[Default] On Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:06:44 -1000, in or.politics you wrote:
>I think you are missing the point. The population of the world is
>increasing. More people, means more people to feed. More people to feed
>means you need food to feed these people. But we hve a basic problem. Land
>to grow the foods that are needed to feed this growing population, is
>limited, i.e. the world has used just about all of the land that can be used
>to grow the food we need to feed this growing population. So, unless you
>can figure out a way to provide the food needed for this growing population
>(trranslation: get more food out of each acre of land), sooner or later, you
>won't be able to feed this growing population. And "if" you cannot feed
>this growing population, people will die.
>
No, I understand the point exactly, Jerry. But the question of how to feed the
masses is a very complex one. Technology has provided us with one answer and it
is being used. But with that answer, more questions come. It is a very complex
issue. As I drove around the Big Island, for example, I saw pastures with wild
cane growing and realized that these were once cane plantation fields and are no
longer able to be used at all for growing because of several factors, including
the slash and burn methods of harvesting and the lack of real irrigation. But it
really all comes down to what the growable areas of land will be used for,
monoculture and lack of diversity aside. If there is a choice between growing
for energy (bio fuels) or growing food to feed the masses, which do you think
will be done? Especially when a farmer receives a far greater sum for his crops
if they are to be used for bio fuels. Energy will always win. But that wasn't
the subject of this thread, the increasing lack of diversity in our food source
and how Monsanto and companies like it are contributing to such was. Your
opinion? Is genetics really the well thought out answer? Or just the short term
band aid?
>"Corky K"
yahoo.com> wrote in message
>news:n5pc04ljlpp7jflgo26quv8837els6ubh0@4ax.com...>> Suddenly, "Jerry Okamura"
hawaii.rr.com>, blurted out the
>> following:
>>>>>In other words they are out to destroy themselves?
>>
>> Ah, but that is snake that eats its own tail. Monsanto sells seed licenses
>> for
>> genetically modified seeds that die after one planting. These plants are
>> pesticide resistant, meaning farmers can buy and use more of Monsanto's
>> pesticides (also part of the license). There are several problems with
>> this.
>> I'll only address the one pertinent to this thread, diversity. What
>> happens when
>> a bee, for example, cross pollinates a genetically modified plant with one
>> that
>> isn't? A) Both become genetically modified. The non-modified plant accepts
>> the
>> genetically modified pollen and takes on the traits of the pollen donor
>> plant.
>> It is called gene flow. Why is this bad? Because it means that the non.GM
>> plant
>> will not produce seeds that can be used to plant further crops because it
>> has
>> become GM (gene manipulated). That means the seeds cannot be used to grow
>> another crop. Since not all species of every vegetable have been
>> genetically
>> modified, and since gene flow can and does happen between wild relatives
>> (sort
>> of sounds like inbreeding), diversity becomes less over time as species
>> that
>> don't have a GM replacement with Monsanto simply die out and cannot be
>> reproduced. Google the seed vaults that are being created to store seeds
>> in the
>> event of a genetic catastrophy.
>>
>>>
>>>"torresD"
hotmail.com> wrote in message
>>>news:wc6dnTrvPPV5LJ7VnZ2dnUVZ_veinZ2d@earthlink.com...>>>> The World According to Monsanto
>>>>
>>>>
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19738.htm
>>>>
>>>> The World According to Monsanto
>>>>
>>>> Video Documentary
>>>>
>>>> A documentary that Americans won't ever see.
>>>>
>>>> On March 11 a new documentary
>>>> was aired on French television
>>>> (ARTE - French-German cultural tv channel)
>>>> by French journalist and film maker
>>>> Marie-Monique Robin,
>>>>
>>>> The World According to Monsanto -
>>>> A documentary that Americans won't ever see.
>>>>
>>>> The gigantic biotech corporation Monsanto
>>>> is threatening to destroy the agricultural
>>>> biodiversity which has served mankind for
>>>> thousands of years
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
