The Use and Economic Value of Manna grass (Glyceria) in Poland from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century

Łuczaj, Łukasz; Dumanowski, Jarosław; Köhler, Piotr; Mueller-Bieniek, Aldona

doi:10.1007/s10745-012-9513-4

Cited by 17 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For example the very popular first herbal written in Estonian by Baltic German pastor Otto August Jannau (1800-1865) teaches the use of Glyceria spp. for making manna porridge [69], but despite the fact that this plant was widely eaten in parts of central Europe [70], Estonian peasants did not adopt its use, probably because they already had potatoes and severe famines were only history at the time the book was published.…”

Section: Alien Plants Literature and Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical ethnobotanical review of wild edible plants of Estonia (1770s–1960s)

Kalle

Sõukand

2012

Acta Soc Bot Pol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

IntroductionIn the quite recent past, during times of war, crop failure or other cases of food shortage, wild food plants have made a substantial addition to the human diet [1,2]. Nowadays, for the vast majority of the population of modern urbanized Europe, wild food plants seem to be of secondary importance as a resource for human nutrition; their gathering requires much more human labour than cultivated crops and vegetables do, their habitats are far from human settlements, and due to the loss of contact with nature, people simply do not know (or cannot recognize) wild plants. Nevertheless, even in Europe there are still many rural locations, where wild food plants are traditionally used on a daily basis. Such locations in southern and Western Europe are much appreciated by researchers in the field of ethnobotany [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. In Northern Europe the research seems to be completed and it seems that not much can be added to it, as in countries with high industrialization and safe social settings the need for wild food is close to zero and the existing ethnographic resources are already thoroughly researched (for a few examples see [14][15][16]).A different situation exists in Eastern Europe within the post-socialist countries. The relatively recent open access to western goods still enables us to remember the use of wild plants on a national level, and research in these areas often gives fruitful results [17,18]. Moreover, some of these countries, like Estonia and its neighbours, have extensive ethnographic collections. While in some of the countries, such as Poland [19][20][21], such resources have been thoroughly analysed, the content of the others is still unknown to the rest of the world, as they are either not used after collection, or their analyses are published in the native languages only. This makes cross-cultural and geographical analysis difficult or even impossible [21].To contribute a small stroke to the pattern of the use of wild plants of Europe from the Estonian side, we need first to review the historical use of wild food plants. The written legacy is rather thin: the few publications in German touching on the use of local species for food in the territory of present-day Estonia were written by Baltic German botanophiles [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. Moreover, they often described Estonia and Livonia [22,23] together, some even including Courland [27,28], and they cover only the period until the mid-19th century. Subsequent times are covered by the memory of respondents to folkloristic and ethnographic surveys, and later discussed by a few enthusiasts in Estonian only -dominantly through popular science publications. Hence, the aim of the study is to critically review all the publications concerning wild edibles covering the period 1770s-1960s. The data collected after 1970 has not yet been reflected in any reliable written source, except for a few of the authors' publications. AbstractThis paper is a historical ethnobotanical review of wild plants used by the resi...

show abstract

Section: Alien Plants Literature and Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical ethnobotanical review of wild edible plants of Estonia (1770s–1960s)

Kalle

Sõukand

2012

Acta Soc Bot Pol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Wild grasses have been harvested for food elsewhere (e.g. [43]), but the use of lyme-grass seems to be restricted to Iceland.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Edible wild plant use in the Faroe Islands and Iceland

Svanberg

Ægisson

2012

Acta Soc Bot Pol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper reviews the use of wild edible plants in the Faroe Islands and Iceland from the times of the first settlement of Norse people in the Viking age until today, with a special emphasis on the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Animal products have been an important source of nutrients for the islanders of northern Atlantic. Cultivation of cereals on the other hand has played a minor role, and had already been abandoned by late medieval times in Iceland and by the early 20th century on the Faroes. Crops such as potatoes, turnips and other roots were only grown in the small patches of cultivated soil. Wild plants have therefore been of some importance for the Faroese people and the Icelanders; in the last centuries especially for the rural poor and during times of recessions. The native Angelica archangelica L. was gathered in the wild and also cultivated in gardens for centuries. A few species have been part of the regular food staple. Some plants are still gathered and made into food products by small companies, especially in Iceland. In the Faroes, the economic aspect of edible wild plant taxa is mostly of historical interest, although a few products of A. archangelica are sometimes available. Two taxa have been exploited as regular food exclusively in Iceland: Cetraria islandica (L.) Arch. and Elymus arenarius L. Icelanders have used C. islandica from the early settlement days and continue to do so today, E. arenarius became obsolete as a food plant a century ago. Keywords: wild food plants, algae, lichens

show abstract

“…In recent decades, land use has been characterised by an extension of agricultural and building land to the detriment of forests and wetlands. These developments reduce the availability of gathering areas [8,18,20,22].…”

Section: Land Use and Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some highlighted the importance of being in harmony with nature when gathering wild plants. Land use changes are among the greatest threats to the abundance and thus commercialisation of wild plant species; land management can support or limit commercialisation [8,11,[18][19][20][21][22][23] Gathering practices n/a n/a Unsustainable harvesting techniques can limit availability and thus commercialisation, especially of herbal wild plant species [8,20,24] Policies Access to resources Ownership of gathering sites by farmers themselves; exceptional permits for gathering widely distributed protected plant species…”

Section: Attitudesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptualising the Factors that Influence the Commercialisation of Non-Timber Forest Products: The Case of Wild Plant Gathering by Organic Herb Farmers in South Tyrol (Italy)

2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The gathering and commercialisation of non-timber forest products (NTFP) in Europe has repeatedly been praised for its potential to support rural development. However, political support mechanisms explicitly targeting NTFP remain underdeveloped. In this study, we aimed to contribute to the design of support mechanisms by understanding the factors that influence the commercialisation of wild plants by organic farmers. We first developed a conceptual framework based on fifteen factors and then applied the framework to a case study in South Tyrol (Alto Adige), Italy. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with all fourteen members of the Vereinigung Südtiroler Kräuteranbauer (Associazione Coltivatori Sudtirolesi Piante Officinali), who commercialised wild plant species, and the data were then analysed using qualitative content analysis. Agricultural intensification, pesticide drift, limited access to gathering sites suitable for organic certification, legal restrictions, lack of consumer awareness about the additional value of organic wild plant certification, and limited product diversity were perceived as limiting factors; management techniques in organic farming, organic certification, a trend for wild, regional and healthy foods, the availability of training, and favourable cultural values and attitudes towards wild plant gathering were perceived as supportive. This study offers a comprehensive understanding of the many diverse factors that may influence wild plant commercialisation in Europe and beyond and provides guidance on how political support mechanisms could unlock the much heralded potential of wild plant commercialisation for rural development.

show abstract

The Use and Economic Value of Manna grass (Glyceria) in Poland from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century

Cited by 17 publications

References 17 publications

Historical ethnobotanical review of wild edible plants of Estonia (1770s–1960s)

Historical ethnobotanical review of wild edible plants of Estonia (1770s–1960s)

Edible wild plant use in the Faroe Islands and Iceland

Conceptualising the Factors that Influence the Commercialisation of Non-Timber Forest Products: The Case of Wild Plant Gathering by Organic Herb Farmers in South Tyrol (Italy)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About