Your World Tonight - Seeds to rebuild Syria, grocery store security, Michelin-starred taco stand, and more

Episode Date: December 28, 2024

After a decade of war has devastated Syria's agriculture industry, farmers are hoping to regrow their crops... and they're turning to a concrete bunker in Norway to do it. The Global Seed Vault houses seeds from more than 60 countries, safeguarding them against war and natural disaster. Syria is the first country to make a withdrawal to restore the plants it lost.And: British grocery stores are being increasingly targeted by organized crime, with thieves stealing whole shelves of food and drink to resell. Stores are turning to GPS tags, undercover security guards, and specialized police units to protect their staff and products.Also: The Michelin Guide is considered the foremost authority on fine dining. But it doesn't just review high-end restaurants. It granted one of its coveted stars to a street-side taco stand in Mexico City, leading to long lineups as foodies from around the world came looking for a taste of authentic — and delicious — Mexican food.Plus: A mayor invites residents on walks to discuss local issues and stay healthy, South India's disappearing Iranian cafés, and Sweden's candy obsession.

Hey there, I'm David Common. If you're like me, there are things you love about living in the GTA and things that drive you absolutely crazy. Every day on This Is Toronto, we connect you to what matters most about life in the GTA, the news you gotta know, and the conversations your friends will be talking about. Whether you listen on a run through your neighbourhood, or while sitting in the parking lot that is the 401, check out This Is Toronto, wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC Podcast. Hi, I'm Stephanie Skanderis,

and this is a special edition of Your World Tonight. Food is a huge topic of conversation this time of year. What to eat, what to serve at all those holiday events, or just use to find comfort in the colder months. Tonight on the podcast, we bring you global food stories from disappearing Irani cafes in India to why you're suddenly likely to see a security tag on meat in the uk to how a michelin star has changed business for a small mexican taco stand we begin with

the vault that ensures the world's crops will survive any possible catastrophe Deep in a mountain in Svalbard, Norway, the Global Seed Vault looks like something out of a Bond movie. Also called the Doomsday Vault, seeds from around the world are kept here in case of a food catastrophe. Countries have made deposits as a backup to their national seed banks. Only one has ever made a withdrawal. Syria. As Philip Lee Shanock reports, it's hoped those seeds will now play a small part in rebuilding the country. Celebrations after the surprisingly quick fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.

Around the world, those who fled Syria's civil war say a new day is dawning. A farmer from Dara in southwestern Syria, Rasmi al-Nofal came as a refugee and settled in the Ottawa area. At first, he planted the seeds he brought with him. Now his Engel Farms in Nepean has 15 greenhouses. I plant everything. Black eggplant, pink eggplant, cabbage, zucchini, cucumber, white cucumber or Armenian cucumber. You can't say Armenian cucumber. More than a decade of war in Syria has devastated his home country's agricultural industry.

Since 2011, half of its rural population has fled. Crops and livestock have been lost. Infrastructure like irrigation systems destroyed. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization pegs the cost of war to Syria's agricultural sector at more than $22 billion. But Al-Nofal says farmers are ready to replant and help rebuild Syria. Farmer number one, before the doctor, before the police, because this is important for people here because this food. Al-Nofal knows how rare, precious and fragile seeds can be.

He gets them where he can. Sometimes I bring with some people when you come to Canada or some Syrian people here visit Syria, someone bring some seeds for me. But the war has put many rare seeds at risk. A seed bank located just outside Aleppo with one of the world's most valuable collections of seeds containing some of Syria's oldest varieties of wheat and barley, was destroyed in the war. They luckily had deposited copies of their seed collection in the seed vault. Osman Ostahl is the coordinator of the Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway. Located on an island not far from the North Pole,

it's a massive concrete bunker that descends deep into the rock. Inside is a repository of seeds from more than 60 countries, stored at minus 19 Celsius. They're kept safe not just from war, but impacts of climate change, such as drought and wildfire. It's like a bank box. If they lose the seeds, they may lose the genetic material. The seeds deposited here from Syria were withdrawn and sent to Lebanon

and Morocco. There they were germinated and what was lost restored. This is luckily the only case when we had to send seeds back. So it showed that the seed vault works. But not all countries have sent seeds to Svalbard for safekeeping. Seed banks in Afghanistan and Iraq have been destroyed. Those seeds lost. Ostahl says the rush is on to save more. We cooperate with gin banks and have seeds from gin banks in Sudan and Ukraine. And projects are going on to rescue and conserve more seeds from these countries. But restarting Syria's farms is a priority.

