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Agriculture in Syria started with a bang 12,800 years ago as a fragmented comet slammed into the Earth's atmosphere. The explosion and subsequent environmental changes forced hunter-gatherers in the prehistoric settlement of Abu Hureyra to adopt agricultural practices to boost their chances for survival. That's the assertion made by an international group of scientists in one of four related research papers, all appearing in the journal Science Open: Airbursts and Cratering Impacts. The papers are the latest results in the investigation of the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis, the idea that an anomalous cooling of the Earth almost 13 millennia ago...

The war in Ukraine has exacerbated the issue, but American stockpiles were already down.Between COVID, war, bird flu, climate change, and maybe plain bad luck, everyone's become accustomed to shortages: In 2022 alone, we've covered supply issues with coffee cups, fertilizer, sunflower oil, Subway meats, popcorn, and, yes, even Huy Fong Sriracha. So what's next on the chopping block? Apparently, chickpea stockpiles are down significantly enough that America may need to be concerned with an increase in the price of hummus. Last week, Reuters reported that global chickpea supplies may drop as much as 20 percent this year, according...

Lovers of hummus and falafel beware: data shows that global supplies of chickpeas, the main ingredient for both dishes, may dip up to 20% this year. A combination of Russia’s war in Ukraine, poor weather and transportation issues is leading to the shortage, which is predicted to increase prices and make cheap hummus harder to come by, Reuters reported on Thursday. Farmers in the United States, the fourth-largest chickpea exporter in the world, planted less of the protein-packed legume this year due to less than ideal weather conditions in the spring.

I recently made the acquaintance of a lovely lady from Trinidad, and became interested in the culture of her country. The favorite street food in Trinidad is called ‘Boubles’. It’s a piece of fried flatbread with spiced chickpeas and various condiments on top – including the Green Sauce/Seasoning that is ubiquitous in the food of the Islands. The dish is very influenced by the historical Indian presence in the Islands, and it gained the name ‘doubles’ when it became a street food, and people asked for an extra piece of the fried bread -'can you double the bread?'. Here, from...

In a land flowing with milk and honey, what kinds of food made up the ancient Jewish diet? What did people eat and drink in Roman Palestine? Susan Weingarten guides readers through a menu of the first millennium C.E. in her article "Biblical Archaeology 101: The Ancient Diet of Roman Palestine," published in the March/April 2019 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review. Although it is difficult to reconstruct the diet of the average person in Palestine during the Roman and Late Antique periods, Weingarten, as both a food historian and an archaeologist, is well equipped for the task. Using archaeological remains...

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recent trip to India may have caused a diplomatic row, but he insists it had nothing to do with India’s decision to hike tariffs on chickpeas this week — and he has good reason for saying so. Canada’s industry group for chickpea growers says the type of chickpea Canada specializes in is in fact exempt from the most recent tariff increase. “Ninety-five per cent of the chickpeas grown in Canada are kabuli variety,” said Madeleine Goodwin, head of communications for Pulse Canada. “Agriculture Canada has informed us that kabuli chickpeas are exempt from today’s tariff increase.”...

Many wheat farmers facing low prices have turned this year to other crops, including chickpeas and lentils, in hopes of turning a profit. This year’s wheat crop of 45.7 million acres (18.49 million hectares) is the smallest since 1919 and it comes after a 2016 crop that was the least profitable in 30 years. North Dakota, Montana and Nebraska are among the states with significantly fewer wheat acres. …

I fell in love with Indian food by encountering it in little hole-in-the-wall places – first at the eatery at Union Station in D.C., and again at a surprisingly wonderful strip-mall restaurant near my home. I was very happy when my local grocery chain started selling packaged, boil-in-bag versions of various Dal, Chana Masala, and other items. They weren’t like restaurant fare, just pretty good when I needed a fast Indian Flavor Fix. But they are so expensive! so I recently decided to strike out on my own and try to make some of these things at home. My...

'Brainy' chickpeas conquered the world 09 January 2007 NewScientist.com news service Could the humble chickpea have changed the course of history? As one of the founder crops cultivated in the fertile crescent of Mesopotamia, the chickpea's nutritional benefits have been cited as one of the reasons for the rise of civilisation there. Now Zohar Kerem from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, thinks he has evidence to support that view. Kerem and colleagues collected wild chickpeas (Cicer reticulatum) and compared their nutritional value with that of cultivated varieties. Wild chickpeas are rare and difficult to cultivate, so there must have...

CHICAGO - A northern Illinois resident reported finding a bird’s head in a can of pinto beans, prompting a Chicago-based food company to announce a voluntary recall on Friday.. La Preferida Inc. said in a statement that it was recalling a limited number of its cans as a precaution. The company says the beans were canned by New Meridian Inc. in Eaton, Ind. “There are still many unanswered questions, but we have decided to err on the side of safety,” said David Brand, La Preferida’s director of quality assurance. The company is investigating to determine how the bird head got...