POLS 333 Final
Tragedy of the Commons (Garret Harding)
-"Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own best interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons" -theory about public resources and conservation -individuals acting independently and rationally according to each one's self interest, behave contrary to the whole group's long-term best interests by depleting some common resource
Patent Exhaustion
-"The concept that once a patented object is sold, the patent holder loses control over how it is used." -Legal Precedent: In 2008, "the Supreme Court affirmed this principle involving Intel computer chips containing patented technology licensed from LG Electronics. The court ruled that once Intel sold the chips to computer manufacturers, LG's rights were exhausted and LG could not control how the manufacturers used the chips in their machines -"In the seed case, Mr. Bowman argues, Monsanto had no more rights on the beans sold to the grain elevator" -"Monsanto and its allies counter saying that selling to a grain elevator and buying back seed would be too simple and end-run around the patents."
hygiene hypothesis
-"children who are around numerous other children and animals early in life are exposed to more microbes, and their immune systems develop more tolerance for the irritants that cause asthma." -Dr. Erika Von Mutius, a health scientist, conducted a study on asthma and allergy rates in East vs. West Germany. She expected to find that these rates would be much higher in East Germany where the country was more underdeveloped and children were more exposed to pathogens of various kinds. However, she found the exact opposite -"According to this hygiene hypothesis, the human immune system evolved two types of biological defenses. when one defensive system lacks practice fighting bacteria and viruses, perhaps from an overly sanitary lifestyle, the other system becomes too powerful and overreacts--as an allergic reaction--to harmless substances like pollen.
Vernan Hugh Bowman, Petitioner, v. Monsanto Company, et al.
-"whether the authorized sale of one generation of a patented plant seed exhausts a pantentee's right to control subsequent generations of that seed." -Monsanto first sued Bowman in 2007 and a district court awarded the company more than $84,000. -"The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which specializes in patent cases, upheld that decision saying that by planting the seeds Mr. Bowman had created newly infringing articles." -The the Supreme Court "which has generally been taking a narrower view of patent rights than the appellate court, agreed to hear the case, much to the chagrin of the biotechnology industry." -"At stake in Mr. Bowman's case is whether patents on seeds--or other things that can self-replicate--extend beyond the first generation of the products." -While Monsanto vigorously protects its intellectual property, it "typically exercises no control over soybeans or corn once farmers sell their harvested crops to grain elevators, which in turn sell them for animal feed, food processing or industrial use." -Mr. Bowman claims he always honored Monsanto's agreement and bought new seeds each year but then he planted seeds he purchased from a grain elevator.
Agro-Terrorism
--the deliberate introduction of a disease agent, either against livestock or into the food chain, for purposes of undermining stability and/or generating fear. -Agroterrorism is not currently defined as a Weapon of Mass Destruction even though "it constitutes one-sixth of gross domestic product (GDP)- over a trillion dollars
Periodization: Pivotal moments in the evolution of TRIPS regime
-1965 Johnson issues executive order -1967 Johnson introduces the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the Patent Modernization Reform Act -1971 Patent Trademark Office first start depositing microorganisms in their databanks -Trade Act of 1974 introduced in 1973 and signed into law in 1975, first time U.S. tied intellectual property enforcement to trade -1980 Diamond vs. Chakrabarty Supreme Court Case -1986 President Reagan launches Uruguay Round
From Asilomar to Cartegena
-1970s vs. 1990s and beyond -National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences showed that containing genetically modified organisms to a confined area is impossible. Their report argues that "bioconfinement methods are not well developed" and can never be considered "fooldproof" -Cross-contamination is a major issue of biosafety then and now.
