ARTICHOKE, Project

Barloy, J. and Fernandez, J. Synthesis on Jerusalem artichoke projects, in Topinambour (Jerusalem Artichoke), Report EUR 13405, Grassi, G. and Gosse, G., Eds., Commission of the European Communities, Luxembourg, 1991, PP- 3-14. 

NARA, RG319, Entry 47-A, Box 13, File 400.112, CIA, Artichoke Project, 28 August 1951. 

The documents were an incomplete subset of memoranda and reports from the MK-ULTRA program. They do include a description of some subsidiary projects, such as Bluebird, Artichoke and Derby Hat. In January, 1963 Gottlieb, at Helms direction, had already destroyed most of the other documents from the earlier CIA activities. Still others were withheld or heavily redacted. Those that remain refer to some of the experiments initiated in the 1950 s under the direction of Dr. Gottlieb. To me, they seemed scientifically imsophisticated and often done at the whim of the local agent in charge. 

One of the most comprehensive sources of Jerusalem artichoke tubers in North America is maintained and available from the Scatterseed Project, part of the Seed Savers Exchange Members Network (Decorah, IA), run by Will Bonsall, Box 1167, Farmington, ME 04938, U.S. This collection includes an impressive range of landraces, and obsolete and traditional cultivars from around North America (see Section 8.14.2). 

Dave s Shrine — U.S. origin. Fat tubers (8 to 12 cm long) with bronzy purple skins and ivory-colored internal flesh. High dry matter content gives the tubers a saltier and meatier taste than other Jerusalem artichokes (Watson, 1996). Collected by Dave Briars of Craftsbury, VT, U.S. Available from Will Bonsall (Scatterseed Project), Box 1167, Farmington, ME... 

Meanwhile, the CIA had initiated a search for the so-called "stupid bush and other botanicals that might derange the human mind. The CIA became especially interested in a shrub called piule, whose seeds, they were told, had long been used as inebriants in Mexican religious ceremonies. In early 1933, a scientist from "Project ARTICHOKE went to Mexico in search of this plant. Before he left Mexico with bags of plant material, including ten pounds of piule, he heard wondrous stories about special mushrooms used in connection with religious festivals. 

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