Did you know Roundup Ready sweet corn is now available?

[RickB]

Sounds yummy.

I Why are we trying to feed more people than the earth can realistically support?

I am all for feeding the hungry of course, but in the big picture I think we are ignoring what really matters while treating symptoms of the larger problems.

That should bring this thread to a new level.
Let's grow only completely safe food, then decide who gets it and who doesn't.

 

[RickB]

Sounds yummy.

I Why are we trying to feed more people than the earth can realistically support?

I am all for feeding the hungry of course, but in the big picture I think we are ignoring what really matters while treating symptoms of the larger problems.

That should bring this thread to a new level.
Let's grow only completely "safe" food, then decide who gets it and who doesn't.

 

[super55]

I was kind of thinking the same thing Rick.

 

[farmgirl19]

That should bring this thread to a new level.
Let's grow only completely "safe" food, then decide who gets it and who doesn't.

Or, we can grow unsafe food, and poison the masses. Either way, end result might be the same.

 

[RickB]

Or, we can grow unsafe food, and poison the masses. Either way, end result might be the same.

I'll pass on the orchestrated genocide, thanks anyway.

 

[farmgirl19]

I'll pass on the orchestrated genocide, thanks anyway.

So, you want healthy, organic foods too? Good, at least we are getting onto the same page!

 

[dave1949]

Sounds yummy.

I guess my problem with all of this bioengineering is where does it all end? Is it sustainable? Why are we trying to feed more people than the earth can realistically support?

For Monsanto and others it is clearly a marketing game, and they don't have answers to the above questions.

I am all for feeding the hungry of course, but in the big picture I think we are ignoring what really matters while treating symptoms of the larger problems.

That should bring this thread to a new level.
Let's grow only completely safe food, then decide who gets it and who doesn't.

Thanks for trimming my comment and then making me out to be something I didn't say at all.

You think the earth's carrying capacity for human life is infinite? Prove it, or tell me what you think should be done to recognize that there are limits. Try to elevate your mind to a new level.

Realizing that there are limits doesn't mean deciding who eats. It means putting our human capacity for thought to work to avoid creating misery.

 

[daugen]

It means putting our human capacity for thought to work to avoid creating misery

Sadly too much of human history has shown our ability to create misery, not do wonderful things like cure cancer.
But then the world would have an even greater burden, right?
Even more people consuming and polluting.

But we are more than consumers and polluters.
We are human, which means we have a remarkable capacity to create and improve.
I hope we figure it out in time.

 

[dave1949]

I was kind of thinking the same thing Rick.

This thread is discussing the merits of modified, engineered foods. I am asking the question, why we are considering those foods? Why are we breathing polluted air? Why are we drinking crappy water? Why don't you run 20 head of cattle on a two acre pasture?

Discussing the merits of Roundup is like arguing over what color the bricks on the road to Hades should be, while ignoring the questionable wisdom of building that road in the first place.

 

[dave1949]

It means putting our human capacity for thought to work to avoid creating misery

Sadly too much of human history has shown our ability to create misery, not do wonderful things like cure cancer.
But then the world would have an even greater burden, right?
Even more people consuming and polluting.

But we are more than consumers and polluters.
We are human, which means we have a remarkable capacity to create and improve.
I hope we figure it out in time.

How realistic is that hope?

Our collective behavior hasn't changed that much in the past millennium. The methods have changed a little. We get gutted by Monsanto and Wall Street instead of by cold steel.

We certainly do have the ability to create and improve, what we lack is the shared vision of what is worthy to create, and what is is the ultimate value of our creations and improvements.

It is important to think about a direction and a destination, especially now that science is reaching the point of being able to create just about anything through chemistry, genetics and materials engineering.

Ethicists, and ethics review boards are becoming common in the medical and scientific communities. Their work is not exactly front page news, and when it is news, it often becomes a political and religious football where science places a distant third.