4 ms·

Usually I hate these one-word unjustified responses, but today I'm gonna have to go with: No. I wish I could provide some kind of rebuttal of the points made

by hugh 18y ago

Usually I hate these one-word unjustified responses, but today I'm gonna have to go with: No. I wish I could provide some kind of rebuttal of the points made in the article, but unfortunately the article really doesn't seem to make any points. It's just a series of quotes from crazy people who tell us we're all going to die without providing much justification other than "climate change, man!" Oh, okay, there's a fair point about overfishing. "All of these authors agree that the entire system of Western food production is in need of radical change, right down to the spinach. Roberts opens with a description of E.-coli-infected spinach from California, which killed three people in 2006 and sickened two hundred others." Another of my pet peeves is when people criticize the "Western" system of doing something without providing any contrast with an "Eastern" way of doing it. Is the Eastern system of food production better? Are there fewer cases of food poisoning from contaminated food in Asia? I don't think so.

ibsulon 18y ago
So, then, there weren't food riots in Haiti? We aren't seeing inflation in food costs squeeze out the bottom 20% of the world?
- helveticaman 18y ago
  Malthus is coming back after his 250 year vacation. http://www.economist.com/books/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=9644636 http://www.economist.com/books/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=...
jacobolus 18y ago
> It's just a series of quotes from crazy people who tell us we're all going to die Actually none of them say that, nor are any particularly crazy. What they do say is that the global agricultural system is slow to react to changes, and when it does, it often dramatically overreacts, which can cause large-scale famine. They also say that “western” society has promoted an incredibly wasteful agricultural system which produces vast quantities of extremely unhealthy food, in the process sickening consumers and destroying landscapes. Anyway, going directly to the sources (e.g. Pollan: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t....) is more useful than this New Yorker article. > Another of my pet peeves is when people criticize the "Western" system of doing something without providing any contrast with an "Eastern" way of doing it. It's just a way of lumping Western Europe and the US behind one generic name. In this case, the contrast is not with an “Eastern” way, but with a “developing country” way.
michaelneale 18y ago
Not sure of "eastern" in general, but most of the influenza viruses (virii?) come from Chinese agricultural practices. the 'flu is far more damaging globally then any food poisoning effect.

by hugh 18y ago

ibsulon 18y ago

So, then, there weren't food riots in Haiti? We aren't seeing inflation in food costs squeeze out the bottom 20% of the world?

helveticaman 18y ago
Malthus is coming back after his 250 year vacation. http://www.economist.com/books/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=9644636 http://www.economist.com/books/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=...

jacobolus 18y ago

> It's just a series of quotes from crazy people who tell us we're all going to die Actually none of them say that, nor are any particularly crazy. What they do say is that the global agricultural system is slow to react to changes, and when it does, it often dramatically overreacts, which can cause large-scale famine. They also say that “western” society has promoted an incredibly wasteful agricultural system which produces vast quantities of extremely unhealthy food, in the process sickening consumers and destroying landscapes. Anyway, going directly to the sources (e.g. Pollan: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t....) is more useful than this New Yorker article. > Another of my pet peeves is when people criticize the "Western" system of doing something without providing any contrast with an "Eastern" way of doing it. It's just a way of lumping Western Europe and the US behind one generic name. In this case, the contrast is not with an “Eastern” way, but with a “developing country” way.

michaelneale 18y ago

Not sure of "eastern" in general, but most of the influenza viruses (virii?) come from Chinese agricultural practices. the 'flu is far more damaging globally then any food poisoning effect.