[PCA] NEWS: A plant-based diet for small-planet diplomats

[Olivia Kwong]

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2007/02/14_botanists.shtml

A plant-based diet for small-planet diplomats
Can botanical exchanges between the U.S. and Iran play the peacemaking 
role that ping-pong did 30 years ago?

By Cathy Cockrell, Public Affairs | 14 February 2007

As measured by international time zones or teenage girls' hemlines, the 
Islamic Republic of Iran and the American West are worlds apart. Yet as 
viewed through the lens of geography, geology, or climate, the nation- 
state and western United States have worlds in common . sharing not only 
the same northern latitudes but, in significant measure, important 
topographical features (large central plateaus, with interior-draining 
basins, lying between mountain ranges), Mediterranean climates, active 
earthquake faults, and (due in large part to these other similarities) a 
notably rich flora, with hundreds of plant species in common.

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