Culture and Environment Section 3

BT cotton decreased insecticide use

- true: but can we really tell, maybe they're just having to use less, should base it off how much having to spend each year. not a sustainable decrease. but now farmers just on genetic treadmill as caterpillars become BT resistant? >1200 seperate BT hybrids now. CURRENT EVENT: this year's attack on crops by pink bollworm has been the worst in recent history and now farmers are suing for compensation by the BT seed companies. and from national disaster relief fund.

Why US wheat in India?

- wheat not one of top two crops in Inda (was rice and sorghum) But short on wehat, nont b/c of overpopulation but b/c British had invested in wheat producing areas in Punjab but with partition, 1947, lost Punjab to pakistan. Paksitan got the british investment in infrastructure and acreage. Lost lot of top productive land in wheat.

Cotton Yields INcreased Claim

- yes since approval in 2002, cotton yields have increased 98%. - but this rise, the most of it, occurred pre wide-adoption, before 2005-2008 period. we even see a slight downtick in the 2006-2008 region. Another counter-factual problem: it is probable that new herbicides, pesticides, micro-irrigation techniques, areas were affecting this increase in yield too. hard to isolate causes.

Will GW change nutrient food

FACE experiments: free air carbon dioxide enrichment - studies tend to agreeon the results: GW is almost certainly going to lead to decrease nutritional quality in crops: protein and amino acids down, increase fructose. even if yields do go up, nutritional quality go down. And this will erode the benefits of yield increases. But industrial agriculture has been developing less nutritious foods for a long time anyway. Nutrition is not a money maker.

Drought Story continued

Foodgrain per capital came back after drought! The drought was seized on by LBJ to dramatize Indian need for american aid and industrial help (saying production way down). But with the adoption of Borlaug's seed didn't increase a ton, it was going up anyway in food production it had never been drasitcally down.story of feeding fertilizer industry.

GMOs

NOt a big deal argument: its been going on for so long,, 10,000 years ago, its just not that things are more precise. corn genetically modified by ancient mexicans. vs Counter view: it is a big deal

Capitalism Vs. The Climate book

Naomi Kleign: The contemporary form of capitalism (stone says input-intensive industrial agriculture) is inherently incompatible with reversing the course of global warming. but capitalism not doing it. just doing PR events.

Mexico by 1950s

Neomalthusian technology fantasy narrative: mexico self sufficient in food by 1950s so MAP seen as a model for ASIA. technology fetish. (but really borlag just developed this wheat in a time that needs a lot of inputs when MX was incrases types of inputs) but actual problems: "paradox of plenty" - industrial agriculture actually put tons of small farmers out of business, put into urban slums, "wet back problem"of farmers moving into cities. Narrowed the genetic basis of wheat.

Suicide Claim

No surge in suicide w/ introduction of BT cotton or to its rapid adoption. Biggest spike in farmer suicides was Andhra Pradesh in 1998. pre BT adoption Evidence against the fact that BT cotton adoption increases farmer suicide.

IR-8

Phillipines 1966: by then had bred the on miracle rice, released with lots of fan fare in press. was supposed to spread all around asia. example of technology fetism: "built in productivity/yield boost". But all the breeders knew it was no built in productivity just a very responvie rice like Borlagu's was responsive wheat. Reponsive to lots of fertilizers and pesticies.. indusry infiltrating, and american companies benefitting. Rocketfeller foundation tied to Esso fetilizer..

1960s Phillipines

Phillipines President: running in 1960s- ran on platform of revolutionizing rice in Philippines. Later when they came out with the new rice, it was very input intensive, but it allowed him to consolidate gov't control over lots of agricultural system. to control seed, chemicals, loans, machinery, prices and supply Us Politics affect: LBJ escalating vietnam war, but in same way he wanted to have humanitarian story in India, he wanted humanitarian war in SE asia. So deter attn from Vietnam to war on hunger. New seeds would train Filipino farmers to think ''in terms of techniques, machines, fertilizers... consumers of agricultural technologies. Transform whole thought process of agri. Farmers to benefit their industries and create a bigger consumer market.

If Golden Rice gets approved...

