"Will Frankenfood Save the Planet" is an opinionated examination of whether transgenic foods offer a practical solution to feeding the planet as populations grow. .
No-till farming, meaning no ploughing is a major change in the agricultural process, since ploughing has been the standard for over 10,000 years. Ploughing facilitates pollution run-off, erosion and release of greenhouse gases. Today's ground-breaking farmers are working on ways to eliminate ploughing. The benefits of no-till farming are not only environmental, but it produces a higher and better quality yield. In addition, no-till farming is a financially wise move because it saves the expense of fuel needed for ploughing as well as other energy costs. Furthermore, no-till farming has had a large impact in cleaning up some of Virginia's rivers and waterways because it limits the fertilizer run-off, which is a major cause of algae bloom that kills marine life. A major obstacle to no-till farming however is that it is dependent on the use of genetically modified crops.
Regardless of which of the UN's population projection ultimate is realized, there will be an increase in the percentage of Earth's surface used for agriculture. Presently, that increase can be represented by the size of Greece of Nicaragua EACH year.
Virtually all types of farming practices pose some sort of liability. Organic farming can pollute water and contaminate food; traditional farming use less herbicide, but plough more and low-input farming uses fewer chemicals, but more land. Any way you look at it, agriculture - feeding the planet- results in some form of environmental pressure.
The essay takes the position that we need to get over the population hump of the next 40 or 50 years. After that, we should home free. Nevertheless, how can we acheive that without causing major irreversible environmental damage? The Green Revolution was a start, but now there are more people to feed and less space available, so the strategy of the 1960s and 70s is not going to do the trick.
According to the article, "Frankenfood Frenzy", researchers have found a way to enrich rice with beta carotene, converted by the body to vitamin A, by inserting genes from a daffodil and a bacterium. ...
Anyone who's read the paper or watched the news recently is well aware of the debate swirling around the (perceived) dangers of genetically modified foods or "Frankenfoods" as the activists have dubbed them. ...
Theme Studies Paper 1st Residency The required reading for this paper was two articles assigned. The main theme of the articles " The Rise of Robber Barons Speeds Forest Decline" by Dan Murphy and "No Middle Way on the Environment" by Ehrlich, Daily, Daily, Myers, and Salzman depicts the deplet...
Food Biotechnology Food Biotechnology uses modern genetics to do what farmers have been using for years-improve the quality and production of food. Earlier, farmers used crossbreeding to enhance the size, quantity and quality of crops produced by a particular plant. Today, farmers can rely on mod...
In September of 2013, The House and Senate Committee's looked to "re-up" the soon expiring Farm Bill which had previously been enacted in 2008. The Farm Bill was a sweeping legislation that encompassed numerous corporate interests and was backed by powerful lobbies. As a result, the Farm Bill became...
Imagine a perfectly red and ripe tomato, a grain plant that is a natural herbicide, or a food item containing every nutrient. This is all possible now because of genetic engineering. Genetically engineered (GE) foods make use of this new technology; they seem beneficial, however, scientists and activist groups protest the use of modified foods for health and environmental reasons; therefore the best approach to this controversy is to allow the production of genetically engineered yet test and label them. To realize the controversy behind genetically engineered foods, one must first underst...
Genetically modified foods have been a big topic for debate recently. People both for and against have very convincing arguments but I, Constance A. Morella, republican of Maryland's 8th district believe that I have the best possible argument for this, and I hope this congress sees the point I"m try...
Genetically Modified Organisms Barnett, A. (2000, August 13). Soya alert over cancer and brain damage link; Special report: what's wrong with our food? The Observer. Retrieved August 16, 2003, from http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,353660,00.html In my research I came across this article that discusses the dangers of a product called Soya, where concerns were raised about the health risk of breast cancer in woman, and the risk of abnormalities in infants for whom Soya milk is used as infant formula. Two senior American government scientists made this part...