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Right. It was just a randomly chosen example. Perhaps it was a poor one. I'm aware of the size of the Brassica genus and the B. oleracea species in particular.
by DanielStraight 15y ago
Right. It was just a randomly chosen example. Perhaps it was a poor one.
I'm aware of the size of the Brassica genus and the B. oleracea species in particular. I was not, however, trying to make the point that B. oleracea is a species without a lot of variety.
I was trying to make the point that the food industry consistently simplifies the genetic variety of foods, sometimes alarmingly so. Bananas are definitely a better example.
- HeyLaughingBoy 15y agoAnd like any "industry" there are niche providers that specialize in different areas. This is where Community Supported Agriculture, farmer's markets, and supporting your local farms comes into play. You don't have to buy all your vegetables and fruits at the convenience store or local supermarket. It may be easier, but in that case you're exchanging variety for convenience, so don't be surprised at the result.
- DanielStraight 15y agoThe impact of industrial agriculture can't be undone simply by buying from local farms. It can be mitigated, but mitigated does not equal undone. If I buy my produce from a local farm whose soil is full of run-off from an industrial farm upstream, I'm still being impacted by industrial agriculture. If my local farm only has one type of banana because industrial agriculture has killed all the other ones (this is a metaphor, not reality), then I'm still being impacted by industrial agriculture. If I cook my locally grown produce with water polluted by industrial farms, I'm still being impacted by industrial agriculture. Riding your bike to work doesn't make you immune to the impacts of climate change. Neither does buying locally grown produce make you immune to the impacts of industrial agriculture.