Will it even get adopted by farmers? is there any impetus? no market premium: the farmers that can pay to adopt this new technology aren't the ones with poverty levels where their children have VAD. plus the trait is being bred into an old variety of rice. it won't be in a current variety of rice til much later and farmers are always keeping up with seed trends every few years.

CRISPR

"genome editor" vastly improved way of genetically enginnering. easier, cheaper, less IPR less encumbered, causes breaks in precise parts of the DNA, rather than follow the stitching of rRNA> could be used to eugenically engineer humans. Is up for grabs - how it will be used and who will control it - regulation - how public will respond

Big Question

"who controls the technology and what are their interests" important question w/ all technology.

Floor Resistant Rice

some help for farmers trying to deal with extreme weather events: Submergence tolerant rice - done by breeding by IRRI (good job IRRI) non GMO.

Situating GMO political economy

- GMOs came about at time when gov't funding was drying up (b/c spending so much money on VN) fed up with VN so cuts military spending and thus military funding for research was cut. NIH grants <30% in 80s. this caused an innovation gap: as funding drying up, recombinant technologies just coming out. corporate sector was hungry for research coming out and the universites were hungry for research funding. it was the perfect storm for new financial relationships between industry and the university/academy to be made. academia controlled by corporations . academic departments become increasingly responsive to industrys.

MRSA and antibiotics resistance

- Hog CAFOS are cause of MRSA (if don't get hogs antibiotics wouldn't have MRSA) -- sub therapeutic, preventative antibiotics: - growth promoters in meat animals... - Tamps down bacterial diseases and makes them grow faster, so huge surge of using antibiotics in feed of animals. So have gotten a huge SURGE of antibiotic resistance: because of hog CAFOs (chicken and beef contribute a bit) but also because of DR over perscription etc. Definitive results on the fact that limiting antibiotic use in animals decrease the MRSA found in the animals. Somewhat less conclusive results on how it affects MRSA in humans.

Inefficiency of Beef

- beef is much less efficient compared to other kinds of meat: long gestation and lactation period. high metabolism rate less of the body is edible. meanwhile chicken broilers have gotten more and more efficient b/c bred to grow quickly. Plus cows are ruminants: were evolved to eat gras not corn: so makes no biological sense but makes economic sense b/c tied to corn production and lots of people make lots of meat.

2 Types of Patents

- design patent - utility patent : strongest form of protection, prohibits anyone from making or using product as long as product not a result of nature. but what does that mean for GM plants etc. how much does something need to be changed so its not a product of nature?

Pearl Millet and Sorghum Potential

- drought resistant: need very little water: opposite of our corn that demands external inputs. - but no money makers - not as productive in ideal conditions.

Origin of Cattle CAFOs (pollen)

- fertilizers take off in the 1950s with increased corn production (excess) - with CAFOS crop livestock synergy was broken: before cattle eats grain makes manure that goes back to fertilizer grain. With overproduction of corn it costs farmer more to grow feed corn than cost CAFO to buy corn b/c of commodification of corn. so either focus just on grain or just on live stock. Led to heavy economy of scale of animals need even more corn, and promotes overproduction on each end of production system. Beef maps pretty well with prices and production of corn trend. - 1950s saw sharp incline with era of feed lots spreading and advent of fast food.

Early Map Priorities

- followed cardenas' priorities, low input agriculture for poor farmers. Experiments with green manure crops, soil conservation, organic farming.

Stone on Golden Rice

- hyped up, but promising - 2014 golden rice still not ready: b/c golden rice can't just be wide adapted designed: its been designed specfically for phillipines environment by IRRI. - problems of making golden rice embedded in the environment and the practices: and yield drag. like in HT soybean. 2017: golden rice has been submitted for approval by Irri, its ready for approval now. But irri stresses will do feeding studies before adoption to see if really helps kids.

