Sorghum Is a Small Grain with a Big Impact. As Our Population Is Set To
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Changing the habits of what people maximises the toasted flavour and creates a eat is directly linked to changing the habits of crunchy texture). Another intriguing quality is what farmers grow. Enter sorghum: one of the its colour. SORGHUM world’s most unfussy and nutritious crops. Sorghum is a small grain with r ed s o r a big impact. g h u THE CAMEL m OF CROPS Climate change is threatening food supplies and agricultural systems all over the world. Approximately two thirds of our food is m u Sorghum farming Sorghum is h g produced by small-scale farmers globally, and r o occupies 25 s the fifth most e these farmers are vulnerable to increasingly t percent or more i widespread h unpredictable weather systems. of arable land cereal crop w in Mauritania, globally after As our population is set to reach Gambia, Mali, wheat, rice, Burkina Faso, maize and barley. ten billion by 2050, there is an b l a Ghana, Niger, c k increasing need for hardy crops s Somalia and o r g h resilient to climate change. Yemen. u m For many years, rice, wheat and maize have been global staples. This has often led to the crops being grown in inappropriate Depending on the particular variety and the region in which it is grown, sorghum’s climates, negatively impacting Although particularly adapted to colour varies from pale cream to yellow, red the environment and adding drought-prone areas that are too dry for and even dark black, giving the milled flour to the many risks faced maize, the diversity of this crop allows it to extraordinary tints and character to add to by farmers. Diversifying be grown in temperate and high-altitude doughs and breads and creating a buzz of ingredients in the kitchen is conditions, too. Perhaps sorghum’s most excitement around a table of food. This is a one way chefs can directly impressive quality is its pure versatility. In grain that is made to be a part of a creative create demand for interesting addition to its culinary uses, its straw is often plate, and using it is one way to talk a little and flavourful foods. This used for fencing and building; it is widely louder about your sustainability journey. creates opportunities for used to make gluten-free beer and animal farmers to diversify what they fodder; and it is even grown as an energy crop, grow. Chefs can literally cook producing ethanol for biofuel. up a storm of sustainability. In the kitchen, sorghum is a grain that ticks all the boxes. It is nutritionally dense (the bran layer has more antioxidants than blueberries) and an earthy, nutty flavour with The Crop Trust is an international organisation based in a textured bite. Like many grains, sorghum Bonn, Germany with the unique global mission to ensure the conservation of crop diversity in genebanks, forever. is perfect for soaking up flavour in dressings The Crop Trust, the United Nations Food and Agriculture or sauces, and so works as a salad base Organization (FAO) and other partners started the Food Forever Initiative in 2017 to raise awareness on the to mix with seasonal produce. The list of importance of safeguarding agrobiodiversity to build delicious sorghum products is long, ranging resilient food systems. from sorghum flour and sorghum syrup to sorghum popcorn (popping the grain like corn Chef Chef MEYMUNA HUSSEIN-CATTAN ALI MANDHRY Region Region Los Angeles, USA Kenya Favourite way to use sorghum diversity Favourite way to use sorghum diversity Eritrean bamya is one of my favourites, cooked Right now my favourite dish is a salad with by the very talented chefs of Flavors from Afar sorghum and mango. You can make a lot of Social salads using sorghum: simply cook the grain and @meymunacattan toss it with any flavours. It works particularly well with zesty, citrus-y dressings! Social @chefalimandhry My story using sorghum My story using sorghum For all of us, ingredients are much more than Ten years ago, I founded the Tiyya Foundation, Throughout my career, I have worked both I have a fond and clear memory of eating just a plate of food. A plate of food communicates an award-winning grassroots organisation that nationally and internationally to champion Kenyan sorghum-flour bread that my grandmother used to histories, homes, sometimes pain and sometimes supports families of immigrants, refugees, and cuisine and ingredients. From teaching the basics bake. With a nutty flavour, the flatbread was cooked joy. Bringing these ingredients from homelands into displaced Americans. Branching out from the of cooking, highlighting the need for smallholder over hot coals. Crispy