Biological Weapons Convention
-1972, ratified in 1975, along with the Trade Act of 1974 and the Patent Cooperation Treaty of 1967 -The States Parties to this Convention undertake to facilitate, and have the right to participate in, the fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials and scientific and technological information for the use of bateriological agents and toxins for peaceful purposes. Parties to the Convention in a position to do so shall also cooperate in contributing individually or together with other States or international organizations to the further development and application of scientific discoveries in the field of bacteriology for prevention of disease or other peaceful purposes. -This convention shall be implemented in a manner designed to avoid hampering the economic or technological development of States Parties to the Convention or international cooperation in the filed of peaceful bacteriological activities, including the international exchange of bacteriological agents and toxins and equipment for the processing, use of production of bacteriological agents and toxins for peaceful purposes in accordance with the provisions of the Convention.
1975-Biological Weapons Convention ratified
-1975 represented a banner year in terms of ratifying multiple international treaties and laws -Patent Cooperation Treaty of 1967 -Biological Weapons Convention of 1972 -Geneva Protocol of 1925 -Trade Act of 1974
price bands
-A price band is a policy instrument that serves to insulate domestic producers and processors when the world price for a commodity falls below a calculated reference price -Protection is provided by imposing a variable import levy on the imported commodity that raises the importer's cost to the reference price. -would enable reserve systems to "operate so that when prices reach predetermined floors or ceilings the government intervenes" -"The G-33s proposals for a Special Mechanism would institutionalize price bands as a legitimate tool to combat volatility"
major biodefense buildup
-After 9/11, the October 2001 Anthrax attacks, and the potential for WMDs in Iraq, there was a major biodefense buildup in the United States in case they needed to defend themselves against any of these threats. -The Anthrax attacks of October 2001 made the U.S. government realize how unprepared they were for a domestic bio-attack. So, they took measures to protect against it ever happening again.
How does U.S. trade policy and world food security goals confict
-After the trade disasters of the interwar years brought the world WWII, the U.S. pushed through a series of domestic and international reforms to force open and liberalize trade in the hope it would spur cooperation between nations and pacify countries -within developing countries, the decades of underinvestment in the agricultural sector mean that production levels were too low to take advantage of high prices in turn making them vulnerable to dumping from abroad.
agricultural policy vs. food policy
-Agricultural policy: describes a set of laws relating to domestic agriculture and imports of foreign agricultural products. Governments usually implement agricultural policies with the goal of achieving a specific outcome in the domestic agricultural product markets. -Food Policy: the area of public policy concerning how food is produced, processed, distributed, and purchased. Food policies are designed to influence the operation of the food and agriculture system. This often includes decision-making around production and processing techniques, marketing, availability, utilization and consumption of food in the interest of meeting or furthering social objectives.
GURT= genetic-use restriction technology
-Also referred to as "terminator technologies" -experimental forms of genetic engineering technology that provide the means to either restrict the use of a plant variety, or the expression of a trait in a plant variety, by turned a genetic switch on or off -Currently two types of GURTs under research: variety-specific GURT- designed to control plant fertility or seed development OR trait-specific GURT (t-GURT)- used to allow plants to express a beneficial trait only after specific treatment, such as the application of a special spray.
Comparative Advantage
-An economic theory about the potential gains from trade for individuals, firms, or nations that arise from differences in their factor endowments or technological progress. -David Ricardo developed the classical theory of comparative advantage in 1817 to explain why countries engage in international trade even when one country's workers are more efficient at producing every single good than workers in other countries. He demonstrated that if two countries capable of producing two commodities engage in the free market, then each country will increase its overall consumption by exporting the good for which it has a comparative advantage while importing the other good, provided that there exist differences in labor productivity between both countries.
stomach share
-An informal market share measure used within the food industry -Different food companies and food products fight for a "share" in your stomach. -Rather than merely competing with another brand in, say, "the marketplace," the "stomach share" metaphor takes the battle to the consumers' own body. -The question is not just how can we ensure that the consumer is buying the maximum amount of our product, but also how can we ensure that whenever the consumer is ingesting it is our product that's got the majority share of the space.