Stone's early viewpoint on GMOs

- its not a talk of hunger: . In 2002, the indian gov't stocks of wheat and rice had 41.2 million tons more wheat/rice than r stocks could store in 2002 Its about how the food is allocated (think Potato famine at heigh, 730,000 tons of cattle shipped to UK) - but Stone sees some potential for GM crops specifically - BT cotton - Golden Rice - Cassava (DR and nutrient enriched) - DR matooke in TZ

Borlaug's Breeding

- joined 1941 impatience manifested in his shuttle breeding. Shuttle breeding-->selecting for photoperiod insenstive (day-length wheat). so crops were easy to move to different latitutes and were disease resistence. These crops were then "wide adapted more transportable. wide adapted became a goal of breeding where before breeders saw specificity and locally adapted as good. NOT adapted to soil fertility so fertilizer intensive. Borlaug mixed his wheat with semi-dwarf Norin-10 wheat that whose short stalks allowed to produce more with more fertilizer and not topple over. High response.

Agricultural Science has been making food less nutritious

- micronutrients decline as crops are bred for raised production. - see study in commercial wheat. - breeding for "particular qualities" not "quality" A study of 13 key nutrients in 43 garden crops (basically vegetables) over the last 50 years. The results: breeding for rapid growth led to significant decline in 6 nutrients ranging from 5-38%.

IPR issues with Golden Rice

- once porykus and beyer in 2000 had proof of golden rice concept, they came up against IPR issues. But monsanto, seeing good PR opportunity for GMOs gave them free use of one of their patented genes (35 S promoter), but took way too much credit for it. "we share technology"

First Genetically Modified (engineered) Organism

- organism containing genes that have been directly modified* Cf. plant domesticating and breeding: only operate on phenotypes and cannot modify genes (only gene frequencies) How to get these genes into plants.

Response of GMOs in Europe

- post flavr savr came in the form of unlabeled GMO soy. unlabeled scared people - heavy handed didactic response of monsanto to this fear - green interests were having more impact on policy in europe at time b/c of recent health issues and environmental disasters (BSE and VSJ debacle in UK) - people were not trusting the gov't with public safety when they said that GM crops were safe psot BSE VSJ debacle - 1996 had to announce that VSJ can come from eating cows that had BSE... when 6 years previously had said there was no threat.

Water needs for beef

- really just MOVING the water is this a problem in environmental sustainability So the problem is how its moved and where its moved to. In some instances, SO much water used that it is a problem, aquifer dropping in New Mexico to grow cow crops, so that is environmental damage because water shortage. On the other hand, if using surface irrigation, diverting water, not too unsustainable. - so there are better ways of critiquing beef production than just water consumption. Small scale production may have no effect on aquifer even if water-"inefficient" - a small farm will not have that much affect on aquifer. - a large scale production farm even if efficient, but near a fragile aquifer, will do LOTS of damage. Like grass raised beef don't require lots of water.

globally in reducing malnutrition

- studies done by measuring stunting show that malnutrition stats have been decreasing w/o use of GMOs. 40.1 % prevalence of VAD among young children in Philippines - in 2008 its now 15.2% (breastfeeding and nutrition programs) IRRI says - Says Golden Rice may still help in some areas where nutrition and breastfeeding programs have trouble reaching

Designing life forms part of GMOs

- the way biotechnology is described by the companies is scientific techniques used to develop new plants that are "useful" and "beneficial" claims that its all about making new food sources for global south. "best solution for world hunger"but no real lack of food (we have excess) the GM crops available are helping the industries (herbicides) that create them and not hunger.

Neomalthusian version of India and Wheat

1946 Drought: 1.5 mill tons of wheat imported from US as emergency measure 1951: up to 5 mill tons imported from US in special shipments. More regular. 1954: PL-480 ("Food for Peace") program. Started up by congress. Provided a large amount of funding to buy up US surplus grain and send it over seas. India was the largest recipient of Pl-480 grain. starts regular shipments of grain 1965-67: 2 year drought again. Just before Ehrlich showed up. production shortfall Ehrlich visits India, warns tens of millions would starve no matter what 1964:" fortunately" trial plantings of Mexican seeds already begun in India before the 1965-67 drought. 1965-66: during drought, intense lobbying by Borlaug and Indian officials to get the Indian gov't to do a big investment into the MX seeds. 1967: Mexican wheats began to be planted widely (but only in one part of country) ; subsidized fertilizer use soars 1969: wheat production soars (bumper crop of wheat in 1968) , food imports stopped (which has helped people) 1970: Borlaug wins Nobel Peace Prize.

