Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of FoodBy the year 2050, Earth's population will double. If we continue with current farming practices, vast amounts of wilderness will be lost, millions of birds and billions of insects will die, and the public will lose billions of dollars as a consequence of environmental degradation. Clearly, there must be a better way to meet the need for increased food production. Written as part memoir, part instruction, and part contemplation, Tomorrow's Table argues that a judicious blend of two important strands of agriculture--genetic engineering and organic farming--is key to helping feed the world's growing population in an ecologically balanced manner. Pamela Ronald, a geneticist, and her husband, Raoul Adamchak, an organic farmer, take the reader inside their lives for roughly a year, allowing us to look over their shoulders so that we can see what geneticists and organic farmers actually do. The reader sees the problems that farmers face, trying to provide larger yields without resorting to expensive or environmentally hazardous chemicals, a problem that will loom larger and larger as the century progresses. They learn how organic farmers and geneticists address these problems. This book is for consumers, farmers, and policy decision makers who want to make food choices and policy that will support ecologically responsible farming practices. It is also for anyone who wants accurate information about organic farming, genetic engineering, and their potential impacts on human health and the environment. |
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Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food Pamela C. Ronald,R. W. Adamchak No preview available - 2008 |
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animals arugula Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria bacterium benefits biological biotechnology breeders Bt crops Bt toxin California cell certified organic chemical commercial compost consumers conventional farming cotton cover crops cultivated developing countries disease earworm ecological environment environmental example farmers fertilizers field flour garden gene flow genetic engineering genome glyphosate Golden Rice green growing grown herbicides human hybrid increase insecticide insects intentionally left blank Johnny’s Kenong landraces melons mutation needed nematodes nitrogen non-GE nutrients organic agriculture organic farming organic food organic growers papaya patent pesticides pests plant breeding pollen potential problems production protein Raoul recipe reduced resistance rice plants rice varieties risk save seed scientific scientists seedlings soil soybeans species sprayed strawberries student farm submergence tolerance sweet corn synthetic Today tofu tomatoes tortillas toxic traits transgenic UC Davis University USDA Valley vegetable virus vitamin weeds wild yield