The New York Times ran a long Magazine piece about doing an image makeover for broccoli. The goal was to have broccoli be a “cool” food among younger people who don’t care about broccoli at all. Author Michael Moss brought out some important points about the relationship people have with vegetables, as well as the challenges of growing more vegetables in the current economic environment. Our project was mentioned as important, but a drop in the bucket towards that goal.
Prof. Miguel Gómez, team member in the Dyson School of Applied economics is determining what qualities Eastern consumers look for in their broccoli, and what variation from the Western standard they accept. The results will inform the breeding process, and perhaps identify types that will be well accepted in the US East Coast that are not accepted in East Asia.
With graduate student Xiaoli Fan, he is running auctions of broccoli types to asses consumer’s relative willingness to pay for different appearances.
The commercial breeders on the project are inspecting trials this late summer, while the differences in quality are most apparent. Brassica breeder Cees Sintinie of Bejo (right front) stopped in Geneva as part of his North American tour. He was accompanied by his colleague Jan van der Heide (rear) when he visited with Phillip Griffiths (left). Characteristic of this summer, the rain was pouring. But rain does not slow this group.
The regional trials require a lot of seeds of the new varieties. These are made by hand pollinating one flower at a time. This week, Griff’s group is finishing some hybrid seed for use in 2014.
