
Quinoa should be taking over the world. This is why it isn’t - chwolfe
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/07/11/quinoa-should-be-taking-over-the-world-this-is-why-it-isnt/
======
scythe
Quinoa, famous for protein and fiber content, still contains less protein and
fiber than, say, oatmeal. It's okay - hyperventilating paleo bloggers have
raised concerns about saponins -- but the whole "superfood" frenzy about
quinoa is just a tad off base. It's okay, not bad for you, probably better
than white rice or processed food, but most of what quinoa has going for it is
simply that it is real and unmodified. If it "took over the world", it would
be sweetened, boiled, extracted, and fried into chips with none of the
nutritional benefits people are seeking therefrom anyway.

~~~
etler
Oatmeal is very dense. Calorie for Calorie Quinoa has more protein and dietary
fiber than oatmeal.

100 calories of Quinoa

[http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=83+g+quinoa](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=83+g+quinoa)

100 calories of Oatmeal

[http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=26+g+oatmeal](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=26+g+oatmeal)

However if you look at the vitamins, oatmeal wins.

I also wouldn't call Quinoa a super food, but it does fill a gap left by other
grains and is definitely a worthy addition to a healthy balanced diet.

~~~
Scaevolus
Side-by-side comparison:
[http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=26+g+oatmeal+vs+83g+qui...](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=26+g+oatmeal+vs+83g+quinoa)

The vitamins is probably missing data-- Vitamin C is biochemically critical,
so a plant would have some amount of it.

~~~
monkeyspaw
Maybe I'm going cross eyed from a long day, but looking at that result... how
can Quaker oatmeal have 2g of protein and be 5% USRDA, while quinoa has 4g of
protein yet 7% USRDA? Shouldn't that be 10% USRDA for quinoa?

~~~
scythe
Rounding. The RDA is 50 grams. So oatmeal's 2g is closer to 2.5g and quinoa's
4g is closer to 3.5g. At least that'd be my guess.

------
mikestew
"Quinoa is a low-calorie, gluten-free, high-protein grain that _tastes
great_." (emphasis mine)

I'm a vegetarian, high-mileage distance runner who has every reason to enjoy
quinoa. "Tastes great" is not one of the reasons I eat it. I choke it down as
best I can because it's good for me.

~~~
kevinconroy
Try this recipe for a Quinoa Burrito Bowl. Even my children love it, which is
saying something.

[http://www.makebetterfood.com/recipes/quinoa-burrito-
bowl/](http://www.makebetterfood.com/recipes/quinoa-burrito-bowl/)

~~~
mikestew
From the recipe alone, I think you have a winner. Thanks!

------
rosser
A particular concern with quinoa, given its narrow (native) growing area, and
the poverty endemic to that area, is that worldwide demand for the crop has
out-priced its growers' and their communities' ability to afford it in order
to feed _themselves_. A select few brands set aside some of each harvest
specifically for that purpose (and also put some of their profits back into
improving the farms, sending the farmers' children to college, and that kind
of thing), but so far, that's decidedly not the norm.

~~~
YokoZar
Why is this a problem? If quinoa sprouted literal diamonds we wouldn't be
upset that the farmers were selling them instead of making their own jewelry.

Having your crops be too valuable to eat is a good problem to have; these
farmers incomes have more than sextupled. That easily lets them sell the crop
and buy other food like everyone else.

~~~
lukasb
I remember seeing a headline in Thailand "rise in rice prices hits small
farmers hard". I've seen similar things in Kenya: "high maize prices devastate
small farmers."

It turns out many subsistence farmers (of which there are roughly a billion)
are net consumers of their staple crop. In order to survive, the poor
diversify across a variety of agricultural products. Large industrial farming
operations are growing the rest of the rice/maize ... and I'm guessing quinoa.

So, if the same pattern holds here, farmers consume more quinoa than they
sell, and suffer when prices go up.

~~~
windsurfer
I still don't understand. If a farmer produces 10 units of quinoa and sell 4
every year, they'll still produce 10 units no matter what the price is.
They'll still be able to sell 4 units, and still be able to consume 6. The
only difference would be that farmers will make more of a profit selling the 4
units.

The only possible explanation would be that the resources (farming equipment,
seeds, fertilizer?) required to grow the crop go up in price as the price of
the crop does - in which case, blame the suppliers of these resources.

~~~
lukasb
More typically, farmers produce 10 units, sell 3, and buy another 10 later in
the year. Hence any rise in price is a net loss for them.

~~~
marshray
How did that ever work?

