Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Modern Agriculture: The Cause? Or the Solution?
This video clearly states that technology has a large role to play in the solution and that old fashioned methods wont produce enough to feed the world. However, I am skeptical, as technology has not helped to reduce the environmental impact so far, it has in fact worsened it. Therefore I don't see how this simplistic video can state that 'with careful stewardship of the earth' modern agriculture is the solution.... its just not that simple! However, it does nicely highlight the issues associated with government policy and how these need to change in order to produce enough food sustainably.
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Hi Megan,
ReplyDeleteI agree that this video is rather simplistic and does sweep many issues under the carpet but is certainly a move in the right direction. At the end of the video it states that modern agriculture is part of the solution, not the solution itself. What other areas do you feel need addressing aside from policy change?
Also what is your personal view on the future… If populations reach 9billion are we simply going to have millions more starving across the globe, or do you believe that as Ester Boserup once said 'necessity is the mother of invention'?
Looking at the millions starving today, I don't think we have a hope in hell in feeding another 2billion people!!!
Hi Gem,
ReplyDeleteIf you read my next couple of posts I hope to answer your question on what I think needs addressing for the future. I suppose Boserup has been partly correct so far as the green revolution is an example of how necessity led to the development of new techniques. However, as i have shown in this blog, these new techniques are not sustainable. Therefore I dont think invention of new technology can get us out of this mess.
The growing population is obviously a huge concern but I think another invention to produce more food will result in further population growth and further degradation of the environment which will put us in a similar, if not worse situation than we are in now. I think we need deeper societal changes to slow down population growth so that we can live within the environmental constraints of the earth!
To be honest, we potentially could feed another 2 billion people as we currently overproduce food in some countries. However unless we sort out the distribution of food and the policies and economics behind that distribution, this will not be possible. However, it is not an option to continue producing food in the way we are today as it is completely unsustainable.
Thank you. I have read your more recent posts and all are very informative regarding my question. However I have another!!
ReplyDeleteYou raise an interesting point about distribution of food around the globe, do you feel that in the future policies behind distribution will change or do you believe the west are stuck in their ways and have what they would determine as 'bigger' issues to address?
Correct me if me if I'm wrong but we have had wine lakes and food mountains in Europe for over a decade, whilst millions of impoverished African's have died as a result of famine.
Economically and socially it seems to make sense to distribute food more evenly across the globe but I feel politics and legislation will hinder this for years to come?
Yes I completely agree! The distribution of food is a huge problem but as you said, the politics of the whole thing is very complex and far beyond the scope of this blog (and my understanding). But yes I believe that politics is the underlying problem and will continue to be a problem in years to come! However, we need policy changes not only to address food distribution but also to make the way we produce food more sustainable in the first place!
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