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Jackfruit could save millions from starvation

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Re: Jackfruit could save millions from starvation

#71

Post by digi_owl »

giancarlostoro wrote: post #9

I live in Florida, and sometimes as I drive throughout the state and see the hundreds and hundreds (though it may be thousands) of oranges alongside the road I wonder just how many go to waste that could be sent to places in need, and then I wonder if there's other places that do the same... Most of the United States is uninhabited, so I always wonder how much vegetation is just sitting there that could feed others.…

I dunno how it is in the states, but in some nations giving leftovers etc away is a problematic process because of food safety regulations.

Re: Jackfruit could save millions from starvation

#72

Post by digi_owl »

Houshalter wrote: post #68
yardie wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a movie from a decade ago called "Life and Debt." It explores how international loans and aid have actually suppressed the local economies of the countries they tried to help. For example, chicken breast meat is very popular in the western world. Once they remove the white meat where does the rest of it go. What the producers can't sell domestically in the US or Canada they export to developing countries at…

Well of course. Any attempt at helping one person hurts another person. If you give someone a free house, you put a builder out of work. If you give someone free food, you put a farmer out of work. But I don't think it's a zero-sum game. I think the total utility generated by free food is worse than the disutility of the farmer losing his business. Now those people have money to spend on other things that they would…

> Well of course. Any attempt at helping one person hurts another person. If you give someone a free house, you put a builder out of work. If you give someone free food, you put a farmer out of work. I'm not sure i follow. Someone would have had to build something or farm something in the first place for it to be given away.

Re: Jackfruit could save millions from starvation

#73

Post by shas3 »

phaemon wrote: post #63
vivin wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sheer diversity of language and culture in a place that is a third of the size of Europe. India "officially" has 122 languages, but over 780 have been counted. Going from one state to another is like going from one EU country to another; each of the 29 states has a different language, different writing-system, different culture, different cuisine, different traditions, different everything. Of course, there are s…

Fair enough. I realise that the Indian states are very different, much like different EU countries. I don't think the EU has quite as many languages (and dialects) as that, though there are more than many people think. Have a quick look at the list here, for example: http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/saoghal/mion-chanain/en/ Many that previously existed have died out, of course. And as TV and radio became more prevelant, it d…

> Do you see the same thing happening in India, or are they managing to preserve local tradition alongside the mainstream?

It is complex! Some dialects are dying out, but the regions seem to be clustering around the 22 'scheduled languages'. In Karnataka (population ~ 60 million) for example, there are at least 4 dialects of Kannada. With the proliferation of social media, TV, and cinema, two things are happening: (1) the non-majority dialects are losing out to a 'standardized' mean similar to the Wisconsin-mean in the US, (2) paradoxically, non-standard dialects are gaining popularity because of their quirks. This is similar to how Irish dialects are highlighted in movies like Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, In Bruges, etc. giving them more visibility than it would otherwise get. Another analogy is how we all know about Minnesotan 'dialects' and Californian dude-isms from Coen brothers' explorations of these themes.

The primary bulwark against the disappearance of dialects and languages in India is just the largeness of the masses of people who speak these languages. For example, Bhojpuri, a dialect that is different from standardized movie/TV 'Hindi' has tens of millions of speakers.

Somehow standardized languages seem to co-exist with dialects in much of India.

It is nearly impossible that any of the 22 languages will die out in the next few centuries. Even most dialects will survive because of the strength in numbers. (Note, the 22 languages includes Sanskrit, which like Latin and classical Greek has in some sense 'died out'. But the masses never 'spoke' Sanskrit, it was more of a formalized language for literature and administration.)

Edit: By Wisconsin-mean, I mean General American https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_American

Re: Jackfruit could save millions from starvation

#74

Post by danneu »

harichinnan wrote: post #19

Climbing up a jackfruit tree and carefully bringing the fruit down without getting eaten alive by ants is a feat of endurance. Jackfruit trees grow tall and the fruits are heavy, 30+ pounds on average. Also plucking the bulbs out of the fruit is a laborious task. This is truly a fruit of love to be savored from the backyard garden and rarely farmed at a large scale. Also eating too many raw bulbs causes stomach upset…

What makes jackfruit trees such a sight to behold is how much fruit is accessible at waist/shoulder height (along with, of course, its sheer size).

Re: Jackfruit could save millions from starvation

#75

Post by titomc »

I am from the Kerala state in India where this fruit is in abundance. My home has 2 of those big trees.

About the pulled pork reference , I have had pulled pork in Arizona Phoenix where I work now. The unripe jackfruit do not taste like that. Just an "unripe" taste that's all. Unripe fruit has lot of milky sticky liquid oozing from the hives inside the fruit.

In its unripe form , its used for frying , something like potato sticks lookalike. In its ripe form its mixed with beef and made into squishy form. Keralites eat a lot of beef,unlike other states in India. (where beef is banned)

The seeds of the jackfruit , ( a single fruit has hundreds of seeds ) is used to make curry mixed with sour mango and sun dried shrimp. The outer casing of the jackfruit is re purposed as food to the cows. The jackfruit wood is good for carpentry and is used to make door , almirahs , windows in Kerala homes.

