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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 12:01:05 -0400

One of the solutions that you have missed is for people to learn about
growing and raising their own food and how people can actually do so on a
minimal amount of acreage. I dream some producing enough to feed my family
and have enough to sell to make a profit. The first step is just to produce
enough to decrease my weekly grocery bill which is not cheap when you are
trying to feed a family of 6. You can debate all day long about the ins and
outs of how to grow your crops - but to me the most important thing is to
educate people on what they can grown for themselves as well as limitations.
This does not to me limit the farmers business by teaching and educating
people on how to grow and what to grow, you are drawing people's attention on
what you are providing and why it is healthier and how they too can grow what
you are growing. I am loyal to a local stand that grows what I have not had
success trying to grow and that local grower is willing to talk to people and
actually provide handouts and advice. By sharing your knowledge not just on
this blog but also with your local community and starting a movement that
promotes self sufficient living, think about how that would help the growing
demand for food in a time when our economy and members of our communities are
struggling. The key here is education and being active in promoting and
providing resources to educate people in your communities instead of fussing
about the guy who does not grow using the same methods and techniques you do.
Fussing does not constitute progress, actions speak louder than words. If you
don't like the way people are doing things then educate the consumer about
what you are doing differently and how you do things and why it is better.


Rebecca McCormick
Compliance Coordinator
Genworth Financial
700 Main Street
Lynchburg, VA 24504
Phone: 1-434-948-5775
Fax: 1-434-948-5772
E-mail: rebecca.mccormick AT genworth.com
Mailstop 3-037
-----Original Message-----
From: market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Etienne Goyer
Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2011 11:18 AM
To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Now......GMO sweet corn

On 11-09-20 10:11 AM, Thamnophis wrote:
> When it comes to meeting the growing demand for food, we have only 2
> choices - grow more on existing crop land or convert wildlands to ag
> lands.

Do we?

That's the contention right there: that food production needs to
increase, and that only GMO can provide the required increase of yeild.
I dispute both claims.

First off, right now, unless proven otherwise, I assume we produce
plenty enough calories to feed the world population. If you disagree,
feel free to prove me wrong with data.

For the future, I am not 100% sure. Surely we will need to increase
yield somewhat. But by how much? And before we unleash GMO world-wide,
have we exhausted other possibilities?

Here's a couple of ideas to explore to help meet future needs for food:

- Waste less. How much food is being wasted in the West? I've heard
about 30%.

- Eat less (in the West, at least). A human need 2000 calories a day;
daily intake in North America is around 3200 calories. You could cut
food consumption by 40% around here, and people would not starve in the
least. They'll just be less obese.

- Eat less meat. Producing meat require more land base and resource
than producing the same amount of calories in staple crop. I am not a
vegetalian nazi, I am not saying we should forbid the production of
meat. I am just saying we could eat a little less of it in the West,
and be none the worst for it.

- Increase production. I live in an area that's considered marginal in
term of agriculture. Everywhere around me, I see fields being
abandoned. These fields are far from being in good shape, but given a
little investment, they would make perfectly good pasture and hay fields
that could be rotated into small grains (not commodity soy or corn, but
oat and barley, which are better adapted to this region). Surely,
there's other region in the world where arable land is being underused.
Because of the way the agriculture market is structured, it's not
profitable to invest in these regions. But surely it would be more
cost-effective and environmentally sound to revitalize these farming
regions than to try to grow GMO in desertified Third World countries.

- Improve yield through agronomic research. The public sector dropped
the ball in this regard, leaving it to the private industry.
Unsurprisingly, private interest are only interested in research they
can monetize (can't blame them for that, really). GMO and pesticide are
two type of product they make a profit on, thanks to patent-based
artificial monopoly. And so people are led to believe the only way to
improve yield is to buy GMO and pesticide from the fine agro-industrial
complex, because it's the only option that receive serious investment. Sad.

I am not entirely opposed to GMO. The science behind it is good to
have, there's no doubt about it, and so is having the option of using
these technique if need be. But that's the thing: we do not need GMO to
feed the world today, and probably won't in the foreseeable future. But
the agro-industrial complex have succeeded to convince the world
otherwise. For their own profit.

So, as far as I am concerned, until we have exhausted the above
possibilities, we are not morally justified to unleash GMO upon the
world based on the fallacy that "GMO will save the world from hunger".
When we have exhausted other options, I will be glad to look at GMO as a
last resort.


Etienne
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