~~~
sambe
From reading the grandparent:

"subsistence farmers are net consumers of their staple crop. In order to
survive, the poor diversify across a variety of agricultural products"

I don't understand the downvotes for the parent. They are growing other
products, or have cash from other activities, and use this to buy the staple
they can't grow. If price of staple rises and price of other products and
services does not, they can't afford to do this. The beneficiaries are large
industrial farmers of the staple. Did I miss something?

~~~
nknighthb
The part where even if that is true, there are other, cheaper staples. This
should be a classic self-correcting problem. The world as a whole has gotten
by on staples other than quinoa. Now that the market price of this particular
local staple has skyrocketed, it can be sold in exchange for greater
quantities of less-expensive staples used elsewhere.

If there is in fact a problem (and I do question its existence), I believe
lukasb is looking for it in the wrong place.

~~~
lukasb
They don't have access to other, cheaper staples. These are geographically
isolated farmers in countries with poor infrastructure.

~~~
nknighthb
If the quinoa can get out, other things can get in.

------
klipt
> Quinoa is a plant that produces a tremendous amount of seed. So you have
> potential, with intensive selection, to identify variants that have unusual
> characteristics.

Will it still be as nutritious after all that selection though? There was an
article pointing out that when farmers select for bigger, shinier, more
marketable fruit, it's often at the cost of actual nutritional value:

[http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/opinion/sunday/breeding-
th...](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/opinion/sunday/breeding-the-
nutrition-out-of-our-food.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)

~~~
jsnk
Unlike vegetable and fruits, how quinoa looks probably doesn't matter to
consumers at all. Given this is the case, selection criteria will focus more
on nutrition numbers which they can advertise easily (20g OF PROTEIN!!!) than
looks.

~~~
mc32
How does that explain white rice vs. brown rice preferences, or glutinous rice
vs longgrain, etc.

People have preferences for some characteristics in something which would seem
to be very ordinary.

Maybe quinoa is different, but who knows, at this point. Maybe it's like oats.
Oats are oats are oats, for most people, I think (except for the cutting vs
rolling process)

~~~
iopq
brown rice tastes bad and has anti-nutrients that block absorption of B
vitamins and minerals like magnesium

~~~
gnoway
Not sure about the anti-nutrients, but the 'tastes bad' part is entirely
subjective. I prefer brown rice, and I think it tastes fine.

~~~
zem
at any rate, it tastes very perceptibly different from white rice.

------
D9u
Meh... Cannabis seed is more nutritious, and has more uses, as does the
cannabis fibers, that quinoa pales in comparison. Cannabis is easier to grow
as well.

If our governments weren't so afraid of people getting stoned the economic
benefits of cannabis would make it a major cash crop capable of outperforming
quinoa in every aspect.

~~~
jongraehl
Quinoa plants produce more seeds. Sounds like pothead wishful thinking.

------
jessaustin
Some puzzling stuff in this article. We're apparently to believe that
Colorado's transportation infrastructure is far behind that of the Bolivian
Andes?

~~~
lnanek2
Transportation in our mountains doesn't have to be worse than theirs, just bad
enough to prevent our farmers from farming the areas. One of the reasons Japan
has so much cool electronics is that a successful manufacturing run their is
much smaller. A product could sell one tenth what it does in the US and still
be seen as a success, but the the US one a failure.

------
switch007
A quick search revealed that quinoa is between £4.50 and £8 a kilo in the UK
and brown rice is £1-£4 (depending on quality).

To the rice you could just add some bran (£2/kilo, but you don't need much)
and another, cheap source of protein to make it similar to quinoa's
nutirtional values.

~~~
jffry
Which is great, as long as you're able to tolerate gluten. I know two people
with Celiac disease, and quinoa is a godsend to them.

~~~
voltagex_
I wonder what the real price of quinoa is, before this "superfood" bollocks
got to it?

~~~
jffry
The Wikipedia article on quinoa [0] claims that

    
    
      Between 2006 and early 2013 quinoa crop prices have tripled.
    

That statement cites an article earlier this year in the Guardian [1] which
links to another Guardian article [2] which doesn't have anything more
specific than $4500/ton in 2013 versus $3115/ton in 2011.

[0]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa#Rising_popularity_and_cr...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa#Rising_popularity_and_crop_value)

[1]
[http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/16/vegans-s...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/16/vegans-
stomach-unpalatable-truth-quinoa)

[2] [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/14/quinoa-andes-
bol...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/14/quinoa-andes-bolivia-peru-
crop)

------
DigitalSea
Quinoa is the perfect rice substitute. I switched over to Quinoa about 3 years
ago instead of rice. Even though it's super expensive (especially in
Australia) it has health benefits that far outweigh other suitable grains that
can be used as a rice substitute. Steam some vegetables, put them into a bowl
with Quinoa, cook a nice massive mushroom and sit the Quinoa on-top and then
sprinkle some Himalayan Rock Salt over the top and you've got yourself a
delicious healthy meal.