Supply Chain
-Because of Vertical Integration and the continued corporate domination of the food industry, the potential for a bio-attack or an agro-attack to have a strong effect is very high. -Because all the food systems are connected through the supply chain and many of the food systems are connected to each other in some way, there are multiple areas where food could be contaminated by an agro or bio-attack. -There is very little protections at some points in the supply chain, especially transportation
topsoil
-Consequences of glyphosate's disappearance: could increase the loss of topsoil -Biggest benefit of glyphosate-resistant crops is protection of topsoil. -Reduces tillage substantially -"No-till agriculture saves farmers time and money, and for that reason the practice has grown dramatically with the rise of GR crops"
EPA
-Created in 1971 after the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970 and the Council of Environmental Quality in 1969 in the White House -President Nixon created the EPA and gave it jurisdiction over regulating new agricultural products, such as biotech -In charge of regulating pesticides, establishes "tolerances" for human beings
Covering crops and the meaning of using and reusing seeds
-Farmers are now "licensed" to grow food but only once (for one generation) -Farmers now pay the proprietor for its intellectual property -If farmers reuse and replant seeds for a second generation, then they will violate Federal law.
process patents
-First introduced legislatively with the Patent Modernization Reform Act of 1967 -1988 with Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act through Process Patent Amendment Act
Plum Island Animal Disease Center
-Founded by the USDA in 1954 and ran a secret biological weapons program targeting livestock during the Cold War -Nation's oldest animal biodefense facility off of long island in New York State -Now to become the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility located in Manhattan, Kansas -"NBAF will be a state-of-the-art biocontainment facility for the study of foreign animals, emerging and zoonotic diseases that threaten the U.S. animal agriculture and public health.
1972-Biological Weapons Convention with Soviet Union
-Gentlemen's agreement with no enforcement "teeth" to ensure compliance -The entire arms control treaty rested on the idea of "intent" of signatories in terms of their dual-use facilities, such as pharmaceutical plants, etc. -involved extensive cooperative agreements that centered on scientific and technological exchanges among scientists and engineers with a particular emphasis on molecular biology in agriculture.
glyphosate
-Glyphosate (herbicide)- Monsanto (1970) -Service demonstrates instead that they are thriving among farmers at home and abroad with a 60-fold increase -Over 80% of transgenic crops last year were genetically engineering to be glyphosate-resistant -Yet, this increasing reliance on a single chemical input resembles the risks of monoculture, now weeds are emerging on farms that are herbicide-resistant -Consequences of glyphosate's disappearance: -could increase the loss of topsoil -could require farmers to switch to more harmful herbicides -could force farmers to use more fuel to rid their fields of weeds -could contribute to loss of biodiversity -Biggest benefit of glyphosate-resistant crops is protection of topsoil -reduces tillage substantially -glyphosate's recent dominance of the herbicide market has reduced work on alternatives just when they are most needed
Raw Milk Debate
-In 2009, 29 states allowed sales of raw milk in some form. In other parts of the world, raw milk can often be bough directly from the farmer. -Arizona, Utah, California, and Washington allow raw milk sales in retail stores with appropriate warning labeling. -in 2010, Massachusetts allows direct sales and in April 2013, North Dakota authorized the use of herdshares.
Competition over Sovereign Genetic Resources in the GMO era
-In 2011, India debated the National Security Food bill to ensure Indians would have a "right" to food. It intends to meet the dietary needs of about 67% of the country's population -Indian Neem tree patent dispute -European Patent Office granted a patent jointly filed by U.s. government and W.R. Grace for contents of Neem tree. Vandana Shiva filed a patent challenge in 1995 in what became known as the "Neem Challenge" and the "Neem Campaign" and the "Neem Teem" -Finally, the patent was revoked in 2000 and Shiva and other activists considered it a success in an "era of biocolonialism" -With 60% of Indians engaged in the agricultural sector, the increasing stress on these farmers from the costs of the Green Revolution and now patents seeds exceeds their capacity to cope
Iron Triangle
-In Congressional corner is the House and Senate Agricultural Committees, chaired by subsidy supporters -In the Executive corner in the USDA, which administers and legitimates subsidies "as a way to protect the department from irrelevance in a postagricultural age." -In Special Interests corner is the private farm lobby organizations, such as the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Farmers Union
WMD in Iraq
-In Feb. 2003, Secretary of State, Colin Powell, made a major presentation to the United States Security Council, arguing that the invasion of Iraq was necessary because it contained WMDs, particularly anthrax.