The World Food Programme estimates half of Syria's population, approximately 12 million people, face food insecurity, putting it among the top six at-risk countries in the world. Philip Lishanok, CBC News, Toronto. Food retailers, just like any other, hope for a boost throughout the holiday season. But in the UK, experts say an opposing trend is growing. Theft is becoming an epidemic

that is showing no sign of slowing down with losses in the millions of dollars. It's become so bad now that it's not unusual to see food items, things like pieces of meat, security tagged. Anna Cunningham has been looking into the issue. She tells us how far London retailers are going to protect their staff and their produce. There are three individuals going into a store, armed, taking out the entire meat section, taking out the entire spirits and wine section, taking out the entire meat section, taking out the entire spirits and wine section,

taking out the entire infection section. Paul Gerrard knows what retail crime looks like. He heads up public affairs at the Co-op Group, which has supermarkets across the UK. Individuals and gangs are targeting food stores in the UK in order to steal huge volumes of product to resell. Gerrard says theft is not only on the rise, it's getting increasingly violent. We've had colleagues attacked with baseball bats, with bottles, with syringes, with knives. We've had colleagues attacked with a medieval mace. And that's not unusual.

Staff wear body cameras as undercover security guards as well as the visible ones. And also this we have hard plastic cases that are gps trackable for proteins like meat pork chops lamb chops steaks chicken cheese we will have those gps tagged baby formula milk large jars of coffee they will again be in big hard plastic covers which are gps trackable we're not seeing one or two items being stolen. We're seeing entire shelves being cleared. Criminology professor Emmeline Taylor specialises in retail crime. Taylor says it's off the scale.

An epidemic or even a tsunami of shop theft. The British Retail Consortium's most recent figures recorded 45,000 incidents of retail theft a day costing uk retailers some 5.9 billion dollars double the previous year hello you gorgeous lovely people um now you're going to think i'm joking but i'm not um there has been a great cheese robbery um some of the best cheddar cheese in the world has been stolen, 22 tonnes worth. Four van, two and a half thousand pies has been stolen from our unit. When I was about 13, 14 years old, I went out and I actually shoplifted.

Farrah McNutt's first time stealing didn't involve food, but a pair of school trousers. Soon she was shoplifting for adults. I'd get told by them, you know, it's OK, they're for insurance. I just didn't see a problem with it. Now age 30, McNutt runs Catch a Thief, a crime prevention partnership for retailers and gas stations across the UK. We have one independent retailer who's got this amazing system in their store. So even if you go out with the alarm tag,

the alarm tag carries on beeping. Like anywhere, there's opportunistic theft, but it's large-scale organised crime that's causing the most concern. Professor Taylor says many of the criminal gangs operating in UK retail theft originate abroad. They're seeing the UK as a soft option, flying over, targeting different locations, sometimes including forced shoplifting, using vulnerable adults, individuals who might have

unstable immigration status. Recently, the UK's National Police Chiefs Council announced it had cracked 28 organised crime groups and so-called high-harm individuals. Paul Gerrard welcomes the help from police, but says the UK can't arrest its way out of this problem. We will sort this out and begin to tackle those underlying causes that puts people in the position that they are vulnerable to attacking shops on the commission of others. Anna Cunningham, CBC News, London. Still ahead, if the only Swedish candies you've heard of are berries and fish, you're missing out.

But that might be for the best, because it's now extra hard to get your hands on the real Swedish sweet stuff. The whole sugary story is coming up on your world tonight. Let us introduce you to Luciano Fregonese. He's been leading a small northern Italian town for more than a decade as mayor and gaining weight along the way. After some nasty comments on social media, he's come up with an innovative response. He's launched mobile office hours, when townspeople can join him for weekly vineyard hikes, discussing town issues as they work up a sweat. As Megan Williams tells us, other places are taking notice.

A lively food fair fills the town square of Valdo Biadene, framed by rolling vineyards and the pine-clad Alps. The little booths here sell cheese and salami, hot chocolate and Nutella, beer and a special prosecco Valdo Biadene is famous for. The kind of delectable offerings that this local mother and daughter say led to their town's mayor putting on the pounds. Day after day, he had to attend events with a buffet or aperitivo or a four-course dinner. And then, she gestures a big belly.

The mayor, Luciano Fragonese, says culinary delights were just part of it. When I became mayor, I put on more than 100 pounds because I was so busy and I stopped exercising. Last summer, just before he won a third term as mayor, his size became the butt of jokes on social media. It was not really a problem but I thought that other people could be hurt. Younger, isolated people, he says, who don't have the support he does. So he took the comments in stride, deciding to start walking off the extra weight in a weekly hike, inviting townspeople to come along.

