From £43.99
From £43.99
This book introduces the biology and history of cocoa. It describes how cocoa can be grown in an environmentally sound way to increase production on existing farms, reduce incursion into forests, restore biodiversity, and improve the livelihoods of millions of farming families.
Chocolate consumers and environmental and social activists are increasingly less inclined to accept a situation where cocoa and chocolate production exploits rainforests and smallholder farmers in the tropics. With the exhaustion of forest resources for growing cocoa cheaply, the handful of multinational food conglomerates that now dominate chocolate manufacturing are becoming concerned about a sustainable supply of cocoa beans and are becoming involved in efforts to assist farmers and ensure a stable supply chain. Organisations are being developed to certify that cocoa production is environmentally and socially acceptable. This book introduces the biology of cocoa, and the history of cocoa domestication, planting and chocolate manufacture. It describes how cocoa can be grown with other useful species in an environmentally sound way to increase production on existing farms, to reduce incursion into forests, restore biodiversity, and empower and improve the livelihoods of the six million farming families in the tropics who depend on it.
Man-made climate change poses a new crisis: how do we feed 10 billion people in a climate hostile to food security? This book explores the threat to our “daily bread” and argues that we are not without hope, offering solutions that can lead to a better future for humankind.
Wine: our oldest medicine. Uncover its 9,500-year history, from its true origins in China to how it can reduce death rates by 50% and dementia by 80%. This groundbreaking book rewrites everything you thought you knew about the health benefits of wine.
This light-hearted, informative narrative discusses US agriculture from a historical, social, and financial perspective. Written in a satirical voice, the author uses storytelling to share his experiences in food and farming through fast-moving, easy-to-read prose.
This book explains how plants perceive their environment, communicate, and modify their behavior. It explores intriguing aspects of plant memory and intelligence, from their perception of sound and touch to communication with other plants, animals, and microorganisms.
This book guides readers from basic knowledge to advanced specifics on Plant Stress Physiology due to Climate Change. Covering the newest findings on drought and heat stress, it challenges accepted viewpoints and helps address questions fundamental to plant life itself.
Explore the legendary fossil beds of Samos, where ancient myths explained the bones of giant mammals. This book uncovers the island’s paleontological history, compares the anatomy of the giraffe, okapi, and extinct Samotherium, and maps the geology of these famed bone quarries.
Discover the honey bee’s adaptation to environments worldwide. This book explains how the bee colony functions as an integral biological unit to survive long winters and uses specific acoustic and electrical signals for spatial orientation and communication.
This book presents a wine tasting method based on neurobiology, gastronomy, and the science of how the human brain processes pleasure. While written for the beginner, this unique approach offers valuable insights that wine professionals can also benefit from.
Animal space use is complex. Memory and multi-scaled space use present deep challenges for biophysical modelling. This book confronts these issues, presenting novel models, a critical evaluation of existing concepts, and theoretical proposals to resolve present challenges.
