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> "By way of example he points to the expansion of crops genetically engineered to resist the herbicide glyphosate, which kills weeds that bees previously would
by slacka 12y ago
> "By way of example he points to the expansion of crops genetically engineered to resist the herbicide glyphosate, which kills weeds that bees previously would have fed on. “We’re sterilizing the Earth,” he says."
As a child, I dreamed that I would grow up to a world where genetically modified organisms were the key to sustainable agriculture. We could have plants that eliminated the need for oil based fertilizers by enriching the soil like clover does and that are resistant to disease and insects. Instead I somehow ended up in this Bizarro World, where Dr. Evil runs Monsanto. Where they’ve turned large tracks of fertile land into a barren, sterile wasteland that can only grow their GMO crops.
We fight nature. If instead we worked with it, we could make our ecosystem healthier. For example switching to organic no-till farming could sequester an estimated 78 billion metric tonnes of carbon.[1] Not to mention the heath benefit of that the organic food would provide and impacted of reduced fertilizer runs off. It's a shame we as a society don't have the desire to work with mother nature.
>“Bees aren’t a canary, they’re a mirror, telling us our agricultural system is out of whack.”
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-till_farming#Environmental http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No-till_farming#Environmental
- deleted 12y ago[deleted]
- shadowfox 12y ago> I don't really see what is evil about Monsanto? They're just a regular technology company. We, better than anyone, should understand technology companies. Not the OP. "Evil" is a value judgement that many may not agree with. But imho Monsanto is a little bit more than "just a regular technological company" as you put it. This section on Wiki makes an interesting read for example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto#Legal_actions_and_controversies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto#Legal_actions_and_con...
- randomdata 12y agoFor what it is worth, the Silicon Valley tech giants have their own fair share of lawsuits[1][2][3]. I don't think that detracts from what kind of company they are. I am a practicing farmer though, so I actually have to deal with them, not just read about them from afar, so perhaps I am biased on the subject. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc._litigation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc._litigation [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_litigation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_litigation [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Google_litigation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Google_litigation
- Cowicide 12y ago>I don't think that detracts from what kind of company they are. I think it depends upon the specific lawsuits and their validity.
- calibraxis 12y agoMost of the tech corporations I've worked with are "evil", or at best pointless. That's the current world I live in. With some notable exceptions, people doing actually meaningful work are crapped on. (http://www.strikemag.org/bullshit-jobs/ http://www.strikemag.org/bullshit-jobs/)
- pnathan 12y ago> Dr. Evil runs Monsanto. Where they’ve turned large tracks of fertile land into a barren, sterile wasteland that can only grow their GMO crops. I don't precisely think that's a correct characterization (as someone who is employed by a subsidiary of MON). Let's rephrase that: - Large tracts of land have been planted with high density crops without weeds and highly resistant to pests. This year I believe the record corn harvest was over 300 bu/ac. That's a vast improvement compared to 100 years ago. I was taken to a research area earlier this year and took two photos of corn at a demonstration plot - one circa late 1800 farming practice, one circa 2014 farming practice. - https://plus.google.com/116106755607615316501/posts/hvUBLxsjU2H https://plus.google.com/116106755607615316501/posts/hvUBLxsj... - https://plus.google.com/116106755607615316501/posts/H76wXT2U3m2 https://plus.google.com/116106755607615316501/posts/H76wXT2U... Quick, guess which one has the best yield/acre - and which one has the best environment for honeybees. I'm not a beekeeper or an agronomist, but I strongly suspect that the focus on anti-weed, anti-pest farms is aggressively hostile to non-food production. I'm inclined to believe permaculture is the sustainable way forward, but I have no idea how to feed the planet with permaculture without a massive human die-off.
- randomdata 12y ago> That's a vast improvement compared to 100 years ago. You don't even have to go back that far. At the local elevator there is a highest corn yield award from the 70s hanging on the wall. The winning yield was 120 bu/ac. Though we don't quite get to 300 bu/ac in this area (yet), but 250 bu/ac isn't unheard of.
- pnathan 12y agoSorry, my recollection was off - I thought I had misremembered because it was so high. The record for 2014 harvest is 504 bu/ac for Corn. http://farmfutures.com/story-ncga-announces-2014-corn-yield-contest-winners-0-121770 http://farmfutures.com/story-ncga-announces-2014-corn-yield-...
- DanBC 12y agoFor many years we've had enough food, we just don't distribute it properly. The other problem with hunger is lack of micronutrients so a GM rice that provides vitamins would be more useful than a GM grain that allows a weedkiller company to sell more weedkiller. Collapse of pollinators carries a risk of human die-off.
- maxerickson 12y agoThe typical method of no till farming is to hose the field down with glyphosate. Are there large scale "organic, no till" farms operating? The health benefits of 'organic' are also pretty nebulous. I guess they tend to grow varieties that have been bred with more focus on taste though.
- scott_s 12y agoThere is no data to support the health benefit of "organic food". The very notion of agriculture itself "fights nature". Saying we should "work with mother nature" sounds nice, but it doesn't mean much.