Cabinet (Fall 2006, issue 23)

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From the Biblical fruit that brought about the moral downfall of mankind to "terminator" seed strains engineered to ensure that farmers have to buy new seed stocks every year, from banana republics to the annual tomato-throwing festivals in Spain, the story of fruits and vegetables opens an idiosyncratic window on human development and interaction. This issue includes Steve Featherstone on a doomsday global seed repository on a remote Arctic island; a conversation with legendary kitchen scientist Harold McGee on the cooking of fruits and vegetables; Frances Richard on the national standards for serving size and nutrition; and essays on gleaning, tropical fruit and cultural identity, bee vision, and the history of throwing fruit and vegetables at bad actors. It features projects from Ellen Birrell, Sabrina Gschwandtner, and the Los Angeles-based Fallen Fruit collective, along with Daniel Handler on the color violet; Jonathan Beller on the history of attention; Lytle Shaw on the 1920s screenwriting how-to book Plotto; Peter Sloterdijk's proposal for Inflatable Parliaments; and a supplement by the London-based artists' collective Implicasphere focusing on the Nose.