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One thing to point out is that global pandemics don't just afflict human populations. Biodiversity within the agricultural crops we grow helps to protect them

One thing to point out is that global pandemics don't just afflict human populations. Biodiversity within the agricultural crops we grow helps to protect them from being totally wiped out. The Irish potato famine was the result of a lack of biodiversity and an over reliance on a monocrop. A current example would be the ubiquitous banana. The cavendish banana (the most common variety you'd encounter in your produce isle) is under attack globally and is at risk of being wiped out. And this isn't the first time that's happened. The banana your grandparents grew up with, the Gros Michel, while not extinct is no longer commercially viable.

pasabagi 6y ago
>The Irish potato famine was the result of a lack of biodiversity and an over reliance on a monocrop. Not so. Ireland was a net food exporter for the duration of the famine. The problem was political and economic.
- VikingCoder 6y ago
  I don't know anything about the subject, and I can't speak to the authority of this cite, but it contradicts your statements, and so I'd be curious about your response: https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/arid-20228979.html https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/arid-202289... Do you have a better source, which you think refutes their arguments?
  - pasabagi 6y ago
    I think the argument you cited is a bit of a strange one. They are arguing that Ireland was not a net exporter of food because a large portion of Irish crop exports were oats, and oats are not food. The supporting arguments are worse. For instance, they state that oats are usually for horses' consumption. Further, they state that the average farmer would not know how to prepare the oats for human consumption. All this seems obviously false[1]. As a general point, the obvious point of comparison with Ireland would be the various states of 1840's germany, also heavily reliant on potatoes for sustenance. They also got the potato blight, but there was no great famine. [1] they also give some figures, which I won't comment on.
- kyteland 6y ago
  Ireland was certainly producing plenty of other crops than potatoes but when I said they were lacking biodiversity I was specifically referencing the potato monoculture. The poor were overwhelmingly reliant on the potato and it was wiped out by a blight that could have been largely avoided with a broader diversity of potatoes being grown. Similarly there are plenty of banana varieties around the world, but the only one sold in grocery stores near me is being wiped out by blight. Imagine if something similar happened to corn or wheat. An aggressive blight on a main cultivar would be pretty devastating, even if there are still lots of heirloom varieties being grown in small quantities around the world.
  - pasabagi 6y ago
    Was there a potato monoculture? I just ask because, I thought crop monoculture was a relatively modern thing, and because a new disease (like p. blight) are usually pretty broad spectrum, and very capable of skipping between species. Bananas are kind of a weird case for multicropping, because they are all sterile clones. So this makes them horribly susceptible to every disease under the sun.

pasabagi 6y ago

>The Irish potato famine was the result of a lack of biodiversity and an over reliance on a monocrop. Not so. Ireland was a net food exporter for the duration of the famine. The problem was political and economic.

VikingCoder 6y ago
I don't know anything about the subject, and I can't speak to the authority of this cite, but it contradicts your statements, and so I'd be curious about your response: https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/arid-20228979.html https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/arid-202289... Do you have a better source, which you think refutes their arguments?
- pasabagi 6y ago
  I think the argument you cited is a bit of a strange one. They are arguing that Ireland was not a net exporter of food because a large portion of Irish crop exports were oats, and oats are not food. The supporting arguments are worse. For instance, they state that oats are usually for horses' consumption. Further, they state that the average farmer would not know how to prepare the oats for human consumption. All this seems obviously false[1]. As a general point, the obvious point of comparison with Ireland would be the various states of 1840's germany, also heavily reliant on potatoes for sustenance. They also got the potato blight, but there was no great famine. [1] they also give some figures, which I won't comment on.
kyteland 6y ago
Ireland was certainly producing plenty of other crops than potatoes but when I said they were lacking biodiversity I was specifically referencing the potato monoculture. The poor were overwhelmingly reliant on the potato and it was wiped out by a blight that could have been largely avoided with a broader diversity of potatoes being grown. Similarly there are plenty of banana varieties around the world, but the only one sold in grocery stores near me is being wiped out by blight. Imagine if something similar happened to corn or wheat. An aggressive blight on a main cultivar would be pretty devastating, even if there are still lots of heirloom varieties being grown in small quantities around the world.
- pasabagi 6y ago
  Was there a potato monoculture? I just ask because, I thought crop monoculture was a relatively modern thing, and because a new disease (like p. blight) are usually pretty broad spectrum, and very capable of skipping between species. Bananas are kind of a weird case for multicropping, because they are all sterile clones. So this makes them horribly susceptible to every disease under the sun.