Probably the author is just an author. Might not have experience with the real fruit and do not know much about India as is with many western countries.

Re: Jackfruit could save millions from starvation

#76

Post by titomc »

harichinnan wrote: post #19

Climbing up a jackfruit tree and carefully bringing the fruit down without getting eaten alive by ants is a feat of endurance. Jackfruit trees grow tall and the fruits are heavy, 30+ pounds on average. Also plucking the bulbs out of the fruit is a laborious task. This is truly a fruit of love to be savored from the backyard garden and rarely farmed at a large scale. Also eating too many raw bulbs causes stomach upset…

Yes I have personally done it myself in Kerala State India. There is lot of ants which can bite , but not poisonous. Usually when we put up a small smoke fire under the tree , the ants will scram. After reaching a branch , someone will throw a rope up and I tie the rope around the jackfruit and wrap it around a branch sort of acting as a pully system. Once the person in the ground has got a good grip on the rope. I cut the fruit and the person on the ground slowly releases the rope bringing the fruit down slowly.

This is useful especially when the fruit is very ripe as it likely to smash into pieces on impact. The rope trick is employed widely in Kerala to harvest this gigantic fruit from the jackfruit tree.

Re: Jackfruit could save millions from starvation

#77

Post by tsotha »

mfoy_ wrote: post #12
giancarlostoro wrote: post #9

I live in Florida, and sometimes as I drive throughout the state and see the hundreds and hundreds (though it may be thousands) of oranges alongside the road I wonder just how many go to waste that could be sent to places in need, and then I wonder if there's other places that do the same... Most of the United States is uninhabited, so I always wonder how much vegetation is just sitting there that could feed others.…

Forget the ones by the road. Your mind would be blown if you knew how much produce was discarded right out of the gate, even from the farm, simply because it doesn't look quite right.

Years ago I watched a documentary on California oranges. They said the crop was basically divided into thirds by quality, with the first third going to the markets, the second third being juiced for frozen concentrate, and the last third was simply plowed under.

Re: Jackfruit could save millions from starvation

#78

Post by titomc »

danneu wrote: post #74
harichinnan wrote: post #19

Climbing up a jackfruit tree and carefully bringing the fruit down without getting eaten alive by ants is a feat of endurance. Jackfruit trees grow tall and the fruits are heavy, 30+ pounds on average. Also plucking the bulbs out of the fruit is a laborious task. This is truly a fruit of love to be savored from the backyard garden and rarely farmed at a large scale. Also eating too many raw bulbs causes stomach upset…

What makes jackfruit trees such a sight to behold is how much fruit is accessible at waist/shoulder height (along with, of course, its sheer size).

short jackfruit trees might be crossbreeds. The original ones grow very tall. The fruits can be harvested by climbing the tree and making use of rope to bring down the fruit gracefully to the ground.

Re: Jackfruit could save millions from starvation

#79

Post by slyall »

erroneousfunk wrote: post #65
giancarlostoro wrote: post #9

I live in Florida, and sometimes as I drive throughout the state and see the hundreds and hundreds (though it may be thousands) of oranges alongside the road I wonder just how many go to waste that could be sent to places in need, and then I wonder if there's other places that do the same... Most of the United States is uninhabited, so I always wonder how much vegetation is just sitting there that could feed others.…

I think the other commenters have addressed the issue of "giving food the homeless" here, but as far as sending them to other countries... Conveniently enough, I found a guide to orange carton dimensions and weights: http://www.south-africa-fruits.com/citrus-packaging.html So, let's see how much it costs to ship a carton of oranges from, say, Florida to Kenya (they could definitely use some citrus)! Oranges, while a…

You calculations are way off. Start putting in the values of shipping whole refrigerated containers into your calculator.

$3-$10k from just about anywhere to anywhere via sea for a 40 foot reefer. Which works out as virtually nothing per orange.

The oranges you buy in Boston could just as easily come from somewhere else and you'd probably barely notice any price difference.

"Fresh orange imports in 2012 were valued at nearly $107.4 million, an 11 percent increase from 2011. The imports originated mainly in Chile and South Africa" - http://www.agmrc.org/commodities__products/fruits/citrus/cit...

Re: Jackfruit could save millions from starvation

#80

Post by danneu »

titomc wrote: post #78
danneu wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes jackfruit trees such a sight to behold is how much fruit is accessible at waist/shoulder height (along with, of course, its sheer size).

short jackfruit trees might be crossbreeds. The original ones grow very tall. The fruits can be harvested by climbing the tree and making use of rope to bring down the fruit gracefully to the ground.

Interesting. My experience with jackfruit trees has been from the western coast of Mexico, so maybe there's a difference there.

Though a google image search for "jackfruit tree" seems to show the trees I'm familiar with. Not very tall with a good portion of fruit within arm's reach.

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