"in the altiplano especially, quinoa ( pronounced KEEN-wa or KEE-noo-ah )is still a staple. for millions it is a major source of protein. and its protien is of such high quality that, nutritionally speaking, it often takes the place of meat in the diet. outside the highlands of argentina, boivia, chile, columbia, ecuador, and peru, however, its cultivation is virtually unknown...increased foreign demand for quinoa has not always meant increased production within the andes. (reportedly supply has remained static while prices increased). decision makers throughout the region should ensure that production increases to fill overseas demand, and that poor people get the maximum benefit form quinoa as both a food crop and a cash crop." from "lost crops of the incas: little known plants of the andes with promise for worldwide cultivation"________________________so i'm a little conflicted about growing this grain...it's trendy with celebrity foodies and the argument is indeed that prices have tripled while supplies have remained static and that the peoples of the andean region are suffering because the secret of quinoa's protein is out..."lost crops" came out in 1989 ( at least my copy did )so it has taken a while for it to catch on..if jen aniston eats it can multitudes of "people" readers be far behind? so before i bought seed i researched the supplier to be certain the farmer who grew the quinoa was getting a fair price and i limited my purchase and if this goes well i will be saving seed...the seeds are small and resemble nothing so much as spinach seeds...which is odd because "lost crops" describes the plant as looking like a cross between spinach and sorghum... traditionally it is boiled and used much like rice but can be ground into flour as well..the planting instructions say it likes to be surface sown by broadcast and left uncovered in a "uniformly moist soil"...this will be a bird magnet and i see scads of bird tape...perhaps even a scarecrow...i am trying some out to see if it germinates and what the sprouts look like since i have never grown it before...it is in with the wild potatoes now and those guys are coming along given the fact that it is december in indiana and cold to boot...so i am pleased on one hand and worried about karma on another...my interest in andean crops has always been of an anthropological and ethnobotanical nature...economic botany figure in as well...how to prove that? more as it comes up.
