A Modern Noah's Ark?
I used to read Dvorak's columns when I was in college. Ah, that was the time when I subscribed to a gazillion magazines and did most of my reading on paper, instead of my monitor.
Recently, I was made aware by one of his latest mention about a huge project going on in Norway. The Seattle Times reported a huge project is under way there that will, when completed, collect millions of seeds from nations around the world starting next year. And then this giant vault will be locked and protected by polar bears, till in case of doomsday, whatever form it comes in, that will wipe out our crops.
Apparently agriculture is nothing more than selective breeding by us humans for tens of thousands of years. We grow crops that we want and eat, and then leave the rest to nature. So this project, led by the Global Crop Diversity Trust, sounds like a great and worthwhile undertaking. But if doomsday does occur, are we then left to become vegetarians? Hee hee hee. I would not have a problem with that. =)
As great as this international project sounds, I am left to wonder if it is money well spent. According to José Esquinas-Alcázar, a top official at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, humans historically have utilized more than 7,000 plant species to meet their basic food needs. But now, in this modern day and age, the majority of humans live on only 12 plant species, according to research by the Food and Agriculture Organization!
You can thank modern capitalism that forced us to eat bland, homogenous vegetables. Well, in terms of plant species, of course. In the world of capitalism where profit is the only goal, corporations have driven out family farming and turned to large-scale, mechanized farming. The result? Only 150 plant species are under cultivation in the world today.
So maybe a global catastrophe would be good for humankind. We can then return to eating diversified food, and corporations in the food and agriculture industry will vanish. But of course, I only wish for a low impact global catastrophe, like extreme climate change that will kill the crops and not us humans, as opposed to something like raining humongous meteors that will wipe us out entirely. =)
Okay, enough banter on the evils of modern capitalism. And a shameless plug from my suppressed Asian gene: There are more than 100,000 varieties of rice alone! Just knowing that makes me hungry. ;-)
Recently, I was made aware by one of his latest mention about a huge project going on in Norway. The Seattle Times reported a huge project is under way there that will, when completed, collect millions of seeds from nations around the world starting next year. And then this giant vault will be locked and protected by polar bears, till in case of doomsday, whatever form it comes in, that will wipe out our crops.
Apparently agriculture is nothing more than selective breeding by us humans for tens of thousands of years. We grow crops that we want and eat, and then leave the rest to nature. So this project, led by the Global Crop Diversity Trust, sounds like a great and worthwhile undertaking. But if doomsday does occur, are we then left to become vegetarians? Hee hee hee. I would not have a problem with that. =)
As great as this international project sounds, I am left to wonder if it is money well spent. According to José Esquinas-Alcázar, a top official at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, humans historically have utilized more than 7,000 plant species to meet their basic food needs. But now, in this modern day and age, the majority of humans live on only 12 plant species, according to research by the Food and Agriculture Organization!
You can thank modern capitalism that forced us to eat bland, homogenous vegetables. Well, in terms of plant species, of course. In the world of capitalism where profit is the only goal, corporations have driven out family farming and turned to large-scale, mechanized farming. The result? Only 150 plant species are under cultivation in the world today.
So maybe a global catastrophe would be good for humankind. We can then return to eating diversified food, and corporations in the food and agriculture industry will vanish. But of course, I only wish for a low impact global catastrophe, like extreme climate change that will kill the crops and not us humans, as opposed to something like raining humongous meteors that will wipe us out entirely. =)
Okay, enough banter on the evils of modern capitalism. And a shameless plug from my suppressed Asian gene: There are more than 100,000 varieties of rice alone! Just knowing that makes me hungry. ;-)
posted by StHalcyon at
15:10
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