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Quinoa should be taking over the world. This is why it isn’t

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Re: Quinoa should be taking over the world. This is why it isn’t

#161

Post by sambe »

marshray wrote: post #94
lukasb wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More typically, farmers produce 10 units, sell 3, and buy another 10 later in the year. Hence any rise in price is a net loss for them.

How did that ever work?

From reading the grandparent:

"subsistence farmers are net consumers of their staple crop. In order to survive, the poor diversify across a variety of agricultural products"

I don't understand the downvotes for the parent. They are growing other products, or have cash from other activities, and use this to buy the staple they can't grow. If price of staple rises and price of other products and services does not, they can't afford to do this. The beneficiaries are large industrial farmers of the staple. Did I miss something?

Re: Quinoa should be taking over the world. This is why it isn’t

#162

Post by geden »

Tloewald wrote: post #126
malandrew wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good question. I've never thought about why there aren't more savory foods out there that use oatmeal. Seems like all the oatmeal-based foods I've seen are sweet.

Don't the Scots eat their oats salted?

This Englishman too. Sweetened oat porridge is for children :)

Re: Quinoa should be taking over the world. This is why it isn’t

#163

Post by dalys »

etler wrote: post #92
scythe wrote: post #80

Quinoa, famous for protein and fiber content, still contains less protein and fiber than, say, oatmeal. It's okay - hyperventilating paleo bloggers have raised concerns about saponins -- but the whole "superfood" frenzy about quinoa is just a tad off base. It's okay, not bad for you, probably better than white rice or processed food, but most of what quinoa has going for it is simply that it is real and unmodified. I…

Oatmeal is very dense. Calorie for Calorie Quinoa has more protein and dietary fiber than oatmeal. 100 calories of Quinoa http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=83+g+quinoa 100 calories of Oatmeal http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=26+g+oatmeal However if you look at the vitamins, oatmeal wins. I also wouldn't call Quinoa a super food, but it does fill a gap left by other grains and is definitely a worthy addition to…

Unfortunately WolframAlpha is a little off on this one. It shows data for cooked quinoa which is very misguiding.

The "correct" macronutrient values with some comparisons:

Quinoa: 368kcal / Protein 14g / Fat 6g / Carbs 64g

Oats: 379/13/6/67

Regular pasta: 360/12/1/72

Couscous: 361/13/1/72

  "Quinoa is a low-calorie, gluten-free, high-protein grain that tastes great." says the author.
It's low-calorie compared to butter maybe, and high-protein compared with a cucumber. But compared with the usual suspect of dinner alternatives like pasta or couscous it's just the same. Just by looking at the macros, there's no need to buy quinoa, especially if it's more expensive than other options. This is of course disregarding that it's gluten free and not looking at the micronutrients.

Re: Quinoa should be taking over the world. This is why it isn’t

#164

Post by anothausa »

sliverstorm wrote: post #147
malandrew wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good question. I've never thought about why there aren't more savory foods out there that use oatmeal. Seems like all the oatmeal-based foods I've seen are sweet.

Rolled oats at least get very mushy when they are edible. They have no body like most other grains do.

I suppose that's because they are rolled. And most likely steamed as well. If you subjected wheat or corn to a similar processing, the outcome would certainly be the same.

Re: Quinoa should be taking over the world. This is why it isn’t

#165

Post by icebraining »

lostlogin wrote: post #122
icebraining wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Should we really try to influence their political choices, even if for what we perceive to be "their own good"?

It hasn't worked very well in the past... However the line needs to be drawn somewhere. Forced sterilization maybe? http://m.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/jun/17...

Would that influence come before or after the US compensates its own victims of forced sterilization?

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WomensHealth/north-carolina-sen...

Re: Quinoa should be taking over the world. This is why it isn’t

#166

Post by VeejayRampay »

mikestew wrote: post #51

"Quinoa is a low-calorie, gluten-free, high-protein grain that tastes great ." (emphasis mine) I'm a vegetarian, high-mileage distance runner who has every reason to enjoy quinoa. "Tastes great" is not one of the reasons I eat it. I choke it down as best I can because it's good for me.

