Food education begins with varieties or The story of Sieglinde, Till and Roger
by Hans Wieland
Food Education is on the agenda for many people and organisations like chef, author and writer Darina Allen, GROW HQ and GIY, the Irish Food Writers Guild, chef JP McMahon and Food on the Edge, SEED (a national network of organic education centres) and many more. Food education is part of school life for many children, pupils, teachers and parents of schools with a school garden. I believe home economics and SPHE is not enough, we need a school garden in every school as an outdoor classroom for food education as a national curriculum. This is a matter of politics and in the absence of politicians taking responsibilities at present it is mostly chefs, growers and farmers who highlight the subject.
Food education starts in a garden
Well mine did. I grew up with Sieglinde and as much as she looked after me I looked after her. I think I loved her, at least for a while, before I forgot her and re-discovered her later in life. Nobody exactly knew her age, but officially she was born in 1935 and in 1965 achieved free citizenship. As a teenager I had to dig her up before my mother could turn her into the most delicious “Kartoffelsalat” ever.
You see Sieglinde is a potato and not just any potato, she is the oldest registered potato variety in Germany and only 2 years ago was crowned “Potato of the year”. I will never forget her, because my parents talked about her all the time.
Varieties do matter
Why should we talk more about varieties, you might ask. Well it is one of the basic ingredients for developing a true (new) food culture in Ireland. Varieties do matter, because they give us choice, independence and power, they adapt to different conditions of soil, season, weather and climate, they taste different if we eat them, their nutritional value benefits our health more or less and in politics they are certainly good for biodiversity.
We actually do talk about varieties when we like them. My “Sieglinde” could be your “Kerrs Pink” or some ones “Red Duke of York”. My favourite tomato Rotkaeppchen could be your Sungold or some ones Gardeners Delight. Some varieties are already ‘household names’ for the right or the wrong reasons, but I think the best varieties must become ‘household names.
The story of Till and Roger
Which brings me to Till and Roger my travel companions on many talks throughout the country in 2012. Till looked at me from the seed box early in the year just when I wanted to open the packet of Cerbiatta and said “Hans, this is the year of the Dragon, please give me a chance.” So I did and in a moment of weakness even allowed him to bring his friend Roger along. And this guy, as I discovered pretty soon (50 days later exactly) has superior taste compared to Kamalia and many red butterhead types I had eaten before.
My crusade for championing new lettuce varieties was already under way when I got some wise advise from one of my heroes, Joy Larkcom, who said: “Just another thought on varieties and the purpose behind selection: Organic growers really do need to go for disease resistance and robustness to overcome weed competition”. So she brought me back to one of my wife Gaby’s favourite, Tom Thumb, an early maturing butterhead with a good tight heart and Lobjoits Green, a reliable good tasting Romaine lettuce recommended by the NIAB (National Institute of Agricultural Botany) for organic growers.
Romaine or cos lettuces are the best when it comes to nutritional value. They really excel in the vitamin and mineral departments, are an excellent source of vitamin C and provide 10 times more beta carotene than iceberg type lettuce and almost as much as spinach. All of this combines to make romaine one of the healthiest of all the lettuces. The variety Little Gem is “probably the best flavoured of all lettuces” concludes Joy.
When I worked at The Organic Centre, I vividly remember varieties were selected on the merits of: easy and fast growing, resistance to bolting, tip burn and aphids, colourful mixture, from mild to spicy taste, all year round and seasonal availability.
Till and Roger, the new kids on the block fitted in quite nicely with the following varieties:
Landcress – Little Gem – Baby Leaf Mix – Rocket – Cerbiata – Green Frills and Red Frills (Mustard) – Red Dragon – Sadawi (Red Oak Leaf) – Red Garnet – Khan – Regina di Ghiacci – Marvel of 4 Seasons – Brune d’Hiver – Suzan – Salad Bowl – Lollo Rossa – Lollo Biondi – Brighton – Noisette – Purslane - Pak Choi – Tasoi - Rocket – Wild Rocket – Baby leaf Spinach – Purple Streak Mustard.
Calls to action
“For both amateur growers and commercial producers, the resilience of our farming system depends on a wide range of genetics within the food chain. It is vital that these varieties are maintained as a living collection amongst growers. Every variety lost weakens our ability to create an effective food system that can cope with the increasing challenges of climate change and resource scarcity.” (Ben Raskin, Head of Horticulture, Soil Association, 10/8/2012)
Become a seed guardian
We all can revive the tradition of seed saving, let one or two plants of a vegetable go to flower and produce seeds, save the seeds and sow in the following year. We can become a seed guardian with the Irish Seed Savers Association. Knowing, growing, understanding, choosing, using, eating and cooking varieties are basic but essential skills for growing food.
In conclusion: Varieties do matter, because learning about them can prepare us and especially children and young people in a playful and experimental way for the bigger fights: The choice between plant breeding versus GMO, organic versus chemical growing, nutritional healthy food versus junk food, a diversity of crops versus a few main food crops versus.