and charred when done, she dishes in the restaurant makes our chefs happy and foundation, we built a successful catering business, farmers to adapt to climate impacts, to protecting would brush it with a little honey or ghee, or both. It joyful, and gives them the feeling of being part of a which grew into the restaurant Flavors from Afar, a food security, my work is rooted in sustainability. I try was just delicious! new community. It is important to highlight these social enterprise that employs former refugee chefs to act as a loudspeaker for biodiverse ingredients. resilient crops wherever we can. Often the areas we in Orange County and Los Angeles. Sorghum is an amazing ingredient! It grows as refugees come from are hard-hit by unpredictable The catering business, which started in with little water and is readily available, anytime weather systems, and so farmers need to grow food 2018, was set up to sustain our youth and family and anywhere in my country. Yet, we do not that is tough. Over time, these foods have become a programmes at the Tiyya Foundation. We realised incorporate it in the main part of our diet. Culturally I part of a culture to the point where it is easy to forget CALL FOR ACTION! that a lot of people in our area do not have access believe people have not yet developed the love for it, that they are so important for food security, too. or an understanding of international cuisine, but they do not know the nutritional value and resilience One of our chefs, Chef Menal, created a dish The staples that were once part of our diets are curious and fascinated by food from all over it offers farmers. that was particularly enjoyed by our local media. It need“ to come back. Reviving them is my goal. the world. We had so much raw talent within our One part of the challenge is that for many is really beautiful and whenever she cooks it in the We need to incorporate a rockstar element to community, and there was a clear need for it to Kenyans, a maize-based porridge called ugali already restaurant, diners love it. This is how she explains her the ingredients and make them fashionable spread beyond, too. After a lot of hard work and makes up a large part of the diet. Maize, however, is a choice to use sorghum: ‘my lamb okra dish, which is for the youth. I think sorghum needs support learning, myself and my business partner Christian water-thirsty crop and vulnerable to climate change. known as bamya back home, is one of Eritrea’s most Davis decided to open our location in Little Ethiopia, Once maize becomes scarce in our country, sorghum and a lot of education around it. For chefs, popular dishes and also found in the Middle East. Our Los Angeles. Unfortunately, our opening coincided will become even more important. I believe bringing it is important to experiment and substitute recipe includes cardamom pods, cloves, and various with the outbreak of Covid-19, so we had to shift to a sorghum to the main stage will happen in slow steps. it anywhere you would use another grain. spices. What makes the dish special is the sorghum take-out service instead, which has been incredibly Currently, farmers who are working with sorghum are Sorghum cooks like any other grain, so try we use. Sorghum is high in antioxidants and very challenging. Our offering is still delicious food from all exporting most of it and using some as animal feed it in some familiar recipes – the sky’s the “ nutritious. I enjoy the texture and customers enjoy across the world, sent out with love! but not necessarily cooking with it. It all goes back to limit! Whether used for breads or desserts, the flavours!’ The ethos of our food is simple: food education: teaching people how versatile and easy the flavour of sorghum is unique and brings exploration stimulates social inclusion. As a child this grain is to cook with and how nutritionally dense something exciting to any dish. It tastes healthy growing up in a refugee household, I knew that as it is. Essentially, we need to change the view people with lots of mineral flavours, and has that my mum was learning English and working entry- have of this important crop and bring it back to the organic, straight from the farm kind of flavour. level jobs, she was always strongly skilled in the plate in the most delicious ways we can. kitchen. The kitchen was a place where not only was food prepared but families bonded and generations CALL FOR ACTION!“ gathered. I realised that these skills were shareable in our new neighbourhood, where plenty of people had I think people are interested in international this transferable knowledge, to cook and nourish the foods and dishes. If we can help stimulate community.