Hello fellow runner :D

In case you've never heard of it, Scott Kurek relased a book called Eat and Run a year ago, it's packed with very nice vegetarian/vegan recipes and a very nice motivator for any runner.

Re: Quinoa should be taking over the world. This is why it isn’t

#167

Post by oyvindeh »

latch wrote: post #108
scythe wrote: post #80

Quinoa, famous for protein and fiber content, still contains less protein and fiber than, say, oatmeal. It's okay - hyperventilating paleo bloggers have raised concerns about saponins -- but the whole "superfood" frenzy about quinoa is just a tad off base. It's okay, not bad for you, probably better than white rice or processed food, but most of what quinoa has going for it is simply that it is real and unmodified. I…

" Probably better than processed food" ? It's gluten free, which is important for some people (a lot if you buy into wheat belly). It's another source of a complete protein, which is important for vegans. Not all popular health foods get converted into crap. There might be unhealthy variants of these, but fruits, vegetables, legumes, fish and soy tend to be popular and healthy. I'd even say that processed foods which…

> It's gluten free, which is important for some people (a lot if you buy into wheat belly).

Gluten is most likely not the problem for most people with digestive problems, although there is a strong belief that gluten is bad.

The most likely reason why many people have problems digesting wheat, is because it contains fructans. Nobody can digest it, but it causes more problems for some than for others, e.g. if you have IBS (which about 1 in 7 people has). Spelt, an ancient variety of wheat, also contains gluten, but has low levels of fructans, and is thus more easily digested.

There is a pretty well-researched diet for people with IBS, called the Low FODMAP (Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides, and Polyols) diet. It tries to reduce the amount of complex carbohydrates (which are not easily digestible) from the diet to a level where they do not cause digestive problems.

Unfortunately, it is not widely known yet, so a lot of people buy into all kinds of wishful thinking (that often comes with a price tag).

Re: Quinoa should be taking over the world. This is why it isn’t

#168

Post by DanBC »

reeses wrote: post #41
DanBC wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But we have no idea what their previous income was, nor how much other sources of food cost. It feels weird that local food is exported as a cash crop, and other food is imported.

This is basic Adam Smith-David Ricardo economics. They can grow quinoa and eat the seeds or export them and import a more diverse diet. Even if other countries can cultivate quinoa, it may make sense for Andeans to export their quinoa and import other foods.

We don't know if they make enough from exporting quinoa to import more diverse food.

Re: Quinoa should be taking over the world. This is why it isn’t

#169

Post by arethuza »

Tloewald wrote: post #126
malandrew wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good question. I've never thought about why there aren't more savory foods out there that use oatmeal. Seems like all the oatmeal-based foods I've seen are sweet.

Don't the Scots eat their oats salted?

Traditionally yes, and oatcakes are pretty common here as well. Bulk produced oatcakes are sometimes sweetened and rather compressed, proper oatcakes aren't sweetened and have a much rougher texture.

Re: Quinoa should be taking over the world. This is why it isn’t

#170

Post by nknighthb »

sambe wrote: post #161
marshray wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did that ever work?

From reading the grandparent: "subsistence farmers are net consumers of their staple crop. In order to survive, the poor diversify across a variety of agricultural products" I don't understand the downvotes for the parent. They are growing other products, or have cash from other activities, and use this to buy the staple they can't grow. If price of staple rises and price of other products and services does not, they…

The part where even if that is true, there are other, cheaper staples. This should be a classic self-correcting problem. The world as a whole has gotten by on staples other than quinoa. Now that the market price of this particular local staple has skyrocketed, it can be sold in exchange for greater quantities of less-expensive staples used elsewhere.

If there is in fact a problem (and I do question its existence), I believe lukasb is looking for it in the wrong place.

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