The voices heard most often in the food debate belong on the consumer side of the table: what foods are safe or nutritious or good for kids. We do not often hear the producers’ side of the story. Many people say they do not want to eat food grown with the help of biotechnology. Consider what this Portuguese farmer has to say and consider the question afresh.
Posted in Farm Technology, Food Policy, Food Safety, Food Security, Hunger, Living
Tagged Farming Technology, food decisions, food policy, food safety, food security, Green, Hunger, Living
What would dinner look like in the year 2035? That is the subject of “The Taste of Tomorrow: Dispatches from the Future of Food” By Josh Schonwald, reviewed in The Washington Post. The author identifies 3 main components of a meal in the future: salad (which he studies right in Salinas County, home of John Steinbeck and known as the “World’s Lettuce Bowl”), laboratory raised meat and farmed fish, all of which might come together with an ethnic flavor profile that is unfamiliar to us today. What was interesting to me from this review is that while he would prefer, like most of us, to be eating organic vegetables and humanely raised animals, he came to recognize that biotechnology will have a place at the table of the future and that is not a bad thing. Often we forget the need to balance what we would like to see on our plate with what the planet can bear, a consideration that needs to be made more often given the rising population and the impact of changing climate.
Posted in Climate Change, Farm Technology, Food Policy, Food Security, Green, Hunger
Tagged climate change, Farming Technology, food policy, food security, Hunger, nutrition
Today is World Water Day. It is a reminder of a growing crisis in our lives. With a growing population, access to clean drinking water is far from universal. Agriculture, which provides food, also takes up most of the freshwater that we draw from the environment each day. As the demand for food increases, more and more underground water is being pumped up to deal with the situation. But this also means that we have lower reserves to deal with droughts and that is a cause for concern as climate change becomes more pronounced. A hidden source of concern is also the virtual import of water. Industrial production of asparagus in Peru, for instance, is drying up wells and leaving small farmers with no access to water. Here is a great infographic on import and export of water through trade in commodities.
This is a crisis which we need to attend to without delay and promote the conservation of water as much as possible by choosing efficient methods of water use such as drip irrigation in production, by thoughtful use in our daily lives and also by eating in season so that undue stress is not places on water resources to grow produce to suit our unreasonable diets.
Posted in Climate Change, Farm Technology, Food Security, Green, Hunger, Living
Tagged climate change, Farming Technology, food policy, food security, Green, Hunger, Living
Seed vaults usually conjure up dark images of a post catastrophe future when the planet is devastated and the protected seeds need to be brought into use. But a recent story, showed a different side: an appreciation of the benefits that we can derive from heirloom varieties of seeds today itself. As we prepare to deal with the impact of climate change, these vaults may be sources of varieties that are better able to withstand drought or heavy rain. The emphasis during the last century was increased productivity as the pressure to feed a growing population was intense. At this moment, however, we need to nuance our choices in the presence of constraints. The yield has to increase but this effort needs to be respectful of the environment as well.
Posted in Climate Change, Farm Technology, Food Policy, Food Security, Green, Hunger
Tagged climate change, Farming Technology, food policy, food security, Green, Hunger
In the midst of all the bad food news: the obesity epidemic, use of hormones and toxic chemicals in the food industry, food deserts, to name a few; reports of flourishing urban gardens are always encouraging. But are they really a long term solution to the problems in our food system? It can be argued that their small size prevents them from spurring economic growth in the community in a meaningful way and they can do little to solve the problem of global hunger.
As in most issues related to the food world, it is essential not to take an extreme view. Urban gardens are an important step toward revitalizing devastated urban areas like Detroit or New Orleans and in small ways their scale can be ramped up to spread the benefits in the community but they are not a magic wand which we can wave and fix the food system.
In this piece the author argues that it would be more efficient to have a Wal-Mart instead as that would create more jobs and bring economic growth to the area. Before we knock the idea, check out a Wal-Mart store. In my neighborhood, the store stocks wild caught fish, organic produce, milk and eggs and has organic options to regular cereals, granola bars and other basics on the shelves, all at an affordable price.
We cannot all grow our own food and small farms cannot feed everyone. We have also learned our lessons from the consistent growth of huge industrialized farms and the subsequent breakdown of the food system. Can we try for a middle path where local, nutritious produce is available at prices consumers can actually afford?
Posted in Farm Technology, Food Policy, Food Safety, Food Security, Green, Hunger, Living, Nutrition, Urban Farming, Urban Garden
Tagged food decisions, food policy, food safety, food security, Green, Hunger, Living, nutrition, Urban Garden
I came late to the interesting challenge posed by Real Eats: go completely unprocessed for October. In other words, if I take up the challenge I can only eat foods that I could make in my own kitchen, that are unprocessed. What is compelling here is their analysis of what actually goes into what we eat, can anything be actually categorized as “unprocessed” in today’s food system? Coffee, wine and cheese are allowed while bread (and the processing of) requires a whole post to itself.
And while we are reflecting on where food comes from, consider the case of organic strawberries which can, legally, be grown from “starters” that are developed in a conventional nursery. So, the plant starts life in a conventional way but after a year is treated with organic farming practices in an organic farm. Would you consider this “organic” and pay a premium for it? Note that, if these seedlings were to be developed in an “organic” way from the start, the process would be more expensive and the premium on the price of fruit also would be higher. There are no remnants of the chemicals used in the starting stages of the plants in the fruits themselves.
Posted in Farm Technology, Food Safety, Green, Living, Nutrition
Tagged Farming Technology, Green, Living, nutrition
USDA seeks method to compensate farmers for GM contamination.
It would seem from Marion Nestle’s post on her blog (link above) that the government is trying to find ways to ensure that both forms of agriculture can coexist. The effort to discuss compensation methods would also include a discussion of contamination prevention in the first place. This is where any discussion on the adoption of biotechnology in agriculture should start, with a consideration for environmental and health concerns. These concerns can then be addressed by setting up suitable biosafety standards. In this way, we can ensure that the best use is made of the gains of biotechnology without undermining traditional /organic agriculture.
Posted in Farm Technology, Food Policy, Food Safety, Food Security, Green
Tagged food policy, food safety, food security, Hunger
on the need to change farming and animal raising practices, please share it with your children too.
Jason Clay of WWF identifies 8 steps to “freeze the footprint of food” in his article in Nature. While he examines the issue particularly with regard to Africa, these points are relevent in a global context as well. For instance, recent discussion in food and foreign policy areas have focused on the practice of “land grabbing”; Clay points out the need to restore degraded, underperforming or abandoned land instead of looking for fresh land to cultivate.
But what makes the top of the list of options is genetics: it cannot be said often enough, we are facing a huge problem here and time is not on our side. Using a technology which allows us to catalyse the process of selection of existing desirable traits and also prepare to combat climate change by including traits such as drought or disease resistance; should be an integral part of any solution (accompanied, of course, by a robust biosafety framework). Organic methods can yield good results but time is short and the technology for genetic modification is already available.
Posted in Farm Technology, Food Policy, Food Security, Hunger, Nutrition
Tagged food policy, food security, Hunger, nutrition
MarketMaker is a free online tool designed to link agricultural supply chain players. The tool gives small and midsize producers access to geographic and demographic information that allows them to connect with buyers and find new markets for goods. Sustainable farmers have a “competitive advantage” on MarketMaker because buyers can single out growers based on specific agricultural practices.
via Online Tool Gives Sustainable Farmers Competitive Advantage.
Posted in Farm Technology, Green, Uncategorized
Thought + Food 