enough and our current industrialized commercial practices are causing such ecological damage that we may soon find ourselves hard-pressed to feed any more. For decades, scientists have sought out higher yields and faster growth at the expense of genetic diversity and disease — just look at what we've done to the humble banana. Now, finally, researchers are working to revitalize landrace and heirloom crop varieties, using their unique, and largely forgotten, genetic diversity to reimagine global agriculture. In his new book, Eating to Extinction: The World's Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them, BBC food journalist Dan Saladino scours the planet in search of animals, vegetables and legumes most at-risk of extinction, documenting their origins and declines, as well as the efforts being made to preserve and restore them. In the excerpt below, Saladino takes a look at all-important rice, the cereal that serves as a staple crop for more than 3.5 billion people around the world.Farrar, Straus and Giroux publishingExcerpted from Eating to Extinction: The World's Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them by Dan Saladino. Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Copyright © 2021 by Dan Saladino. All rights reserved.Whereas the global Green Revolution was largely steered by American science and finance, China’s push for greater food production was more self-contained. Both efforts happened more or less in parallel. Mao’s... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2022-02-05 16:30:43 UTC ]
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Hitting the Books: 'Miracle Rice' fed China's revolution but endangered its crop diversity

Feeding the planet's 8 billion people is challenge enough and our current industrialized commercial practices are causing such ecological damage that we may soon find ourselves hard-pressed to feed any more. For decades, scientists have sought out higher yields and faster growth at the expense... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-02-05 16:30:43 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book written


Hitting the Books: Sputnik's radio tech launched a revolution in bird migration research

"Birds fly South for the winter and North for the summer," has historically proven to be only slightly less reliable a maxim than the sun always rising in the East and setting in the West. Humanity has been fascinated by the comings and goings of our avian neighbors for millennia, but the why's... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-04-02 14:30:53 UTC ]
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China crackdown on Apple store hits holy book apps, Audible

Amazon’s audiobook service Audible and phone apps for reading the holy books of Islam and Christianity have disappeared from the Apple store in mainland China Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2021-10-15 21:01:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #phone apps #apple store #mainland china #audiobook


Children's Books in China 2018: Top 10 Children's Books in China - A Quick Market Analysis

The two biggest online book retailers in China are Dangdang and JD, which combined take up nearly two-thirds of the market. However, despite serving the same readership, their top 10 bestseller lists tend to differ greatly. Interestingly enough, for 2017, their charts share not even one title. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children's Books in China 2018: The Continuing Story of the Children’s Book Market in China

Eleven years ago, in 2007, China Children’s Press & Publication Group (CCPPG) participated in the Bologna Book Fair for the first time. Their booth in Hall 29 was small, shabby, and minimally decorated and very few visitors dropped by. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children's Books in China 2018: Promoting Wordless Picture Books in China

“The more words, the better” is a general truism of the Chinese children’s book market. Chinese parents and educators always want more words for children to learn and more paragraphs to relay additional information. A book’s value often is tied to the quantity of text on its pages. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #chinese children #book market


Children's Books in China 2017: An Overview of the Children’s Book Market in China

Though describing the massive Chinese children’s book market is as easy as A, B, C (amazing, booming, crowded), explaining the forces behind its growth may take more than 1, 2, 3—but that is still a very good way to start. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scholastic Offers Option to Exclude Diverse Books from Book Fairs

Scholastic has separated out LGBTQ books and BIPOC books into an optional add-on box in a policy some are calling a "bigot button." Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-10-16 14:39:10 UTC ]
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Hachette Book Group Saw Diversity Gains in Staff, Book Acquisitions in 2020

BIPOC employees represented 47.8% of new hires by the Hachette Book Group in 2020, and the percentage of titles acquired from BIPOC authors and illustrators increased to 29%, from 22%. CEO Michael Pietsch acknowledged that despite the improvement, much more work needs to be done. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-05-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Children’s Books in China 2019: Thinkingdom Children’s Books

For Thinkingdom Children’s Books, the main goal in creating its first series of original children’s picture books goes beyond “helping every kid to become a book lover,” which has been the company’s motto since 2003. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children’s Books in China 2019: The Chinese Children’s Book Market Is Still on a Roll

The oft-quoted numbers remain as compelling as ever: 370 million people under the age of 18, an additional 17.5 million babies born annually, and at least 600 active publishers in the children’s book industry. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #chinese children #book market #book industry


Children’s Books in China 2019: Everafter Books Publishing House

A great deal of investment, not to mention a wide network of contacts and plenty of chutzpah, was required to launch 'Within Pictures and Beyond Texts,' a quarterly publication that is the first of its kind in China. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children’s Books in China 2019: China Children’s Press & Publication Group

Nurturing homegrown talent and publishing outstanding original works are the main goals at China Children’s Press & Publication Group (CCPPG) this year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children’s Books in China 2019: Beijing Dandelion Children’s Book House

With the 12th anniversary of Beijing Dandelion Children’s Book House just around the corner, founder and editor-in-chief Sally Yan has embarked on a personal project to reread and reexamine her company’s bestsellers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children’s Books in China 2019: The Blooming Interest in Books About Plants

While the pop-science segment remains as popular (pun intended) as ever in China, there has been a noticeable increase in the publication of titles related to plants. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children’s Books in China 2019: A Showcase of New Original Works from China

Creating books for little people who have just started crawling and saying their first words or for older ones who are too preoccupied with schoolwork to read is hardly child’s play. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children’s Books in China 2019: China Welfare Institute Publishing House

Putting a new spin on ordinary stories—about annual festivals, childhood rituals, and traditional games and snacks, for instance—to appeal to a new generation of readers keeps the China Welfare Institute Publishing House (CWIPH) busy. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PRH Bolsters We Need Diverse Books for Banned Books Week

Penguin Random House has partnered with the publishing diversity group on a social media campaign as a part of its support for Banned Books Week, held this year September 23-29. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-09-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Interview: Beijing Book Fair Director Liying Lin on China’s Book Market

Disagreeing with assessments of a slowdown in the Chinese book market, the Beijing International Book Fair director says she's seeing 'real energy in the sector. The post Interview: Beijing Book Fair Director Liying Lin on China’s Book Market appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BookCon 2018: We Need Diverse Books: Beyond Diversity 101

We Need Diverse Books has grown alongside BookCon, working for greater inclusiveness in publishing. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-06-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #diverse books