Uruguay Round
-Launched in 1986 by President Reagan and lasted for eight years (1986-1994) involving 23 countries -With the creation of the WTO, which launched on January 1, 1995, the U.S. had made a major step toward securing it's foreign policy goal of a "universal patent"
New Leaf Superior
-Monsanto's new Bt infused crop in the late 1990s -This genetically engineered potato can produce its own insecticide in an effort to conquer its most common predator, the Colorado potato beetle. -These new high-technology innovations are not labeled because the U.S. government and agricultural biotechnology industry do not think it's warranted. -these potato plants are registered as a pesticide with the EPA
Convention on Biological Diversity
-Negotiated in 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (the Rio "Earth Summit") in Brazil and entered into force in 1993 with over 168 country signatories. -The CDB is primarily a developing country response to the emerging TRIPS agreement of the Uruguay Round, wherein they recognized the need to figure out a way to be compensated fairly for the genetic resources within their sovereign territories
Non-state actor vs. state-sponsorship
-Non-state actors (little info, little evidence) vs. state sponsored BW programs (know a lot) -Germany used chemical weapons extensively in WWI and used agents to infect horses -In WWII, France, Canada, and the U.S. weaponized anthrax to use against German cattle -Japan had a massive BW program, which it mostly used against the Chinese -Soviet Union developed a program but mostly expanded their in the 1970s and 1980s -South Africa pursued a program -State-sponsorship is an essential component of any successful or large-scale BW program -Effective Biological Weapons programs require state sponsorship, dedicated infrastructure, personnel, and resources -A successful program depends on: 1) acquiring and propagating the proper pathogen 2) processing it for delivery 3) constructing an appropriate delivery device 4) developing a range of techniques to deal with varying meteorological conditions 5) scientific sophistication -It would be difficult for a non-state actor to carry out a successful biological attack because they do not usually have the state support that is required of it.
NAFTA
-North American Free Trade Agreement came into force in 1994 -Hansen-Kuhn argues this particular free-trade agreement contributed to extensive concentration in the U.S. agricultural sector -While farm incomes have increased, severe volatility in agricultural markets has ensued, causing a raft of serious problems, such as destabilizing rural communities and weakening livelihoods. -NAFTA trade liberalization occurred and helped to accelerate the larger macroeconomic trends of financial and commodity speculation we saw with the food crises of 2008 and 2011 -In particular, NAFTA led to a crisis in Mexican agriculture by enabling U.S. corn exports to displace local producers, leading to 2 million leaving the agricultural sector, a drop of nearly twenty-five percent.
1969-Nixon's Decision to end U.S. offensive Bioweapons Program
-On November 25, 1969, President Nixon shocked the world by unilaterally ending an entire category of weapons by eliminating the U.S. Biological Warfare Program -Conventional Wisdom of reason behind Nixon's surprise decision: 1) biological weapons are ineffective (dominant explanation) 2) opposition to napalm and Agent Orange (chemical weapons) in Vietnam War 3) cultural revolution Hurt's arguments: In challenging the conventional wisdom about the myth of ineffectiveness in explaining Nixon's decision, Professor Hurt argues that three interrelated reasons prevailed. -Theses three interrelated reasons (causes) all centered on the biological revolution and the geopolitical implications therein: 1) developing countries access ot the biological sciences meant a possible "force equalizer" 2) Cold War science race, Soviet Union advances with the end of Lysenkosim 3) advances in molecular biology raised terrifying possibilities with unknown risks
Paarlberg: vote trading
-Once the farm bill leave the committees and reaches the floor, classic vote trading will then push it toward successful enactment: farm state members implicitly or explicitly promise that they will vote for future measures of interest to non-farm members. For urban and suburban members, a single "aye" vote on the farm bill once every five years pays off when their own pet projects later come up for a vote.