Context of India in 1940s

1947: India gains independence from England: have to ask how are we going to move forward economically now that we are independent. 1948: Nxt year, Gandhi killed (he had a specific view of rural, non capitalist India). Nehru was the first Prime Minister: his vision of how India should move forward is HEAVY INDUSTRY (exactly what the UK did NOT allow them to develop, b/c the UK was depending on them for land products instead, so was more agrarian throughout as colony). - Encouraged by US and others b/c capitalist. - Nehru pushing urban factory workers and indusry. - - Need cheap food resources. To keep workers happy and prevent communist insurgency. - But indusry not developing food resources/food production b/c putting all its energy into industry. - What early India gov't did promote was export crops and cash crops that could be sold and get foreign exchange on global market to get cold hard cash. (so reinforcing producting of export crops instead). Nehru=export crops and industry, little food.

Early Genetic Engineering

1960s: Restriction enzymes isolate; cut DNA. Ligages identified in bacterial visues to join DNA strands. Individual genes isolated for first time. 1971: Berg creates recombinant DNA and creates single circular molecule from 2 viruses. 1972: Anada chakrabarty uses simple methods to combine DNA from diff bacteria: mixing DNA. major step in commodification.

Commodifying GMOs

1973 Cohen and Boyer had first FMorganism and Stanford applies for patnet used. in 1980 awardest post chakrabarty case. Boyer unlike Cohen didn't feel uneasy and went on to form genentech: classic example of industry and academic capitalism (stanford)

Boyer and Cohen's Early Work

1973: Frog gene inserted into plasmid containing antibiotic-resistant gene; plasmid inserted into E. coli: dose bacteria with antibioticand kills all cells except for ones that have this resistance gene: have frog gene in them b/c inserted into plasmid containing antibiotic-resistant gene; plasmid inserted into E.coli

Golden Rice

1980s: exploratory work on endosperm carotene in rice - carotene=vitamin A precursor - white grain part has no carotene alone - bran of rice has carotene but its milled off in production - if make rice with grain with carotene could mitigate VAD. - Work funded by Rockefller by Potrykus and Beyer

Ag Gag laws

Ag Gag Laws: impedes ability of people to show what life is like in CAFOs and expose them.

HOGs CAFOS

Began 1970s: Raise hogs like chickens, wehre the whole lifecycle is integrated and industrialized (unlike cattle where early stages of life cycle in pastures). Breeding facilities: bred and gestate and nurse Growout: make fat and big.

Black Belt North Carolina

Black Belt North Carolina: High Poverty etc and a large amount of CAFo production: clustering CAFOS in low income minority communites: health impacts of CAFOS: evironmental injustice and raism issues. lacking the political capacity to resist are said to shoulder the adverse socio-economic, environmental, or health related effects of swine waste externalities without sharing in the economic benefits brought by industrialized pork production. Duplin county has most concentrated region Environmental justice and racism. - pig waste is literally toxic. Legune= store manure - floods leads to manure flowing out of legune. Manure "escapes" and spills are toxic, and have bad environmental effects.

Design of Life Forms

Breeding Cloning Recombinant DNA genome editing

INDIA FACtOID

But, el Niño and India also exported a record 358,000 tons of wheat to UK in 1877-78

C3 plants vs C4

C3 plants will be more affected (lower concentrations of protein, and zinc/iron) by GW and unfortunately most of our food crops are c3.

