Invasive Species Sushi

A Connecticut Sushi chef uses invasive species to re-imagine sushi. Although his dishes showcase invasive aquatic species, his formative experiences were harvesting burdock and lamb's quarters with his mother as a child in New Haven.

How might we re-imagine food using weedy species? Corporate monocultures are arguably as destructive to native habitats as improper fishing practices are in aquatic systems. Many of the cursed weeds of lawns and gardens were once widely considered edible and delicious.

In the comments section of the article, some readers list their own food ideas. Isabel mentions wild mustard greens, purslane, dandelion flowers, kudzu and Japanese knotweed. How do you use weedy plants? Send us your re-imagined weeds salad, tea, or stir-fry recipes!

In the news: Survival of agricultural weeds

A press release on ScienceDaily summarizes a new study comparing how long seeds from two species of weeds (Chenopodium and Amaranthus, Amaranthaceae) survive under conventional vs. organic farming:

Organic and conventional farming methods compete to eliminate weed seeds in soil

The answer: no strong conclusion either way, the result is mixed. Here is the original article: LINK (doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1614/WS-D-10-00142.1)

What agriculture really is about...

Farms are captive breeding facilities for evolutionarily unfit plants.

                                                                                               - Ari Novy

What is a weed anyway?

Any plant can be a weed, it just depends on the local circumstances.  There is no special biological attribute that makes a plant a weed.  Weeds are just plants we (humans) do not want at that particular place.  This could be because we are trying to grow something else, that we think they look ugly, they might be poisonous, the might take over and crowd out other plants and change the ecosystem habitat, or we might think they are just wrong.

Weeds are a human mental construct - without human agriculture and horticulture or dwellings on earth there wouldn't be any weeds.  There would just be plants...

So, in our rather selfish pursuits we tell the plants that like to live in 'our' places, that they are unwanted (=weeds) and should be eradicated.

Some definitions:

Merriam-Webster:

A plant that is not valued where it is growing and is usually of vigorous growth; especially one that tends to overgrow or choke out more desirable plants.

The Free Dictionary:

A plant considered undesirable, unattractive, or troublesome, especially one growing where it is not wanted, as in a garden.

Dictionary.com:

A valueless plant growing wild, especially one that grows on cultivated ground to the exclusion or injury of the desired crop. Any undesirable or troublesome plant, especially one that grows profusely where it is not wanted.

Biology Online:

Any plant that is growing in a place where a human wants a different kind of plant or no plants at all.

Encyclopedia Brittanica:

Any plant growing where it is not wanted.

Oxford Dictionaries online:

A wild plant growing where it is not wanted and in competition with cultivated plants.