tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31006871.post8721689168049219293..comments2023-04-15T16:35:03.586+02:00Comments on The Art of Engineering: The virtuous cycle of organicsDuncan Drennanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18356141566912975917noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31006871.post-2190280541189779862009-01-22T23:01:00.000+02:002009-01-22T23:01:00.000+02:00Hi André,We certainly are conditioned to pick out ...Hi André,<BR/><BR/>We certainly are conditioned to pick out the red ones! I recently found out that egg yolk colourants are often used in chicken feed to give us that perfect yolk colour - there are even yolk colour charts! The fact that we have been conditioned actually opens up possibilities though - it means we can be conditioned into a better behaviour and unlearn bad or useless behaviours. A lot of this conditioning has only happened in the last 50 years or so.<BR/><BR/>A comment on the yellowish organic tomatoes....in my personal experience I have found organic fruit & veg to generally be better looking, and certainly tastier than commercial varieties. You should try ordering some things from the <A HREF="http://www.ethical.org.za" REL="nofollow">Ethical Co-op</A> - I am sure you will be most satisfied (with the taste and the price).Duncan Drennanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18356141566912975917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31006871.post-70007721138192262362009-01-21T16:57:00.000+02:002009-01-21T16:57:00.000+02:00I wouldn't mind buying slightly yellowish organic ...I wouldn't mind buying slightly yellowish organic tomatoes in stead of the bright red GM ones. <BR/><BR/>Unfortunately, though, we are all conditioned to pick out the red ones :(Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31006871.post-32398193757499610552008-12-08T22:33:00.000+02:002008-12-08T22:33:00.000+02:00Francois, I think some of my points are unclear - ...Francois, I think some of my points are unclear - hopefully I can explain some of my thinking a bit better.<BR/><BR/>I probably need to start with my general perspective on GM crops. Monsanto's Roundup Ready crops are the most widely used GM crops on the market (apparently around 99% marketshare), so when I think GM, I think about these products. These GM crops are designed to be tolerant of the herbicide <A HREF="http://www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/Actives/glyphosa.htm" REL="nofollow">glyphosate</A> - originally patented by Monsanto and sold under the market name Roundup.<BR/><BR/>These crops are designed so that the herbicide glyphosate can be sprayed indiscriminately. Their benefit is, essentially, reduced labour. Other conventional techniques still apply - pesticides, other herbicides and chemical fertilisers.<BR/><BR/>On top of this Monsanto also ties the farmer into a contract which requires them to purchase their seeds and chemicals from Monsanto.<BR/><BR/>There is <A HREF="http://www.foei.org/en/media/archive/2008/gm-crops-increase-pesticides" REL="nofollow">quite an interesting report</A> from Friends of the Earth which goes into some detail regarding the increased use of herbicides due to GM crops. <A HREF="http://www.foei.org/en/publications/pdfs/gmcrops2008execsummary.pdf" REL="nofollow">The executive summary</A> has more detailed info than the web article. One of the many interesting points is that the GM crops tend to have lower yields than equivalent conventional crops.<BR/><BR/>When I think about quality of food I think in terms of health benefits, so when I say that organic food is of higher quality, I mean that it has more health benefits. This has been <A HREF="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/10/organic_food_is_2.php" REL="nofollow">researched and reported on a number of times</A>.<BR/><BR/>There are certainly long terms health questions around GM foods, and the techniques used to farm GM foods are amplified conventional techniques. To me this all leads to a lower quality food product - one which has fewer health benefits and poses potential long term health risks.<BR/><BR/>If organic crops are resulting in higher yields than conventional farming (and therefore GM crops), and result in healthier food, I struggle to see any real benefit in GM crops. Isn't the point to have higher yields and better food?Duncan Drennanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18356141566912975917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31006871.post-68694530963378044982008-12-07T14:05:00.000+02:002008-12-07T14:05:00.000+02:00Thanks for the nice summary.I may be mistaken, but...Thanks for the nice summary.<BR/><BR/>I may be mistaken, but I think some of your points regarding GM crops may be a little misleading or unclear.<BR/><BR/>1) Organic farming does not stand in opposition to the use of GM crops alone, but to conventional commercial farming practices in general (although most conventional farms today do use some form of GM product).<BR/><BR/>2) I'm sure that GM crops do not necessarily rely on pesticides and herbicides in the same way that organic crops don't, although the use thereof is part of conventional farming practices.<BR/><BR/>3) An important impact of pesticide usage, is the toxic effect on higher animal lifeforms further up the food chain, and its persistence in the environment. This is why natural pesticides have emerged as an alternative (and could even be used by organic farmers - see <A HREF="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080821110106.htm" REL="nofollow">this article</A>).<BR/><BR/>4) GM foods are not of lower quality. In fact, organic farming has brought us back to the point where it's possible to find worms in your fruit again (from what I've heard). GM crops are actually designed to be of better quality (that's why they are called GM). Of course, it can be argued that GM foods could be of lower quality due to less soil-nutrient availability, or because of safety concerns.<BR/><BR/>That said, even though I am excited by improvements allowed by genetic modification, I am also concerned about the use of GM products, especially in light of the possibility that they are not subjected to thorough safety testing by independent parties.<BR/><BR/>And, I am also impressed by the benefits that organic farming practices have over conventional farming, especially relating to health (and therefore also environmental) concerns.Francois Cilliershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18115076426190748110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31006871.post-48392542159460050742008-11-20T15:39:00.000+02:002008-11-20T15:39:00.000+02:00Great post, Duncan! Trust an engineer to put some...Great post, Duncan! Trust an engineer to put something that can often seem terribly complicated into straightforward terms... <BR/><BR/>It seems amazing to me that people still think that commercial, pesticide- and fertiliser-fueled agriculture is a sustainable practice (GM or no GM). Thankfully, I do think the world is waking up!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com