Half a year later, hundreds now join the mayor along different local trails. Good thing the steep part is over, says this elderly nun, who's out walking for the first time in ages. Rita Zago, 63, says she uses the walks to tell the mayor about broken street lamps or potholes. Mayor Luciano says combining civic engagement with exercise has improved relations in the town and his health. He's lost 50 pounds with 50 more to go and he's breathing easier. Six months ago the walks were slow. Now we go at a clip, he says. The only person in the group still struggling to shed pounds is vice mayor, Piero Geronazzo. To avoid overeating, Mayor Luciano fobbed off all the official invites onto Geronazzo, who's struggling under the weight of it all.

Yeah, it's not easy because if you don't drink or eat something, it's like to say something bad, very bad to the family or to the events you are invited. So you can't say, no, I don't want to eat. Even a hike on a remote country road in Italy doesn't protect you from the risk of dangerously caloric delicacies. When we reach the halfway point, a local inn laid out a spread of panettone, mortadella and cheese sandwiches,

vermbullet and prosecco. Still one step ahead on his quest for health, Mayor Luciano carefully plucks a fruit stick from the feast. Fruit and water. Megan Williams, CBC News, Valdobbiadene, Italy. The Michelin Guide is often considered the foremost authority on fine dining. A coveted Michelin star can turn a restaurant into a culinary destination overnight. That's exactly what happened to a small taco stand in Mexico City. Freelance journalist Manuel Rueda went for a visit

and found staff can now barely keep up with demand. In many ways, El Califa de Leon is your typical taco stand. There's a hot steel plate where cook grills thin slices of meat and a fridge where the owners keep cans of coke and other soft drinks. Customers eat their meals on plastic tables that have been placed on the sidewalk. But getting tacos here now requires some patience. Sales have doubled since the Michelin Guide granted El Califa one of its coveted stars, attracting tourists from all over. And the staff of three people struggles to keep up with orders.

This took us by surprise, says Mario Hernandez, El Califa's owner. Now we have loads of people coming here to see if we truly deserve this award. The Michelin Guide praised the taco stand for its thinly cut and juicy steak, the slightly sour but addictive chili sauce, and the fresh tortillas, which are rolled by an assistant who works next to the cook. Although the seating here is unfussy, many customers said they agreed with the Michelin award. It's simple, but it's perfect. Benjamin Rojas visited the taco stand after her sister-in-law showed him a video on YouTube.

Meat, tortilla, and salsa. That's it. Salt tender. Salt tender, salt tasteful, it's awesome. Neil Damani from India said he read about El Khalifa in a newspaper, so he decided to visit with some friends. I'm satisfied. To be honest with you, I've never had Michelin star quality tacos before,

but this was pretty darn good. Jasmine Perez from Los Angeles couldn't find a seat on the sidewalk, but she got a table at the clothing store next door, which is also seating some of the customers. The combination of the lime and just the juicy flavors of the meat is so good. It's about what's authentic and what's pure and what tastes good. People really love authenticity, so I think that's why this place is getting the recognition that it deserves. The purpose of the Michelin Guide is to point people towards tasty food, but it's developed

a reputation for highlighting mostly expensive, fine dining establishments and only certain cuisines. Israel Montero, a chef in Mexico City, says by awarding a star to a taco stand, Michelin is sending a message. They're making their guide more accessible, he says, by showing people that there are good meals that are also very affordable. Michelin mentioned 157 restaurants in its first ever guide to Mexico's cuisine, including more than a dozen taco stands around the country.

But El Califa is the only taco place with a star. Now owner Mario Hernandez says he's looking at ways to cash in on this unexpected opportunity. But he dismisses the idea of turning his taco stand into a franchise. If we turn this into a restaurant chain, they might take our star away, he says. Our challenge right now is to keep up our quality and hang on to that star. Manuel Vreda for CBC News, Mexico City. In the South Indian city of Hyderabad, Irani cafes were once lively tea rooms where people huddled over chai, read the newspaper, and discussed issues of the day.

Now, the open political discussions have mostly fallen silent, many of the snack bars closing their doors. Freelance journalist Anupama Chandrasekaran tells us how and why the cafes have changed. In the heart of Hyderabad, Iranian cafes like the New Grand Restaurant and Bakery were known for their marble tables, mirrored walls, and for their milky sweet Irani tea, which attracted students, artists, and activists.

Oddly enough, the name is a misnomer. It was a synthesis of, you know, Hyderabadi culture and Iranian culture. But the tea, Iranian tea, you won't find in Iran. In Iran, black tea is preferred or consumed with a sugar cube in the mouth. New grand owner Mohamed Hussain Yavari heard stories of Iranian tea traditions from his father, who fled Iran and came to India. India is a true democracy. That is why. Persian immigrants like Yavari's father saw a huge opportunity in serving tea to Hyderabadis.

