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One Island Grows 80% of the World’s Vanilla

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Re: One Island Grows 80% of the World’s Vanilla

#31

Post by ethanwillis »

makmanalp wrote: post #23

> it's one of the few regions with the right climate that is also poor enough to make laborious hand-pollination affordable It's not like I didn't know that this is how the world works, but this specific case is even more of a slap in the face. It's kinda fucked up to think that in the local specialty store merely a couple pods of vanilla (a few grams each) go for 6-7 dollars, but these folks live in poverty. But mor…

So they're better off if you destroy a local industry?

Instead you should figure out what part of the supply chain is causing the local farmers to not get paid (or maybe theyre the problem and need to pay their laborers more money.). And then campaign against that or make technology to effectively destroy the middle-men. There's plenty more high value products than Vanilla I assure you where the end-workers are living in poverty.

Re: One Island Grows 80% of the World’s Vanilla

#33

Post by reificator »

CLGrimes wrote: post #27
reificator wrote: post #4

Is that really a problem if you can supply the world's needs with 5 plants? One of the older "life hacks" is to put a teaspoon of vanilla extract in the oven to make the house smell better. Speaking from experience: don't use more than that or you will regret it. I couldn't visit their house for a week.

Which 5 plants are you referring to?

> Which 5 plants are you referring to?

It's a cooking joke, because vanilla is incredibly strong.

I said 5 plants because it's the fewest needed to be able to split out 80% without fractions.

Re: One Island Grows 80% of the World’s Vanilla

#34

Post by DiffEq »

makmanalp wrote: post #23

> it's one of the few regions with the right climate that is also poor enough to make laborious hand-pollination affordable It's not like I didn't know that this is how the world works, but this specific case is even more of a slap in the face. It's kinda fucked up to think that in the local specialty store merely a couple pods of vanilla (a few grams each) go for 6-7 dollars, but these folks live in poverty. But mor…

Just because there is cheap labor here does not mean they live in poverty; in fact they do not. The cost and standard of living is much lower so the wage is not as bad as you think. Sure they don't drive BMWs and don't get their coffee at Starbucks or have a $1000 iphone but they are far from living in "poverty"; since the definition of "poverty" is poorly constructed. In any case lets say we accept they live in poverty - the agricultural sales of this product and other such products are all they have to hope for. The main problem is with the years if government/military corruption and strife. If that was rid of the country would be wealthy. By not buying their products you help to worsen the poverty; if you do buy, there is hope that the money will eventually improve things. But if they have no money - things will not be improved and this market will shift elsewhere eventually.

http://www.borgenmagazine.com/why-is-madagascar-poor/

Re: One Island Grows 80% of the World’s Vanilla

#35

Post by techiferous »

ryanworl wrote: post #3

A slightly more up-beat version: A single county in Pennsylvania grows 50% of the mushrooms in the United States. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/this-small-pennsylvania-...

And > 90% of America's wild blueberries come from Washington County, Maine.

Re: One Island Grows 80% of the World’s Vanilla

#36

Post by Retric »

makmanalp wrote: post #23

> it's one of the few regions with the right climate that is also poor enough to make laborious hand-pollination affordable It's not like I didn't know that this is how the world works, but this specific case is even more of a slap in the face. It's kinda fucked up to think that in the local specialty store merely a couple pods of vanilla (a few grams each) go for 6-7 dollars, but these folks live in poverty. But mor…

Madagascar has 2.1% unemployment and ~4.3% GDP growth rate which means doubling every 17 years though reduced by a 2.7% population growth rate.

It's problems are more corruption and political than anything else.

Re: One Island Grows 80% of the World’s Vanilla

#37

Post by ianai »

rch wrote: post #6

Growing your own vanilla isn't difficult, but it requires more greenhouse space than you might imagine. The plant grows like a vine, and it'll need to reach about 20' with multiple points of ground contact before producing pods. (as explained to me by an orchid enthusiast)

How long would it take to go from seed to first pod?

Re: One Island Grows 80% of the World’s Vanilla

#38

Post by Alex3917 »

soperj wrote: post #24
markbnj wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, most natural flavorings have artificial substitutes, but there is a market for the natural products even if nobody could really distinguish them by taste alone.

black lotus flowers would be a natural substitute.

Locust. Black Lotus is a Magic: The Gathering card. :-)

Re: One Island Grows 80% of the World’s Vanilla

#39

Post by metiscus »

hotdog97 wrote: post #7

So, I assume everyone else's first thought after reading this was: Let's build a vanilla flower pollination robot using deep learning to process RGB camera images and help guide the robot actuators. Startup, anyone? Edit: turns out this is, in fact, not a unique thought: "Implementation of Automated Vanilla Pollination Robotic Crane Prototype, 2017": https://sci-hub.tw/https://doi.org/10.1109/SYSOSE.2017.79949... (No…

I think if you could work a blockchain in there somewhere you might have an idea worth funding. ;)

Re: One Island Grows 80% of the World’s Vanilla

#40

Post by rch »

ianai wrote: post #37
rch wrote: post #6

Growing your own vanilla isn't difficult, but it requires more greenhouse space than you might imagine. The plant grows like a vine, and it'll need to reach about 20' with multiple points of ground contact before producing pods. (as explained to me by an orchid enthusiast)

How long would it take to go from seed to first pod?

Probably 3-4 years before meaningful production.
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