Knowledge-Based Economy
-One in which the generation and exploitation of knowledge has come to play the predominant part in the creation of wealth. It is not simply about pushing back the frontiers of knowledge; it is also about the most effective use and exploitation of all types of knowledge in all manner of economic activity.
Theory of Collective Action
-Paarlberg draws upon the theory of collective action to try to explain why taxpayers and consumers don't rise up against this ostensible waste and abuse of wealth. He argues that "smaller groups are easier to organize than larger groups because the individual share of any benefit secured will be greater and because it is easier for small groups to discipline free-riding noncontributors"
Trade Impediments to Economic Development in developing countries
-Paarlberg mentioned that exporters are the biggest competitors in world food markets, in this case, and in most cases, the competition between the United States and Europe -Zambia grows food to export to Europe where GMOs are unwelcome so the country didn't want its soil and crops contaminated -Just like in the case of the Green Revolution where the peasant was seen as a pawn in the Cold War struggle, now developing countries are pawns between industrialized countries for world market share
Cartegena Protocol
-Part of the Convention on Biological Diversity -Adopted in 2000 and entered into force in 2003 -"Is an international agreement which aims to ensure the safe handling, transport and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology that may have adverse effects on biological diversity, taking also into account risks to human health." -
Louis Pasteur (Pasteurian, pre-Pasteurian, post-Pasteurian
-Pasteur was a French microbiologist who discovered the process of pasteurization. -His discoveries transformed food preparation in the 20th century. His theories remain dominant to the present day -Process of heating food in order to kill or neutralize most, but not all, viable microbes.
Manufacturing Scarcity
-Shifting from an Industrial to a Post-Industrial Economy or Knowledge-Based Economy -Intellectual property rights are necessary for this large-scale macroeconomic shift to ensure that new sources can be found for capitalist accumulation -The National Academy of Sciences describes the emergence of agricultural biotechnology to represent the U.S. government's support of shifting the country's agricultural sector from a "commodity-based strategy to a science-based strategy"
Soylent drink vs. Soylent Green Movie
-Soylent Green Movie: Charleston Heston in 1973 thriller where the world comes to deal with the troubles of an overpopulated planet by producing food -Soylent Drink: Invented by a 25-year old tech start-up in Silicon Valley who wanted nutritious, convenient food at his disposal. -"over half is made up of oat flour and maltodextrin, a starchy substance that comes from corn" -About a quarter of protein derived from brown rice -A significant portion is also made up of fatty acids that come from canola and fish oils.
Avian Flu (H5N1)
-The U.S. government and the Netherlands funded research on genetically engineering a lethal form of Avian Flu not found in nature. -in 2011, the results of this research were publicized and a controversy immediately broke out. Why did the government fund research to create lethal diseases? -This major controversy resulted in a global moratorium for months and in the U.S. case, the moratorium still stands.
