Nancy O

“In Spain, hilly terrain and antiquated planting and harvest practices keep farmers from retrieving more than about 100 pounds [of almonds] per acre. Growers in the Central Valley, by contrast can expect up to 3000 pounds an acre. But for all their sophisticated strategies to increase yield and profitability, almond growers still have one major problem - pollination. Unless a bird or insect brings the pollen from flower to flower, even the most state-of-the-art orchard won't grow enough nuts. An almond grower who depends on wind and a few volunteer pollinators in this desert of cultivation can expect only 40 pounds of almonds per acre. If he imports honey bees, the average yield is 2,400 pounds per acre, as much as 3,000 in more densely planted orchards. To build an almond, it takes a bee.”
― Hannah Nordhaus, The Beekeeper's Lament: How One Man and Half a Billion Honey Bees Help Feed America

“--If that is rhythm, said Lynch, let me hear what you call beauty: and, please remember, though I did eat a cake of cowdung once, that I admire only beauty.”
― James Joyce

“So where does one begin if one wants to eat something as unusual and traditionally reviled as bugs?”
― Daniella Martin, Edible: An Adventure into the World of Eating Insects and the Last Great Hope to Save the Planet

“Motherhood rarely allows for solitude, yet it begets its own kind of isolation: from one’s past, from one’s youth, from the women we once thought we were and would become.”
― Hannah Nordhaus, American Ghost: A Family's Extraordinary History on the Desert Frontier