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ARGENTINA: In Defence of Weeds - the Edible Kind
By Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES, Feb 24 (IPS) - Imagine an incredible variety of nutritional
plants growing abundantly everywhere without the need to even plant, water
or fertilise them, while people go hungry nearby.
The scenario might sound unlikely to some, but it is real - there are
thousands of species of edible wild plants, although few are aware of that
fact.
A team of researchers in southern Argentina has been working for years on
getting the word out about the great abundance of edible plants, but the
idea is just now catching on, as chefs in exclusive restaurants begin to
incorporate in their cuisine wild-growing plants normally looked down on as
''weeds''.
In the Ecotono laboratory at the National University of Comahue, which is
located in Bariloche, an Andean ski resort town in the southern Argentine
province of Río Negro, scientists have been classifying edible wild plants
and providing instructions on how they can be cooked and prepared.
The head of the project, biologist Eduardo Rapoport, who has a doctorate
in natural sciences, said in an interview with IPS that none of the
campaigns aimed at raising awareness on the easy availability of edible
plants was as effective as the one in which he was shown on a local TV
programme preparing a meal with wild-growing plants.
''After I appeared on TV, I started getting calls to give talks and
conferences in poor neighbourhoods and at meetings of chefs. Some of the
chefs, who work in exclusive restaurants in Bariloche, began to include wild
plants in their recipes,'' he said.
Experts in the culinary arts now offer novelties based on wild plants,
for demanding palates, like lamb flavoured with creeping woodsorrel (Oxalis
corniculata) or lasagna stuffed with yellow dock root (Rumex crispus) - a
plant that is known locally as ''cow's tongue'' and is so common in the
countryside and grassy areas that few even notice its presence.
The campaign turned out to be more effective than more formal attempts to
explain the nutritional value of wild plants. ''We have knocked on the doors
of 130 national and international institutions, only six of which have
expressed an interest,'' complained the biologist, who at least has
developed new cooking skills as part of the project.
International registers identify more than 15,000 species of edible
plants, and experts believe there could actually be as many as 50,000
wild-growing edible species.
But the best-stocked supermarket in any given country will offer a
maximum of 150 kinds of cultivated vegetables and fruits, and perhaps a
handful of herbs and other wild-growing plants.
Biologists define a weed as any plant that is growing in a place where a
human wants a different kind of plant or no plants at all, or a plant out of
place not intentionally sown.
Webster's dictionary provides a less neutral definition: a weed is ''a
plant of no value and usually of rank growth; one that tends to overgrow or
choke out more desirable plants.''
Many wild-growing plants are dried and sold for use in herbal teas or as
spices, but they are rarely offered fresh in the produce department.
In Argentina at least, when they are found at a greengrocer's, they are
often marketed as exotic products ''discovered'' by some modern-day chef.
But today's ''weeds'' were providing sustenance to hunter-gatherers in
the remote past, before agriculture even existed.
The research project led by Rapoport in Bariloche has found that in that
part of the southern region of Patagonia alone, there are 200 native species
of edible wild-growing plants and around 100 edible exotic plants, many of
which are eaten in other countries and are even exported for use in the food
industry.
In one single hectare, it is possible to find an average of 1,300 kgs of
edible wild plants that grow without having to be cultivated, irrigated or
fertilised. And in some rural parts of Argentina, up to 7,000 kgs per
hectare of ''weeds'' fit for human consumption grow despite the use of
powerful herbicides.
White clover (Trifolium repens), plumeless thistle (Carduus acanthoides),
dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) and creeping woodsorrel (Oxalis
corniculata) are a few of the wild plants that are slowly making their way
into the Argentine diet.
Lambsquarters (Chenopodium album) can be used to make green noodles, and
miner's lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata) is delicious in salads.
In most cases of edible wild plants, the entire plant, including the
root, leaves and fruit, can be used.
However, ''Edible only means 'can be eaten', and information on
nutritional quality is not always available. But what we do know is that
there are wild species that have greater nutritional value than cultivated
plants, with the advantage that they grow on their own,'' said Rapoport.
To top it off, ''They are tasty and free of cost,'' he added.
The dandelion, for example, a yellow-flowered weed that invades lawns,
gardens and fields, is six times richer in nutrients than lettuce.
It has three times more protein, seven times more fat, four times more
carbohydrates, five times more calcium, four times more iron and a much
greater amount of vitamins B1, B2 and C than lettuce, the biologist
explained.
The leaves of wild plants can be used in soups, salads, soufflés,
dressings, sauces, and croquettes; the stems can be breaded and fried; the
seeds can be ground up into flour; and even the roots, thoroughly washed,
can be used with the addition of spices.
''We haven't invented anything new. There are few new edible species,
even if they are presented as new discoveries,'' said Rapoport.
Many native growing plants formed part of the diet of the Mapuche Indians
in southern Argentina and Chile, although the tradition of eating them had
been virtually lost.
''Our motto is simple: let's salvage what was good about the Paleolithic
period of the Stone Age, when our ancestors were nomads, because since
agriculture emerged in the Neolithic period, we have forgotten what nature
provides for us,'' said Rapoport.
The procedure for finding out if a plant is edible is simple. ''If we
have already registered it in our databank, we cook it and taste it, always
starting out with a small portion,'' he said. If it is not on the list, a
tiny portion is also tasted, to verify whether it is toxic or causes
indigestion.
''It's just basic trial and error,'' Rapoport admitted.
Since the team began its work with weeds over a decade ago, it has
published four illustrated pocket manuals, as well as posters and videos,
with financing from local and foreign academic institutions. The group also
gives chats in schools, soup kitchens and churches.
Soup kitchens have mushroomed in Buenos Aires and around the country in
the past few years, since a recession that had dragged on for several years
led to all-out economic collapse in late 2001.
Since then, more than 50 percent of the population of 37 million has slid
into poverty, and many Argentines have been forced to turn to soup kitchens
run by community social organisations and churches to survive.
Rapoport also explained that it has been an uphill battle to convince
people to experiment with new tastes. ''We have had to fight hard against
habits that are deeply ingrained since childhood, especially among families
who do not venture beyond beef and pasta,'' staples of the Argentine diet,
said the biologist.
The Ecotono researchers have no illusions that providing information
about the availability and nutritional value of edible wild-growing plants
will put an end to hunger in the world, or even in Argentina. But they do
believe it can be one solution for many small rural communities.
And although their research has been limited to just one portion of the
Patagonian region, they are confident that the rest of the country has
enormous potential.
The Institute of Popular Culture in northwestern Argentina is carrying
out similar work with wild plants native to that region, although their
efforts are much less well-known than the research of the team in Bariloche.
The Ecotono campaign did not bear the expected fruits until chefs, always
keeping their eyes out for new flavours to delight diners, ''discovered''
the value of ''weeds''.
(END/2004)
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