Rice of the Prairies????

[jgore]

Is anyone familiar with this? I've never heard of it, but picked some up this morning at Bulk Barn and am planning on trying it tonight with dinner. It's a strain of oats that looks kinda like brown rice and you cook it like regular rice. The blurbs I've read say it maintains its shape and also has the texture of rice.

[Tisha]

No, haven't heard of it. Let us know how it tastes.

[jgore]

Just like brown rice. You cook it exactly as you do brown rice and I found the texture and taste to be the same.

It was developed by the Agriculture Canada folks - selective breeding, not gene-mod - who shelved it and a farmer read about it, worked with it, and is commercializing it. It can be grown just like regular oats. Interestingly, when there was flooding in the area where he was growing it, it was the only crop that survived. So, while it doesn't require flooded fields, it is very hardy and can withstand flooding. Apparently, the chaff just falls off during harvesting, so it doesn't require processing. The big upside is that it contains a lot more nutrients than rice, though it also contains more fat.

[CAW]

Interesting! I'm going to check the Bulk Barn for some today! I'm out of brown rice, so I might as well try some of this instead.

[jgore]

[turd ferguson]

Just like brown rice. You cook it exactly as you do brown rice and I found the texture and taste to be the same.

It was developed by the Agriculture Canada folks - selective breeding, not gene-mod - who shelved it and a farmer read about it, worked with it, and is commercializing it. It can be grown just like regular oats. Interestingly, when there was flooding in the area where he was growing it, it was the only crop that survived. So, while it doesn't require flooded fields, it is very hardy and can withstand flooding. Apparently, the chaff just falls off during harvesting, so it doesn't require processing. The big upside is that it contains a lot more nutrients than rice, though it also contains more fat.

Are those different things? Or is that something that anti-GMO advocates say about things they approve of?

[turd ferguson]

Meanwhile Jim says to himself "okay, my last two threads have stirred up controversy, I'll post something about rice. That should be safe."

[Samantha]

Meanwhile Jim says to himself "okay, my last two threads have stirred up controversy, I'll post something about rice. That should be safe."

[bruyere]

Meanwhile Jim says to himself "okay, my last two threads have stirred up controversy, I'll post something about rice. That should be safe."

Ha! Poor Jim.

As I understand it selective breeding is "natural" in that it's just the retaining of seeds from plants with characteristics you like, replanting them, and hoping for the best many times, through generations of the plants. It's what farmers did for eons (yes, that's official. EONS.), and is kind of in line with natural selection.

"Genetic modification" as it's commonly used (I think) refers to stuff in a lab, with microscopes and petri dishes and "artificially" playing with the gene structure (in ways I, as a non-scientist don't fully understand).

So, selective breeding is OK and GM isn't.

Or something like that.

[jgore]

Meanwhile Jim says to himself "okay, my last two threads have stirred up controversy, I'll post something about rice. That should be safe."

Ha! Poor Jim.

As I understand it selective breeding is "natural" in that it's just the retaining of seeds from plants with characteristics you like, replanting them, and hoping for the best many times, through generations of the plants. It's what farmers did for eons (yes, that's official. EONS.), and is kind of in line with natural selection.

"Genetic modification" as it's commonly used (I think) refers to stuff in a lab, with microscopes and petri dishes and "artificially" playing with the gene structure (in ways I, as a non-scientist don't fully understand).

So, selective breeding is OK and GM isn't.

Or something like that.

That's the gist of it. Personally, I don't have a problem with GM, at least not with the modifications we're aware of. I do take issue with how Monsanto and others make use of their products.

[turd ferguson]

Meanwhile Jim says to himself "okay, my last two threads have stirred up controversy, I'll post something about rice. That should be safe."

Ha! Poor Jim.

As I understand it selective breeding is "natural" in that it's just the retaining of seeds from plants with characteristics you like, replanting them, and hoping for the best many times, through generations of the plants. It's what farmers did for eons (yes, that's official. EONS.), and is kind of in line with natural selection.