~~~
simplexion
Citation for, "it has health benefits that far outweigh other suitable grains
that can be used as a rice substitute." please.

------
anigbrowl
_Quinoa should be taking over the world._

Why? It has some nutritional benefits and it tastes OK, but that's all. I
wouldn't want to eat it all the time. This is a crap story, with this bolted-
on conspiracy near the end that quinoa is losing out because it can't compete
with Big Ag. Give it a chance to succeed or fail on its own merits - because
it might well be a fad, like Acai berries were two years ago.

~~~
latch
Because a huge number of people suffer from malnutrition, and a nutritionally
dense plant which provides a complete protein, is special.

------
GigabyteCoin
Quinoa gives me such gut-wrenching pain that I can no longer convince myself
to eat it.

My girlfriend is vegetarian which is why I have such great armchair-scientific
experience in describing this potentially-foul food.

I've been told to wash the Quinoa to remove the saponin from it before
cooking, which worked on occasion. But when you get that gut-pain from eating
Quinoa even once it's an incredibly strong deterrent from ever trying it
again.

Having eaten razorblades is a pretty accurate description of how I can feel
_for hours_ after having eaten even a small portion of Quinoa.

That could be one reason why it isn't taking over the globe. Because some
people can get violently ill after eating it. Last I heard, nobody has a
chance of developing horribly painful symptoms after eating rice.

~~~
dwiel
I did. I had to take medicatipn and stop eating rice for a year or so. Now, I
can eat rice as long as my stomach isnt aleady upset from something else. I
love quinoa.

~~~
GigabyteCoin
Care to elaborate on the name of your condition or what exactly it was in rice
that caused it?

------
jonny_eh
Gluten Free? Big deal.

Also worth a read:
[http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_exa...](http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2013/07/msg_and_gluten_intolerance_is_the_nocebo_effect_to_blame.html)

~~~
echohack
For people who turn into a giant balloon when they eat gluten, yes, it's a Big
Deal. The people around them too - it's typically a hazard to even have
glutenous foods in the area, so it's much easier for families to just go
gluten free. I'm talking about chrone's or celiac's disease people here, not
ignorant folks who are basing their diets on some Paleo diet voodoo that's
fashionable.

Also, have you had Quinoa? That shit is delicious and easy to cook. Throw it
in a rice cooker, add some water, wait 15m - BOOM - tasty nom noms, no
additives required.

Rice is generally pretty boring and you need to add something to it (Basmati
smells nice, but still tastes pretty bland, short grain / Japanese style rice
has at least some taste, but nothing interesting). It really doesn't add much
to anything nutritionally either.

Wheat and corn is in fucking everything, so when you finally do eat corn or
wheat it tastes like nothing because your goddamn peanut butter is
hydrogenated corn syrup anyway.

Personally, I can't wait until quinoa is everywhere. It looks a lot more
interesting than trying to invest in making better corn or wheat at this
point!

~~~
dghughes
>I'm talking about chrone's or celiac's disease people here, not ignorant
folks who are basing their diets on some Paleo diet voodoo that's fashionable.

I'd say that's the problem it's trendy to talk about gluten and be on a paleo
diet and it turns people off.

It seems a very small percentage of the population has celiac disease or
Crohn's from what I can find it's 0.75% and 0.1% respectively of the general
population of various countries that track it. Although I do realize you don't
have to be born with either disease you they can develop either or both later
in life and sometimes not even show symptoms.

~~~
mattebb
Side note: Crohn's doesn't really have anything to do with gluten. Some people
claim a GF diet helps them, but the disease itself is different to Celiac, and
there's not much hard evidence to show that a GF diet helps in any way.

------
twistedlogix
Quinoa is very expensive in India.

Indians have been using many millets like Finger Millet, Foxtail Millet,
Little Millets, they are rich in proteins, gluten-free and all that.

It is only now that we are using polished white rice and have become highly
vulnerable to lifestyle diseases like Diabetes.

------
rayiner
Quinoa has totally replaced rice in our cooking at home. Just stick it in a
rice cooker with water/vegetable broth and it fluffs up just like rice.

~~~
matwood
Same here. Sauté some onions and garlic in the pot. Right as those finish up
dump in the water and quinoa and cover. Turn the heat to simmer and wait the
few minutes for it to cook down. Using broth or stock of some sort instead of
water adds even more flavor.

------
kevinconroy
For anyone looking to add a nutritional grain to their diet at a low cost, I
highly recommend millet. It has similar nutritional value to quinoa but
because it isn't trendy (and thus doesn't have the same supply issues) it can
be 80% cheaper than quinoa in most stores.

