Why agricultural research matters

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/business/worldbusiness/18focus.html?pagewanted=3&_r=1&hp&adxnnlx=1211053365-D9Uii%20r0jnKgpdzG8fGKIQ

This article just barely touches on the crisis in agricultural research right now.  It also conspicuously avoids mentioning one of the biggest causes of the decline:  genetic engineering.  Companies like Monsanto have bought up most of the private seed companies in the world, stripped out their basic research and focused them entirely on developing expensive GMO crops that do not solve real problems, but rather provide increased sales for their other products like herbicides and pesticides.  Meanwhile, many of the biggest agricultural universities have followed the money in the same direction, abandoning basic plant breeding in favor of genetic modification.  Government funding for plant breeding, as the article mentions, has also been cut drastically.

Comments

[Michael Isensee]

Hi Pablito-
There are a lot of holes in the global food system... and more in our local food systems than we imagine. We recently had dinner with a fellow from Davis. He works on international microfinancing primarily related to improving health. He had just returned from eastern India and said that across the border in Bangladesh there is a perfect storm brewing in the agricultural realm(decreased food - rice - imports available coupled with the spread of bird flu and the overall increase in basic commodity prices.

Here we usually associate bird flu with human health, but there is is translating into the loss of a primary (and formerly affordable) protein source from eggs and meat. As noted in the linked article, it is hard to feed the family when a single egg now costs $0.25 and household income averages $0.50 daily.

While there are plenty of US citizens living on meager means, when most folks here complain about rising food prices is means they aren't eating out as often. For most of the rest of the world, it means they aren't eating.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laurie-garrett/bird-flu-rice-and-gas-guz_b_98988.html

[Trish]

If Monsanto is buying up seed, why is there not a louder outcry from farmers? I am disturbed by all this "behind closed doors" profiteering. Will it change beyond our current administration? I email Mars/M&M's for moving toward GMO sugar beats, I read MIchael Pollan's books, and I am concerned that no one seems to be hearing the alarms.

[Pablito]

Trish,
Good for you for speaking up! I agree with you that I don't hear any of our leaders addressing the fundamental problems underlying the issues -- i.e., corporate consolidation of key industries. In the coming years, Monsanto will be heavily involved in a new effort to certify farms as "sustainable". They feel like they missed out when the organic standards were set, and they are determined to have GMO crops included as "sustainable" and generally eco-friendly. With the amount of money they have, sadly, they may succeed in rigging this new certification standard. You and other folks like you will have to stay vigilant. Keep up the good work.

[leah]

I agree that GM foods will lead to more world hunger, not less. I recently saw an interesting documentary called The Future Of Food which addressed this issue extensively.

I was shocked to learn that a farmer could be sued by Monsanto because Roundup Ready seeds had accidentally been spilled in a field without the farmer's knowledge. People have lost their life's work because of lawsuits like these...it's tragic. Maybe this is part of the reason why we don't hear more farmers speaking out.

[Kelley]

Hi Pablito,

Sorry this comment is not actually based on your blog post, but I wanted to comment on the recent TF newsletter you wrote about the Stop the Spray folks, and wasn't sure where else to send it. I ran into a table of them today at a street festival in my neighborhood in Oakland, and questioned them about the toxicity of the spray, and they directed me to their website and gave me a couple of pamphlets. I am much more inclined to believe the farm's view on this, given your direct experience with the chemicals, but since I have no personal experience, I really don't know for sure where to place my beliefs. I certainly would rather believe that the spray is completely non-toxic, but their materials are using a quite effective fear-mongering approach that includes a lot of anecdotal "evidence" that the spraying in Monterey is causing reports of illness. It is confusing, and, if untrue, incredibly irresponsible. Anyway, I just wanted to check and see if there was any further information about the spray (that a layman could understand) that I could read to counter the literature I just received today. Just trying to develop an educated opinion about it...

Also - I saw in your profile that you went to Haverford - me too! Not many of us out here on the west coast. :)

Thanks for everything you guys do!

Kelley

[Pablito]

Kelley,
Thanks for your response (Go Fords!).

Unfortunately, fear-mongering is exactly what is happening with the stop the spray campaign. It is very disturbing to me. You've motivated me to do a blog post with links to some of the reputable sources that I have found that counter or seriously question many of the claims they are making.