The following passage was in the Washington Post article about Rancho Gordo:
Heirloom beans' biggest selling point is their flavor. "I work a lot with U.C. Davis,"
a leading agricultural science university in Northern California, Sando
says. "They have this big bean day where they talk about uniformity,
disease resistance, size and yield. And you ask about what they taste
like — how it affected the flavor — and they say they haven't cooked
them. After four years of a bean trial, they've never cooked one pot.
"That's what's wrong with American food, in a way. They see it as a science game. They don't see it as food."
A more elegant statement would have spelled out that part of the work I was doing with UC is to focus on flavor and that there's even an extensive program looking at heirloom beans. And it's not like the problem is exclusive to U.C. Davis. I was making a point but didn't finish it and probably hurt the feeling of some great people who are doing good work. The other point it from my perspective, flavor is key. From a scientist's point of view, feeding masses of people is the objective.
If it sounds like I'm back peddling, I am. I'm sorry I'm not a better speaker and I'm really sorry if I offended anyone.
Steve, I am a pretty new customer, sent over from 101 Cookbooks. I have recently unearthed a love for, and obsession with, popcorn. Not microwave popcorn or prebagged popcorn. This new obsession started when I ordered some of your red popcorn on a lark with a bean order last spring. I had forgotten how very exquisite real home-popped popcorn can be, totally fell in love, and went through my bag way too fast. So then I decided to try some other brands. No, no, no, not the same at all! So now I am back to Rancho Gordo’s red popcorn, using a hot-air popper, and I am a happy girl! Thank you for this great product!
I like that you’re involved in some important research…Flavor and nutrition are as important as crop yields, disease resistance, etc…even into areas of soil-building with legumes. There’s so much that the once-lowly bean can help to accomplish! Just think, if the grape growers in Napa begin going under, they could plant the different beans you’ve shown grow successfully here, and then we’d at least have some productive food-growing parts in this valley! I’m a wine-lover, but the Napa Valley is one of the best places on Earth to grow food crops too, except the real-estate prices forced it into mostly wine grapes. People are going to have to start growing more food for themselves, and beans are one of the best things to grow. Thanks for listening.
KGK