Hyderabad is a very obvious choice for many Iranians because the founding kingdom in Hyderabad has links to Iran. Historian Yusuf Lasania leads walking tours of the city. He says working-class Hyderabadis were drawn to the cafes. By the mid-20th century, they could be found all over and became meeting places for active communists. Chai was the common person's drink, right? Apparently, for the longest time, these cafes were considered to be not exactly for the elite, for the high society people.

During those times, every table used to have the local newspaper as part of the culture. Jaleel Farooq Rooz's father took over one of the oldest Irani cafes,

the Grand Hotel. He says regulars would linger for hours for tea, cookies and vibrant conversations about taboo subjects. Today, the Irani cafes are disappearing. Cafe owners are faced with rising rents, strict curfew laws and competition from international coffee chains and fast food restaurants. More than three quarters of Hyderabad's Irani cafes have closed in the past two decades.

The coffee culture came around 15-18 years back and the youngsters mostly moved towards the coffee. The shift is evident around the Charminar area. The once lively, all-night gathering place now clears out before midnight. Chetan Ashish says he misses having a late night cup of chai. It would be a very nice time to go there because it's 4 o'clock in the morning that some of these cafes open. And you know, you can have like, you can have something for breakfast there and it would be a nice ritual for a lot of people. The remaining cafes are trying to stay relevant, updating their menus and promoting their businesses online. But as Hyderabad changes, Irani chai just may no longer be everybody's cup of tea.

Anupama Chandrasekaran for CBC News. I'm Stephanie Skanderis. You can hear Your World Tonight and other CBC Radio programs wherever you are on your favourite podcast app. No country on earth loves candy quite like Sweden. That's a big claim, but every Saturday, Swedes gorge on assorted gummies as the tradition goes. That tradition has taken off online, where some TikTokers have taken to calling it candy salad. But the growing Swede tooth in North America has led to a Scandinavian sugar shortage. Jenna Benjetrit explains. Listen, I got a plethora of different gummies.

I like the ones that you feel like you're going to break your teeth on. This is a strawberry squid. This is the first time I've ever had these. They're delicious. After discovering a Swedish candy store near her New York apartment, TikTok influencer Mary Grace Graves let her followers in on her weekly ritual. So this is what I get. It's mostly lemon and strawberry,

raspberry. I like the berries. But what was meant to be a sweet secret turned the candies into a viral phenomenon. And stores around the world have seen a run on their Swedish candy stock ever since. But we definitely at that point in January saw a spike in new customers. And new customers with an actual sense of urgency that they needed to get their orders in as soon as possible. Michelina Jassel's Swedish candy shop in Vancouver has been trying to keep up with demand. The candy is popular for good reason, Jassel says. There's no GMOs, no corn syrup. The Swedes make it a little differently.

Typically lesser ingredients than your conventional candy that you're going to find at the grocery store. You don't quite have that sick to your stomach sometimes that you experience with conventional candy. These are more than just Swedish berries. Known for their eclectic shapes like skulls, rats, squids and pig heads, the candies also come in unusual flavors. There's a banana caramel, there's strawberry vanilla sour, there's cola, blueberry. Jessica Borschever runs online candy store Sucker Baby from Toronto. The social media craze was a boon to her business.

Then her most important Swedish supplier ran dry. The biggest supplier that tipped everything over the edge, they're called Bubz, and everyone who was anyone wanted to get their hands on it. Bubz was already low on candy. Then it closed its factory for the summer holidays, forcing the company to cut off new international customers, says Niklas Arnolin, an executive at the company that owns Bubz. We have had long relationships with our customers in Sweden and the rest of the Nordics,

and we need to prioritize them currently. Swedes just might be their best customer. They eat 16 kilograms of candy a person per year. The country has a tradition called Saturday candy, where families gorge on sweets. It dates back to the 1950s, when researchers found that eating candy only one day a week would improve dental health. It's sort of a ritual, I would say, in many families. Stockholm resident Linda Rose remembers when Saturday candy became popular. She had a similar ritual with her children on Fridays. Even as the candy shortage goes global, she says sweets are well taken care of.

There's no shortage here. None whatsoever. Like, if you go to any grocery store, there is a lot. Talk about a sugar rush. Jenna Benchtrit, CBC News, Toronto. And this seems like a sweet place to sign off. This has been a special edition of Your World Tonight. I'm Stephanie Skanderc.ca slash podcasts.