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   from the issue of October 11, 2007

     
 
Oct. 17 Olson Seminar to recount history of plants that sustain life

The Oct. 17 Paul A. Olson Seminar in Great Plains Studies will delve into the history of plants that fuel industrialized nations.


IN THE FIELD - P. Stephen Baenziger (second from left) discusses plant genetics with a group of students. Baenziger will present...
 
IN THE FIELD - P. Stephen Baenziger (second from left) discusses plant genetics with a group of students. Baenziger will present "Global Treasures: The Origins of Plants that Sustain Life" 3:30 to 5 p.m. Oct. 17 at the Great Plains Art Museum. File photo/IANR News Service.

 
UNL agronomist P. Stephen Baenziger will offer the lecture, "Global Treasures: The Origins of Plants that Sustain Life," 3:30 to 5 p.m. Oct. 17 in the Great Plains Art Museum.

The seminar and a 3 p.m. reception are free and open to the public.

Baenziger, the Eugene W. Price distinguished professor of agronomy and horticulture, will discuss how - even with the current interest in buying and eating locally grown food - few people understand the origins of the foods that sustain them, how they shaped our history and how they continue to shape modern life.

Some topics Baenziger will address include: how Italians cooked before tomatoes arrived from the New World, why tomatoes were once dubbed "love apples," why the English smoked tobacco in pipes and the Spanish used cigarettes, and what was the HMS Bounty doing when Fletcher Christian and the crew mutinied against Capt. Bligh.

Baenziger will describe the migration of plants with humankind and relate stories of how modern plants were popularized in societies that had no previous exposure or experience with them. His talk will also cover the ecological reasons why the world's great "bread baskets" are most often not where the plant originated.


GO TO: ISSUE OF OCTOBER 11

ARTS HEADLINES FOR OCTOBER 11

'Celebration of Youth' open to Oct. 27
'2 Days in Paris,' 'Delirious' open Oct. 12 at the Ross
American Life in Poetry
Dance troupe to perform Oct. 12 at the Lied Center
'Love Terrors' exhibit opens
Miller performance Oct. 17
Oct. 17 Olson Seminar to recount history of plants that sustain life
Shepherd book signing is Oct. 20

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