CIMMYT and IRRI

CIMMYT: research institutio formed outside mX city to continue work on breeding wokr and corn (outgrowth of Borlaug's work). IRRI: formed in phillipines by World Bank adn Rockefller foundation to do research on RICE: work on crop for rest of world (part of CGIAR system). IRRI: wanted to crase kinds of rice that would to spectacular resulst (pest control, high fertility lots of irrigation). but only in idealized field conditions (industry intensive)

Mexican Context that made Borlaug possible

Cardenas President 1934-40. his policides tended to favor ejidos (semi-communal farming villages). policies encourage agricultural science to promote elijidos agriculture. Successful (not problem free) but oriented towards to rural prosperity. So rockefeller's beginning MAP project focused on Maiz and beans (only 2% grew wheat in 1941). 1940s shift towards industry and wheat: Cardenas was out of office and Aleman who followed set a different set of priorities. Less focus on rural poor and eligidos and more on commercial farmers. Shift to fertilizer intensive crops in US post WWII had impact on MAP scientists too. Boom of chemical industry made US lean on MAP to develop more chemical dependent crops. Rockefeller wanted MX to be a template that could be replicated elsewhere (INDIA) so not specific to MX.

Diamond vs. Chakrabarty

Case about how much something needs to be changed to be considered patentable. - Chakrabarty had used primitive methods to mix two genes of bacteria. GE filed for a patent and patent office said no b/c its a living organism. case went to supreme court, where 5:4 granted him a patent. - first utility patent on a living organism, very little specifications so lots of gray areas. - reconfiguring laws to cover GMOs and opening doors for patenting genes.

Green Revolution

Changes in breeding and agricultural practices in 1960s involving wheat and rice.

Insect Resistent

Comes from BT (another bacteria that contains a gene that makes the bacterium produce a protein that maessues up digestive track of cateripillas and kills them. BT spray is far as we know completely harmless to humans. Used by organic farmers. WashU isolated gene. BT not put into crop just the gene. (crop itself is pesticide).

GMO counterfactual

Counterfacturals are used to isolate effect of the phenomenom ie have treatment group with drug and control group with placebo : comparison But still don't know they're safe Yield have incrase but are going up at exactly the same rate as before Gmos counterfactual is an imagined history w/o the phenomon, no evidence hat GMOs changed the rate "rooster taking credit for the dawn"

Post Fordist

Fordist= agro runs on technology and industry intensive inputs that are research intensive. - land grant colleges, ag stations, etc wth Hybrids - but biotechnology is post fordist because it takes even more research and data to create GMOs. information replaces the stuff and the intelligence resides in the plant itself, not needed in the farmers (takes away that skill even further).

Stone's summary of GM crops potentials

Golden Rice: promise has shrunk since 1984 still not bred into varieties that grow well still not known to have desired effects in poor kids continuing subject of deceptive vitriol VR and nutrionally enhanced cassava for E. Africa Progress but still years away - BT cotton not disaster claimed by activists unclear how much it contributed to yield rise has contributed to lower pesticide use bollworms becoming resistant; genetic treadmill

Cold War Concerns Root of GR

Green Revolution was driven by Cld War concerns; hungry people are easier to mobilize into communists insurgency than well fed people; began in MX thinking could be a template for Asia/India.

IPR

IPR developed from genetic research and genetic research developed from continued IPR. 1. self approved IPR - trade secrets - copyrights 2. USPTO approved IPR (gov't approved) - patents - trade marks

IRRI critiques

IRRRI had really good rice breedings: criticizing the fertilizer intensive seed approach-- unlike large well-capitalized Pubjabi wheat farmers in InDia. Pushign them into input intensive rice is mal adaptive. Head of the Nepali Dept Agric Research: how can farmers afford all the nitrogen fertilizer?

INdia's Breeders obstacles

In reality, Indian had some of world's best breeders had developed their own fertilizer-intensive wheat and rice but didn't push them (even though they were AS GOOD as Borlaug's to responding to fertilizer. But they were crps that farmers couldn't actually grow b/c didn't have lots of fertilizer and irrigation). pointed out Mexican wheats did not yield well w/o heavy inputs (which a lot of times farmers didn't even have). stress problems of reliance on very few varieties (stressed importance of locally adapted to local conditions instead of these wide-adapted varieties, which is a precarious agricultural system). Borlaug calls them the worst obstacle

Wheat to India

India has the world's most famous history of hunger and famine. India's History ofHunger and Famine: Has been famous for hunger problems (major famine in 1870s, over 8 million people died). British officials blamed over population (Malthusianism). But, el Niño and India also exported a record 358,000 tons of wheat to UK in 1877-78

Example of farmers changing techniques

India monsoon - irrigation - drought resistance - change timing of planting.

