Some news stuff I've been picking up on and blogging a little about at Right of Assembly and La Vida Locavore.
New Mexico Takes Its Chile Very Seriously. Even the Spelling.
NYT 2/26
Despite an increased demand around the country, chile harvesting in New Mexico has plummeted in the past 20 years. Farmers and suppliers say they are being priced out by cheaper foreign peppers and betrayed by impostors who falsely claim to sell New Mexico chile in restaurants and supermarkets and at roadside stands.
Lying about the origins of one’s chile is considered blasphemy in New Mexico, where the spelling of choice sets the sauce apart from the more common rendering.
And now, a new bill is taking aim at those who fraudulently assert that their chili is grown in New Mexico.
Hatch Chile is unhappy about this. Some of the fraudulent chile (ironically) is from Mexico (also Asia).
However, we will note that laws on pesticide use are not the same in both countries, with Mexico having somewhat looser laws.
It is sad to see that chile production in NM has gone down nearly 75% between 1992 and 2010, though. Last year was rainy, too.
This article notes that Asian chile is sometimes faked as New Mexico chile (even in New Mexico) because it's cheaper. Globalization strikes again!
Genetically Engineered Chile May Ruin Crops, Farmers Say
Albuquerque, Mar 3
“I think the biggest threat right now is the development of genetically engineered chile,” Isaura Andaluz with the Save NM Seeds Coalition said.
The chile being developed would apparently look and taste like naturally grown New Mexican chile.
“We’re looking to develop herbicide-resistant or tolerant varieties that can reduce the industry's reliance on hand labor,” New Mexico State University researcher Dr. Stephen Hanson said.
Half a mil has gone into this project since 2007. Hanson is quoted as dismissing the potential for cross-contamination between "commercial" and "specialty, native seeds," as if they were different species, when in fact most chile species grown commercially are all in Capsicum annuum. "Specialty, native seeds" means nothing in this context. Okay, maybe habaneros won't cross with this GE shit, but what business do they have going around running the risk of infecting anyone's seed stock with Roundup-Ready chile?
Chile does self-pollinate, and via bees...but it's absurd to argue that different varieties of the same species won't cross when grown relatively near each other, especially if all of our pollinators don't die off, and generally we should assume that their survival is a good thing for all of us, no?