Ep. 283 - The Cultural and Ecological Implications of the Salep Orchid Trade
In Defense of Plants Podcast
In Defense of Plants
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 20 September 2020
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This episode is dedicated to the trade of a culinary ingredient that involves multiple orchid species. Salep is derived from the tubers of many terrestrial orchids and no one really understands how modern demand for this ingredient is affecting their populations in the wild. Joining us to talk about this are PhD candidate Martha Charitonidou and Dr. John Halley from the University of Ioannina in Greece. Their lab is uncovering vital insights into how the growing demand from affluent countries for naturally sourced products like salep can begin to crumble centuries of traditional harvesting practices. This is an important episode for anyone interested in conservation and culture. This podcast was produced in part by Bryce, Brittany, Helen, Amanda, Mikey, Rhiannon, Michelle, Kate, German, Joerg, Alejandra, Cathy, Jordan, Judy, Steve, Kae, Carole, Mr. Keith Santner, Dana, Chloe, Aaron, Sara, Kenned, Vaibhav, Kendall, Christina, Brett, Jocelyn, Kathleen, Ethan, Kaylee, Runaway Goldfish, Ryan, Donica, Chris, Shamora, Alana, Laura, Alice, Sarah, Rachel, Joanna, Griff, Philip, Paul, Matthew, Clark, Bobby, Kate, Steven, Brittney, McMansion Hell, Joey, Catherine, Brandon, Hall, Vegreville Creek and Wetlands Fund, Kevin, Oliver, John, Johansson, Christina, Jared, Hannah, Katy Pye, Brandon, Gwen, Carly, Stephen, Botanical Tours, Moonwort Studios, Liba, Mohsin Kazmi Takes Pictures, doeg, Clifton, Stephanie, Benjamin, Eli, Rachael, Plant By Design, Philip, Brent, Ron, Tim, Homestead Brooklyn, Brodie, Kevin, Sophia, Mark, Rens, Bendix, Irene, Holly, Caitlin, Manuel, Jennifer, Sara, and Margie.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey, everyone, quick announcement before we start the show. |
| 0:02.6 | I just want you to know that there's some really cool new merch up at Tispring.com slash stores slash In-Defensive Plants, including a bunch of new mask designs. They're really cool, they're really beautiful, and they look great. So go help support the show by picking up some merch over at Tyspring.com slash stores slash In defensiveplants. All right, on with the show. |
| 0:25.6 | Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Indefensive Plants Podcast, the official podcast of Indefensibleplants.com. What's up? This is your host, Matt. Welcome to the show. How's |
| 0:29.4 | everyone doing this week? Before we get into this episode, I do have some very disturbing news coming |
| 0:34.6 | out of Nevada. You may remember the podcast I had with environmental lawyer Patrick Donnelly from the Center for Biological Diversity about |
| 0:41.2 | team's buckwheat, a tiny buckwheat that's endemic to a small area in Nevada. |
| 0:45.7 | Unfortunately, it was recently discovered that upwards of 17,000 plants have been |
| 0:50.3 | intentionally destroyed by someone. These people are probably antagonistic because they're in favor of the lithium mine that would destroy this population, |
| 0:59.0 | and it's really disturbing that someone would be so petty as to go out and destroy 17,000. |
| 1:04.0 | That's nearly 40% of this plant's entire global population. |
| 1:08.0 | If you know anything, please contact the Center for Biological Diversity |
| 1:12.2 | or someone in Nevada to let them know any information you might have on the destruction of these |
| 1:16.8 | plants, whether you've overheard someone bragging about it, or maybe know someone that might |
| 1:20.5 | have gone up there when they shouldn't have. It's really disturbing news, and it just goes to show |
| 1:25.6 | you how shitty people can be sometimes over petty greed. |
| 1:29.0 | But I don't want to spoil the rest of this podcast. Today we're talking about orchids, but in the |
| 1:33.5 | context of something culinary. Now, I know this is not a culinary podcast. We don't talk about food or |
| 1:39.1 | anything like that, but we're really talking about how the culinary trade for certain orchids is affecting their numbers in the wild. |
| 1:46.8 | Now, if you enjoy orchids like I do, you may have heard this little factoid being tossed around |
| 1:50.3 | that vanilla is the only commercially viable orchid that is regularly consumed. |
| 1:56.1 | That's simply not the case. |
| 1:57.9 | In fact, what you're going to hear about today involves many different |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from In Defense of Plants, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of In Defense of Plants and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.