~~~
CCs
It is better than oatmeal or wheat?

It looks a lot like white flour to me:

[http://skipthepie.org/cereal-grains-and-pasta/millet-
flour/c...](http://skipthepie.org/cereal-grains-and-pasta/millet-
flour/compared-to/wheat-flour-white-industrial-protein-bleached-unenriched/)

Some say goitrogens in millet is bad for you (if you eat large quantity)

[http://www.womentowomen.com/hypothyroidism/goitrogenicfoods-...](http://www.womentowomen.com/hypothyroidism/goitrogenicfoods-
thyroidhealth.aspx)

[http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/beware-of-
millet/](http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/beware-of-millet/)

~~~
kevinconroy
Millet is a grain and can be ground into flour. I'm talking about cooking it
as a grain (like most uses of quinoa).

[http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=100+g+millet](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=100+g+millet)
[http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=100+g+quinoa](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=100+g+quinoa)

Also, having too much of any one food is bad for you. I'm not suggesting that
you start baking your own bread with millet flour - just that the next time
you would cook up some rice or quinoa, give millet a try. It's a very healthy
whole grain and can be a welcome part of a well balanced diet for many people
trying to eat healthier.

------
JoeAltmaier
Here's how to explain the graph showing a bump and then a downturn in American
consumption. Tastes funky; hard to cook; unfamiliar consistency. Enthusiastic
people (my wife) buy it and it sits on the shelf, they don't know what to do
with it, lose interest.

------
cgh
Isn't quinoa technically a fruit? One problem with it is when you cook it,
unlike say rice, it's tough to refrigerate or store it without it turning into
a gelatinous mess.

~~~
wslh
I've never seen the gelatinous mess I use
[http://www.naturecrops.com/](http://www.naturecrops.com/) and I can put the
precooked one in the refrigerator.

What's your recipe?

~~~
cgh
Add quinoa to water (ratio: 1:2), bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer for ~20
mins.

I should have added a time parameter to my storage comment. We typically make
a bunch of rice, like 6 cups uncooked and keep it in a big container for the
week. With quinoa, by the end of the week it's pretty gross, kind of a big
blob.

~~~
elemeno
I'd be a little weary of keeping cooked rice for a week, even in a good fridge
(my fridge stays at a solid 2C, which keeps most things good to eat for long
than you'd think!). Rice is a surprisingly good vector for food poisoning due
to it's often carrying Bacillus Cereus spores which are heat resistant and can
then germinate and grow in the fridge - most of the sources I've seen suggest
that you shouldn't keep cooked rice in the fridge for more than 1 to 3 days.

Anecdote - Of all the times I've had food poisoning, probably half of them
have been because I've kept cooked rice around too long. I might just be
unlucky though!

~~~
cgh
Jeepers, that's scary. I've never had such bad luck - in truth, we normally
don't have rice around for more than five days. But even that sounds like it
could be too long.

~~~
wslh
I never eat something in the refrigerator after three days there.

------
voltagex_
Another viewpoint (not just on Quinoa):
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPGnBkH3fBg](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPGnBkH3fBg)

------
blizkreeg
When I hear of the effect this is having on local farmers and their ability to
feed their families, I'm confronted with the question:

Do I stop eating quinoa?

What is my responsibility?

~~~
gohrt
Buy quinoa, and find a way to support socialism in Peru.

~~~
icebraining
Should we really try to influence their political choices, even if for what we
perceive to be "their own good"?

~~~
lostlogin
It hasn't worked very well in the past... However the line needs to be drawn
somewhere. Forced sterilization maybe?
[http://m.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/jun/17...](http://m.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/jun/17/peru-
sterilisation-compensation)

~~~
icebraining
Would that influence come before or after the US compensates its own victims
of forced sterilization?

[http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WomensHealth/north-carolina-
sen...](http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WomensHealth/north-carolina-senate-
blocks-compensation-sterilization-victims-eugenics/story?id=16628515)

------
smegel
I prefer chia. I mix it in with oatmeal and it tastes great (actually its more
the gelatinous texture than taste).

------
knodi
I eat quinoa because of verity but thats just me.

------
lifeisstillgood
Am I the only one who read that as "Quora" should be taking over the world and
... And went to the Post looking for a really strange article

Quite interesting nonetheless

------
njharman
from the article "You don’t need a patent to grow a crop, of course."

Monsanto disagrees.

~~~
bayesianhorse
Depends on the crop... Also there is a lot of development effort going into
breeding or even genetically engineering plants, much more so than "software
patents".

