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  • From: "McCormick, Rebecca (Genworth)" <Rebecca.McCormick AT genworth.com>
  • To: "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Now......GMO sweet corn
  • Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2011 11:12:23 -0400

Amen to that!

 

From: market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Brigette Leach
Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2011 11:05 AM
To: Market Farming
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Now......GMO sweet corn

 

When I we going to stop wasting our time and energy trying to prove the other side wrong?  It seems to me that there are more useful and productive ways to spend our effort.

 

The reality is that by 2050 we will need to produce as much food as we have produced since farming began (10,000 BC). Today world population is around 6.8 billion people, in 2050 it will be about 9.3 billion. I think that it's going to take everyone of us to meet demand. I've said it before and I'll say it again, production practices don't need to be either or, rather all of the above. There is demand for both conventional and organic, GMO and non-GMO, etc.

 

U.S. farmers produce 18% of the worlds food using 10% of its farmland. In 1940, 1 American farmer produced enough for 19 people, in 1970 enough for 73, in 2010 enough for 155. Between 1950 and 2000, average corn yields grew from 39 bushels per acre to 153 bushels per acre. Average cereal yield increased 155% between 1961 and 2005. From 1987 to 2007 farmers grew 40% more corn, 30% more soybeans, and 19% more wheat on the same amount of farmland. 70% more corn is produced from every pound of fertilizer in 2010 than in 1970. Farmland soil erosion has been reduced by 43% in the last 20 years. Today we're using between 50 and 80% less water, depending on the crop. Finding the balancing point between feeding the world and responsible use of resources/conservation is just one of our challenges.

 

Much of what we're arguing back and forth about, isn't the science involved, but rather our individual value systems. Are my values more or less "right" than yours? I don't think so. Let's move on.

 

Brigette

SW MI

----- Original Message -----

Sent: Monday, September 19, 2011 10:01 PM

Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Now......GMO sweet corn

 

In reply to Joe's comment about GMO being required to feed the world.

 

Rodale just released results of their 30 year side-by-side comparison of organic vs. conventional corn and soybean production: http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/fst30years

 

They found organic to have higher yields, higher profitability, and less energy inputs.  

 

Now imagine what the comparison might be if the $$ and research resources that have been put toward GMO's had been put toward improving organic systems instead! 

 

--Ben

 

 

>I try to judge GMO crops while keeping in mind the people I saw starving to
>death in Haiti. Our earth's population is growing much faster than our ag
>output. And GMO crops will save untold lives in the future.
>
>The genie is out of the bottle. The trick now is how it is managed, since
>it's growth will be unstoppable and exponential.
>
>Joe
>Boone County, IA

--
Hearty Roots Community Farm
P.O. Box 277
Tivoli, NY 12583
(845) 943-8699


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