Paarlberg: committee log rolling
-The agricultural committees draft the legislation that later goes to the floor for a final vote, and in the drafting process they take care to satisfy the minimum needs of both Republican and Democratic members, ensuring bipartisan support within the committee. The farm bill enacted in 2002 actually passed the House Agriculture Committee without a single dissenting vote. The drafters also give generous treatment both to Northern crops and Southern crops, and they take care to include generous funding for domestic food and nutrition programs to lock in support from urban district members. Then they add some measure to please environmentalists, such as a "conservation reserve" program that pays farmers to leave their land (temporarily) idle. The final package becomes impossible to stop; it is what students of legislative politics call a "committee-based logroll"
Jennifer Clapp's assertion about food aid
-The centrality of her argument centers on raising the issue that the science and economics of genetically-modified food is repoliticizing food aid in the 21st century with dire consequences for developing countries with the most vulnerable and hungry populations -She also notes that the conventional view that food aid is based on humanitarian considerations and is viewed as a development tool-mistake
Dumping
-The scourge of "dumping" agricultural surplus in developing countries, i.e., exporting at below the cost of production. -As of 2003, wheat exports at an average price of twenty-eight percent below the cost of production -corn at ten-percent -rice at twenty-six percent
Dual-use dilemma
-The term dual-use traditionally has been used to describe technologies that could have both civilian and military usage, but this term has at least three different dimensions that pose a dilemma for modern biology and its possible misuse for hostile purposes: 1) ostensibly civilian facilities that are in fact intended for military or terrorist bioweapons development and production 2) equipment and agents that could be misappropriated and misused for biological weapons development and production 3) the generation and dissemination of scientific knowledge that could be misapplied for biological weapons development and production.
TRIPS Agreement
-Trade-Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights -Part of the World Trade Organization -new intellectual property regime -first launched in 1995 -came about after the Uruguay Round that President Reagan launched in 1986 -The Uruguay Round concluded in 1994
Biodefense
-U.S. rejected Biological Weapons Convention verification protocol in summer 2001 due to "active biodefense program" -Bush administration argued that the BWC enabled the U.S. to conduct research on "prophylactic, protective, or other peaceful purposes" -Bush administration also argued that the verification protocol threatened U.S. pharmaceutical and agricultural biotechnology industries.
cheese food
-Velveeta and other highly-processed foods aren't really foods at all by food products, a combination of chemicals and substances to combine in a material mass
scrapie
-a disease in sheep and other animals that cause sponge-like holes in brains of animals and people
BRIC countries
-a group acronym that refers to the countries of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, which are all deemed to be at a similar stage of newly advanced economic development.
Instrumental Rationality
-a mode of thought and action that identifies problems and works directly towards their solution. -often studied as a social phenomenon by sociology, social philosophy, and critical theory. -focused on the most efficient or cost-effective means to achieve a specific end, but not in itself reflecting on the value of that end. -more about money and not about improving the human condition.
Vertical Integration
-a type of corporate concentration, which pertains to the supply chains -"The vertical integration of agribusiness--that is, the concentration of activities related to food production and distribution--also contributes to their susceptibility to attack." -Waxman said in the Supreme Court, "Your point about the ubiquity of Roundup Ready's use is a fair one. I mean, this is probably the most rapidly adopted technological advance in history. The very first Roundup Ready soybean seed was only made in 1996. And it now is grown by more than 90% of the 275,000 soybean farms in the United States" -When agriculture is connected like this through vertical integration, the possibility of an agro-attack being effective goes way up. If you attack one part of the chain, it will affect all the other parts of the chain because they are all vertically integrated together.
Environmental Impact Satement
-an EIS, under United States environmental law, is a document required by the National Environmental Policy Act for certain actions "significantly affecting the quality of the human environment" -An EIS is a tool for decision making. It describes the positive and negative environmental effects of a proposed action, and it usually also lists one or more alternative actions that may be chosen instead of the action described in the EIS.
"poor man's bomb"
-another name for bio-weapons, but this is misleading because they are often rather expensive.
conditional sales doctrine
-asks whether patent rights are exhausted after an initial sale -Supreme Court ruling in 2008 Quanta v. LG Electronics said they are exhausted, which challenged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit -The Obama administration supported Federal Circuit ruling and Monsanto even though it is firmly against the conditional sales doctrine, arguing that Bowman violated Monsanto's patents anyway.
