Vanilla

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Biodiversity, Biological Evolution

Ed Hessler

Another of Athayde Tonhasca Junior's informative photoessays is featured on WEIT's "Readers'Wildlife Photos" (July 8, 2023).

There is little plain about "plain vanilla," except for most of the vanilla products consumed. These are not the real thing--synthetics which are "about 20 times cheaper than natural vanilla." This story is about "the growing value of natural vanilla...promising to small farmers in Madagascar and other developing countries, but there are clouds on the horizon."

A lovely story about what this encompasses: habitat and pollinators, an intricate relationship.

I suspect that "vanilla" might be used less as a summary of something uninspiring or lifeless if we knew the taste of the right stuff.

Posted as usual with thanks to WEIT for the featured column and to Athayde Tonhasca Junior's for the entry. Posted here just in case you missed it or saw it and planned to return to it later but haven't.

Special thanks to owner and operator of WEIT, Professor Emeritus Jerry Coyne, University of Chicago.