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Annala had offered to arrange a salty-licorice tasting for me in Helsinki, as well as convene a meeting of the F.S.L.A.’s Salmiakkikonklaavi (Salmiakki Conclave), the ruling body that awards a Salty Licorice of the Year honor at the group’s spring gala. The first gala took place in 1998, shortly after the founding of the F.S.L.A., whose membership numbers about 80. One year, Annala told me, “some people misunderstood that the word ‘gala’ was an ironic thing and came in gowns.”

Forward-thinking, resourceful and social media savvy, the shop’s young owner, dressed in a blue, second-hand shirt, makes eco-living seem like a stylish choice. “Imagery is so important,” she says. “When you see someone with a glass jar containing all the waste they’ve produced that year, you think, ‘Wow, maybe I could do that.’”

Shopping at supermarkets can be stressful. You’re visually bombarded with flash sales and endless rows of goods, all while squeezing past other shoppers in between aisles and being bumped by their baskets or trolleys. More often than not, you end up leaving with way more purchases than you intended to buy in the first place, adding to the pile of goods you already have stacked up in your store room “just in case” you ever run out. To the suppliers, this falsely indicates a constant demand for goods, which in turn leads them to producing even more products, and using more packaging along the way.

A beloved candy bar somewhat like a Kit Kat, the Coffee Crisp is manufactured at a Nestlé factory in Toronto and isn’t distributed anywhere outside the country, much to the chagrin of its rabid American fans. Back in 2000, a Milwaukee man named John Flaig created a petition asking the company to bring the candy bar to the United States. Six years later, Nestlé relented and started selling it south of the border, but with a different wrapper. (They also pulled the ‘‘nice, light snack’’ tagline.) But sadly, it didn’t last: These days Americans who want one have to cross the border.

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Super Hiper Ácido (S.H.A.) is exactly as its name implies: sour. As in, maybe the most sour thing you’ve ever put in your mouth. Confiteca, the Ecuadorean company behind it, designed it for the extreme palates of Gen Z candy lovers. To make sure the sour flavor was enough of a challenge, Confiteca developed its own sour scale and declared that every Super Hiper Ácido product the company put on the market has to hit at least 90 out of 100. The S.H.A. brand of products now makes up about 42 percent of Confiteca’s exports and is popular in Saudi Arabia, Bolivia, United Arab Emirates, Panama and Israel.

Oien originally became involved with pulses as part of his pioneering effort to raise organic beef in the 1970s. Oien is now a co-owner of Timeless Seeds, Montana's largest producer of organic lentils, chickpeas and barley.

This birth certificate is for a girl named Shehed. A She weighed 4 kilograms when she was born on Aug. 26, 2016, in an administrative area created by ISIS called Al-Jazeera province.

Candy is controversial. Scouring the globe in search of the sweet stuff reveals just how different our palates are — and how much we have in common.

Known for its zebra-striped wrapper, TomTom is a bit of a threefer, a hard candy with menthol that provides a hit of sugar, fresher breath and, according to its tag line, ‘‘soothing relief.’’ (Current flavors: classic, honey lemon and strawberry.) Cadbury has produced the candy in Lagos since 1970. It’s the official candy of the Super Eagles, the national Nigerian soccer team.

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There is a lady who drags herself across town every year to bring me a new pillow or mattress cover. A psychiatric patient with a filthy temper who makes a special annual trip to the craft show for one delicate Christmas tree ornament. A lonely man gives me a treasured book, a history of the British army in Turkey during the First World War. Amateur paintings are produced, “I have 400 more at home, doctor.” And a beaded tapestry made by a South American reformed drug smuggler hangs on our wall. Then there are the bringers of the Annual Very Large Poinsettia.