Market Logic
-based on the assumption that we are basically a homoeconomicus--striving to maximize our own benefits. -this narrative rests on the pillars of private property rights and the idea that the winner is the one who out-competes the others. -It's a story of bigger, higher, and faster
Terminator Technology
-derives from genetically engineered techniques -produces sterile seeds -patent jointly owned by USDA and Monsanto
Force equalizer
-developing countries access to the biological sciences meant a possible "force equalizer" -No country would have the upper hand over the other, including rich countries over developing poor countires.
FDA
-doesn't consider the Bt infused potato to contain a "food additive" -FDA is in charge of regulating food, established "a reasonable certainty of no harm" -All regulation in this area is voluntary in the U.S. as we've seen in many area of biotechnology
prions
-highly infectious agents believed to cause a disease called scrapie in sheep and other animals.
commodifying life
-human beings used to be slaves and property but we abolished and banned those practices long ago -Now there are patents on animals, even chimpanzees, and now the question before the Supreme Court is whether a human gene can be patented, whether it can be commodified as a unit of commerce in a capitalist system. -can you put a patent on life? -
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
-human form of mad cow disease. -caused by an agent called a prion -prions are misfolded proteins that replicate by converting their properly folding counterparts, in their host, to the same misfolded structure they possess. -The disease leads to rapid neurodegeneration, causing the the brain tissue to develop holes and take a more sponge-like texture.
Doha Round
-liberalization of agriculture is the main sticking point, stalling this latest global trade round
October 2001 Anthrax attack
-most serious biological weapons or bioterrorist attack on U.S. soil in the country's history. -Bruce Ivins, senior biodefense researcher at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Fort Detrick, Maryland emerged as the key suspect even though he died before he was charged. His posthumous conviction by the FBI has been extremely controversial among the nation's scientists and editorial pages of leading papers. -"Anthrax is an infectious disease that commonly affects hoofed animals, such as sheep, cattle, and goats, but humans who come in contact with infected animals can get sick from anthrax, too. -In the past, the people who were most at risk for anthrax included farm workers, veterinarians, and tannery and wool workers
Bumpers Amendment
-named after Dale L. Bumpers (D-Arkansas) -In May 1986, the Bumpers Amendment was passed by the U.S. Congress. This Amendment sets a legal precedent over the orientation of U.S. aid on agricultural research. The amendment stipulates that "none of the funds to be appropriated to carry out Chapter 1 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1981 may be available for any testing or breeding, feasibility study, variety improvement or introduction, consultancy, publication, or training in connection with the growth or production in a foreign country for export if such export would compete in world markets with a similar commodity grown or produced in the United States. -"The mission of the Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center is to conduct research to help keep the U.S. rice industry competitive in the global marketplace."
Paarlberg's argument about the creation and persistence of agricultural subsidies in American politics
-nearly all governments in rich countries subsidize the income of farmers -the purpose of farm subsidies is to boost the income of farmers, not to boost food production -Governments in poor developing countries provide much less income support to farmers, even though these countries have many more farmers -Poor countries often often tax their farmers, while subsidizing food costs for urban consumers. -Farm subsides are hard to cut in the U.S. because when farm supports make food more expensive in rich countries, consumers will tend not to notice because food spending will still be falling relative to income.
Self-replicating technology or self-replication
-seeds can self-replicate -Became a problem when Monsanto starting suing farmers over saving their seeds. By saving seeds, the farmers were able to replicate the technology that Monsanto patented. -since seeds are self-replicating, farmers are not allowed to keep Monsanto seeds because they then would be replicating Monsanto technology.
