TWC Week 07

Today prof started with the quote “When we are able to grow the resources which we need, we will finally be on the road to sustainability” – Gurinder. This session focuses on biotech corps and its numerous benefits such as feeding ore people using less land and leaving behind lesser carbon footprint. This is in tandem with the concept of a shift away from a linear modal of food production to one that is cyclical.

Interesting observations and ideas

Never have it occurred to me that there will be such a need to ensure the security and stability of food as it is something which I use to wrongly perceive as to be inexhaustible. In fact, in this current times of environmental degradation and overpopulation, more emphasis have to be placed on ensuring that the process of creating food is sustainable enough for the environment to feed the growing demands of the population.

The current level of pervasiveness of genetically modified food particularly takes me aback. It is shown in class that GM food is everywhere. Why do I say so? Take MacDonald for example, all the food on that tray, the fries, the chili, the burger, the nuggets and even the drinks possess some degree of genetic modifications in their make up. This makes it especially difficult for those who are against eating Genetically Modified food as it is practically everywhere. The labeling of the food is not a viable solution and is also one that is not being implemented at the present. This is an example of one negative aspect of GM food which needs to be addressed before it blows out of proportion.


Key Takeaways:

Today we talked about rural overcrowding. We are becoming increasingly urbanized and the last century has seen huge amounts of people shifting to llive in urban environments. This creates more pressure on the urban environment as now there are more competition for jobs, and more competition for space. The management of rural overcrowding is especially important as it serves as a hurdle towards the MDG of alleviating poverty in developing countries.

In one of the readings: Ending World Hunger. The Promise of Biotechnology and the Threat of Antiscience Zealotry
The Authour Norman E. Borlaug who is a nobel prize laureate for peace in 1970, strong believes that the biotechnology is the only way to move towards a future of sustainability in terms of food supplies. He believes that biotechnology is currently making headways in many commercial farmers and that it will be the next driving force in the agricultural industry.

However I have some opinions about this rosy scenario. For one, making transgenic corps increase the vulnerability of the corps due to the polarity of their genetic make up. They are more susceptible to a single plague wiping out the entire batch of transgenic corps or maybe even by bio-terrorists who can make use of special bio agents to target these plants.

Secondly, he has also failed to take into considerations the ethical concerns, which might invariably lead, to a backlash or maybe to the scenario of agricultural bio terrorism. The benefits reaped form Transgenic corps tends to also skew towards those who farmers who are educated or wealthy enough to adopt such a practice in their business models. The traditional farmers who do not have the capabilities will end up in a state, which is worse of then what they are in now.



Issues for further discussion

I would like prof to talk more about the comparison of the degree of modification which nature’s has done in the case of nature plague’s to the degree of modification of man initiated process such as genetic engineering. It would have really been interesting to hear prof break down the whole comparison, especially so when prof is someone who has extensive knowledge on medical sciences.
Personal ratings

I would rate today’s lesson 8 out of 10. Some of the points covered in lesson were really relevant and interesting, especially the one when prof mentioned that genetic engineering is noting compared to the plagues in which nature has created as well as the farmer and the farmist!