"Genetic modification" as it's commonly used (I think) refers to stuff in a lab, with microscopes and petri dishes and "artificially" playing with the gene structure (in ways I, as a non-scientist don't fully understand).

So, selective breeding is OK and GM isn't.

Or something like that.

That's the gist of it. Personally, I don't have a problem with GM, at least not with the modifications we're aware of. I do take issue with how Monsanto and others make use of their products.

I'm never quite sure with GM foods as to whether those that are opposed to it are opposing it on scientific grounds or as part of an anti-corporatist agenda. Which is interesting because those that do oppose it also frequently oppose selective breeding when its done by the same corporations.

I really didn't mean to pick on you - just when you said "selective breeding vs. GMO" it seems that much of the opposition is based on who's doing it, not what's being done, and the distinction between selective breeding and GMO becomes irrelevant.

[jgore]

Turd read my mind.

I can see why they argue against GM foods, as you could add genes that would never naturally occur in the plant or animal. With selective breeding, you're simply selecting those organisms that display the properties you want and breeding them, ignoring or disposing of those that don't. I agree that many of those who lead the charge against "Frankenfoods" do so not because of the particular modification that's been made, but because they are against either the company producing the food or the very idea of gene modification, regardless of whether or not the modification would be of benefit.

[Tisha]

Very interesting! Thanks for all the info. I wonder if we could grow this crop when we move to the farm ... I would love to have a small field of it!

[jgore]

Very interesting! Thanks for all the info. I wonder if we could grow this crop when we move to the farm ... I would love to have a small field of it!

The actual name is Cavena Nuda - that's the name given it by the guy who is selling the commercial product. Agriculture Canada called it Gehl. Not being in the agriculture business, I have no idea where you would find out the info about seeds and growing conditions.

Here's a story from 2.5 years ago in the Toronto Star.

http://www.thestar.com/life/food_wine/2 ... iries.html

[Tisha]

Very interesting! Thanks for all the info. I wonder if we could grow this crop when we move to the farm ... I would love to have a small field of it!

The actual name is Cavena Nuda - that's the name given it by the guy who is selling the commercial product. Agriculture Canada called it Gehl. Not being in the agriculture business, I have no idea where you would find out the info about seeds and growing conditions.

Here's a story from 2.5 years ago in the Toronto Star.

http://www.thestar.com/life/food_wine/2 ... iries.html

Oooo! Thanks for the link. Interesting read. I've bookmarked it so I can look up the guy's name and the 'official name' of it when I need to. I wonder about the growing conditions. Our land is pretty sandy. I wonder if it'll be any good for anything more than just pasture land and hay fields (what it is now).

[jgore]

Our land is pretty sandy. I wonder if it'll be any good for anything more than just pasture land and hay fields (what it is now).

Talk to Trixiee.

[Tisha]

Our land is pretty sandy. I wonder if it'll be any good for anything more than just pasture land and hay fields (what it is now).

Talk to Trixiee.

Good to know!

[jgore]

Has anyone tried this? I really like it and have been substituting it for rice in a lot of recipes, but have found that I use roughly twice as much liquid as they suggest, about 4 cups liquid to 1 cup "rice".

[trixiee]

Our land is pretty sandy. I wonder if it'll be any good for anything more than just pasture land and hay fields (what it is now).

Talk to Trixiee.

Good to know!

Look up the prairie grain reports. That should get you more info for your particular soil type.

DH says gehl has been around for a long time. Perhaps not this particular strain...

[jgore]

DH says gehl has been around for a long time. Perhaps not this particular strain...

It may also be that no one saw the commercial possibilities or knew how to market it until this guy came along.

[NewFinnLoper]

I remember seeing the pitch for it on Dragon's Den a while back...

[Tisha]

Look up the prairie grain reports. That should get you more info for your particular soil type.

Thanks, trixiee!

[kab]

The chef at Bergman's in Winnipeg uses it extensively. We have all our visiting profs there and the food is outstanding. That's where I learned about this stuff. It is really good.