TRIPS agreement vs. the Convention on Biological Diversity vs. Biological Weapons Convention
-the conflict between these three international legal regimes deals with biosafety, technology transfer, and patenting living organisms. -Each legal regime addresses these issues differently, which causes a clash between them in world politics -
Post-Industrialism
-the economy of the postindustrial society is based on the provision of services rather than on the manufacture of goods -characteristic of, relating to, or denoting work or a society that is no longer based on heavy industry
Capitalist Accumulation
-the gathering or amassing of any objects of value as judged by one's perceived reproductive interest group
structural power
-the power to shape and determine the structures of the global political economy within which other states, their political institutions, their economic enterprises and (not least) their scientists and other professional people have to operate. This structural power means rather more than the power to set the agenda of discussion or to design the international regimes of rules and customs that are supposed to govern international economic relations. Structural power confers the power to decide how things shall be done, the power to shape frameworks within which states relate to each other, relate to people, or relate to corporate enterprises.
biosafety
-the prevention of large-scale loss of biological integrity, focusing both on ecology and human health. -These prevention mechanisms include conduction of regular reviews of the biosafety in laboratory settings, as well as strict guidelines to follow.
gene flow
-the transfer of alleles or genes from one population to another. -maintained gene flow between two populations can also lead to a combination of the two gene pools, reducing the genetic variations between the two groups. This would decrease biodiversity in the agricultural world.
Commodification
-the transformation of goods and services, as well as ideas or other entities that normally may not be considered goods, into a commodity (in the Marxist sense of the word) -to treat (something that cannot be owned or that everyone has a right to) like a product that can be bought and sold
Defense-industrial base
-the worldwide industrial complex that enables research and development, as well as design, production, delivery, and maintenance of military weapons systems, subsystems, and components or parts, to meet U.S. military requirements.
Repoliticize
-to put something back into political influence -The repoliticization of food aid in the GMO era -Jennifer Clapp: the centrality of her argument centers on raising the issue that the science and economics of genetically-modified food is repoliticizing food aid in the 21st century with dire consequences for developing countries with the most vulnerable and hungry populations -Jennifer Clapp: she also notes that the conventional view that food aid is based on humanitarian considerations and is viewed as a development tool- mistake
Depoliticize
-to remove something from political influence -Paarlberg and the broader conventional wisdom about the depoliticization of food aid. Most people believe that food aid is being de-politicized, but Jennifer Clapp says that food aid is all for political advantage.
asymmetric warfare
-war between belligerents whose relative military power differs significantly, or whose strategy or tactics differ significantly -can describe a conflict in which the resources of two belligerents differ in essence and in the struggle, interact and attempt to exploit each other's characteristic weaknesses.
"Farmers Cautious of Drought-Resistant Seeds" NPR
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"Farmers Fight With Monsanto Reaches The Supreme Court" NPR
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"Fearing Bioterrorism, Government Panel Asks: What Research Should Be Secret?" PBS Newshour
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"GMO seeds grow into big fight on Kauai" PBS Newshour
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"How American Food Companies Go GMO-Free in a GMO World" NPR
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"In the Making of Megafirms, A Mixture of Pride and Pain" NPR
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"Monsanto Accused in Suit Tied to Agent Orange" NPR
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Corporate-Driven
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Is sugar poison?
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NIH
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State-Driven
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TED Talk: Jonathon Foley: "The other inconvenient truth"
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TED Talk: Mark Bittman, "What's Wrong with What We Eat"
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TED Talk: Michael Pollan, "A Plant's Eyes View"
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The Regulatory Regime for GMOs
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The consequences of cheap and processed food for the bottom line
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Threat or Opportunity for Agriculture, including Bees and Butterflies
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USDA
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Biopiracy and Bioprospecting
Biopiracy: the commercial exploitation or monopolization of biological or genetic material, as medicinal plant extracts, usually without compensating the indigenous peoples or countries from which the material or relevant knowledge is obtained Bioprospecting: searching for plant or animal species for use as a source of commercially exploitable products, such as medicinal drugs
Feudalism
the dominant social system in medieval Europe, in which the nobility held lands from the Crown in exchange for military service, and vassals were in turn tenants of the nobles, while the peasants (villeins or serfs) were obliged to live on their lord's land and give him homage, labor, and a share of the produce, notionally in exchange for military protection.
