Fonio

So why Fonio (hungry millet, finger millet, this grain goes under many more names)? I've been investigating this grain on and off for about a year now. To say the least it surprises me that such a highly nutritious grain, "Super food", exists on the continent of Africa (all across the continent) with little knowledge of its' benefits outside of Africa and India - I guess it shouldn't surprise me. Thanks Nicole. Please find information attached to the bottom of this entry that will help you become more knowledgeable about this powerful grain.

I have a love affair with is grain. A grain that the Dogon supposedly call the Po or Life Force - from which all this originate.

I will be distributing Fonio/Hungry Millet - in many forms - grown in both Mali and Senegal, West Africa in the very near future. Please look out for updates.

Food Lorists

Love food, Love cooking, Love to know what going on, 'd love to teach it...

Fonio is a small annual herbaceous plant of the genus digitalis that grows to a height of 30 to 80 cm. Fonio is considered to be the oldest cereal in West Africa. In the Malian Dogon tribe's legend of the origin and creation of the universe, the fonio grain, is known aspo, the "germ of the world".

White fonio (Digitaria exilis) is primarily grown in Guinea, where it is a staple for people living in the mountain regions of Fouta Djalon. It is also found in Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, etc. In West Africa: Digitaria exilis or fonio, white fonio, fundi or findi, acha, hungry rice. Digitaria iburua or black fonio, iburu. In Eastern Europe: Digitaria sanguinalis or large crabgrass or hairy crabgrass. In India: Digitaria cruciata or raishan. Only Digitaria exilis is of any real importance in West Africa nowadays.

Fonio produces rough grains, which still have their glumes(characteristic chafflike bracts of the inflorescence of grasses, sedges at the base of a spikelet)and lemmas (bract in a grass spikelet just below the pistil and stamens) after threshing. At this stage, the grain is known as raw or "paddy" fonio. Paddy fonio, the tip of which still has its seed coating, is oval with one slightly flattened side. The grains are very small (L: 1.5 mm, W: 0.9 mm). On average, there are 1000 grains in half a gram.

Hulled fonio grains have a shiny pericarp whose colour varies from white through yellow to purple. They have a hilum on one side and a relatively large germ, containing the fat reserves, on the other. The kernel, which is the main storage organ, is made up of starch grains and a small protein reserve. It is the main element in whitened fonio. Fonio is highly nutritious.

The nutritional composition of fonio differs little from wheat. The husked grain white fonio contains 8 to 10%percent protein (the black fonio has a protein content of 11.8%), carbohydrates 85%, fat 4 %, ash 1%.
The protein analysis of white fonio in comparison with a whole egg is: 7.3 percent of methionine, 46 percent of lysine, 72% isoleucine, 90-100% of valine, tryptophan, threonine, and phenylalanine, 127% of leucine; 175% of total sulfur; and 189 percent for methionine.

Furthermore, fonio does not contain any glutenin or gliadin proteins which are the constituents of gluten, making this cereal suitable for people with gluten intolerance.

Fonio grain is used in a variety of ways. It is used to make porridge and couscous, ground and mixed with other flours to bake breads, popped and brewed for beer. It is a good substitute for semolina in the making of pastas and shortbread biscuits. The best way to cook fonio is steaming or boiling for about 20 minutes.
In the Hausa region of Nigeria and Benin, people prepare a wusu-wusu (couscous) using both types of fonio. In northern Togo, the Lambas brew the tchapalo (the most famous beer of the country) from white fonio. In southern Togo, the Akposso and Akebou peoples prepare fonio with beans in a dish that is reserved for special occasions.

I recieved quite few e-mails asking me where fonio can be purchased, so there is the only online shop the I am aware of:

http://www.eco-sapiens.com/acheter-8723-Fonio-cereale-du-Mali.html

Useful links about gluten intolerance:

http://www.glutenfreepassport.com/refcenter/links/associations.html

http://www.csaceliacs.org/

http://www.coeliac.ie/

http://www.ecodirect.ie/catalog

http://www.afdiag.org

1. 

Winter Heat

Winter is here in Southern Ontario.

Composting in the cold of winter is still very possible. The most important technique to composting all year long in cold climates is to keep the compost as full as possible. The second method of an active compost during the winter months is to cover the compost:

Keep it going.

Sustainability

As the winter months creep in upon us and the cooler weather sets in, especially up here in Southern Ontario, a sign of the winter months; global warming takes on a different persona.

The nights are longer. The air is drier. And yes the cold is biting. It's the first week in December and the temperature has remained a few degree's above seasonal norms throughout the fall. So what does this mean for me and my notions of sustainability? Well to be perfectly honest it doesn't have much of a direct effect on me personally.

In my current urban living situation; I rent which includes utilities and I utilize public transportation.

But I realize that I don't live on a planet all to myself nor do I inhabit a residential/ community all to myself. So sustainability takes on a different subtext in my life. It encompasses the broader community. For instance even though I don't pay for utilities I still use them. And since making any major modifications to my current living environment is not encouraged I am very conscious of my water usage as well as my energy consumption (I collect rain water for my garden, fish, indoor plants, and some washing). I still buy the majority of my food from local organic Farmers Markets. I use organic and environmentally friendly cleaners. And like I mentioned in the above paragraph I take public transport or ride my bike when I can.

Included in my rental property is a small plot of land. I am taking complete advantage of this "green" opportunity. I have constructed no less then 3 compost areas. Two of which I have almost completely filled with organic vegetable matter both from my kitchen and from that which I carry in from outside. In the 3rd area I have combined cow manure with leaves and last years dead growth. I I realize that by taking these small measures I'm also helping to heal my city and world.

Sustainability in my current world view also incorporates an organic feed back relationship one modality into another. These loops enable growth and abundance but at a rate helps both the producer and the consumer view production more responsibly. A "superior" product is worth waiting for. More to come...

I will cover areas of health, both human and planetary, in following entries.

HTP

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