Indian Bheries

Indian Bheries: shallow so plankton grow fast in Kolkata sun, biodegrade bacteria and grow fish food fishers call the sewage "liquid gold" Dry out rotationally every few years, grow crop of radishes, apply lime When fresh sewage comes in, algae blooms reduce coliofmr content to zero in 3 days Release fish in gradually keeping balance be oxygyn needs of fish and microorganisms like plankton Manipulate mix of fish species to occupy micro-niches (top, middle and bottom feeders) Plant water hyacinths, stabilize mud banks, provide shade for fish Control unwanted species like slugs with certain seeds like neem Problems though Heavy metals

1982: Plants come on scene

JWash U and Monsanto and Lab in Belfium make recombinant agrobacterium plasmids w/ genes for antibitoic resistance instead of tumor inducing Ti-plasmid tumor induces genes into plant DNA and makes it produce a tumor. Then gene gun used:

Indian Export Production

Jute: 2nd biggest fiber crop in the world. "Jute" = the plant and the fiber. Makes Burlap. India was growing Jute: exporting some, but also using tons to make burlap. Then could sell the burlap globally and get foreign currency and use this income to make their industry MORE. SO not about food production but EXPORT production. Indian farmers responded by planting jute on more than a million acres that formerly grew grain. **FACTORID** (cheap to grow and gov't incentives). North Eastern State of Bihar, this was seen the most.

Land Institute

Kansas based on idea that making perinal crops and making them annual was a huge mistake: have to use the plough all the time is bad. so work on perrineal crops: keep producing - work with prarie plants - huge root network if such technology spread would put us in a better place (Dealing with hotter different weather conditions) but won't spread

India Mid 1960s

Political shift: leftist forces are doing well' Us worried they would pivot to communism: think keep them happy to keep away from communism. 1966 a big drought: LBG ws convinced that we need to do whatever we can to keep India fed; seized upon idea of drought to prove famine, even though other data sets didn't prove famine convinces other that was occuring; Bihar poverty but not from famine or overpopulation but b/c export crops doing less well. But LBJ saw it as an opportunity (Pl480 and Green Revolution) to make US look like humanitarian saves and make capitalism look good. Calculate outcome of policy choices.

Chicken industrial production

Pollen argues it started in 1950s with advent of fertilizers and excess overproduction of corn. but started before in 1930s: with depression, gov't dumping money into big science. WPA projects, investing in scient to stimulate jobs. One of the projects was 1933 nat'l poultry improvement plant to crate boiler industry. another exampl of gov't funding creating agricultura industy. industry not inherently more efficient, just made to be more efficien b/c of state subsidies and allowing externalized costs. WWII: chicken consumption up b/c of beef rationed. Gov't creates concetnrated chicken production factories. so gov't support and WWII helped push poultry system to major agro system.

Will GW lead to reduced global food production

Possible: Projections tend to agree on higher production in temperate areas and lower in tropical areas (where most of poorest countries are, esp. subSaharan Africa). The projections are plausible, but they make unrealistic simplifying assumptions. Farmers in Global South will adjust practices and technologies, although we don't know how successful they will be. But will it be in the interests of professional agricultural technology developers to develop technologies that help farmers in developing countries adapt?

BT Cotton in India

Pradesh India, >300 million small cotton farmers. on insecticide treadmill b/c of problems with bollworms (catepillars so BT technology could work) - problems with getting it approved in India was the NGO market, suicide rates and ground zero for debates since green revolution - but 2002 approved. rapid adoption 2005-2008, and since then no non-BT cotton on market.

1968 bumper crop

SUMMARY FOR TEST: Rise in yield due to tubewells and fertilizer "bumper crops comes in called "green revolution" tactial poltial word against communism. but 1968 was a good number for many crops all rains coming back, across all countires, wasn't really Borlaug seeds...pulses came back 42%, borlaug's wheat on 24%. It was just that as farmers planting more wheat b/c of government subidies and policies, of course the production of other crops will decrease and production of wheat will increase. But not because of the actual MX seeds that were being planted.

(Evolution of Industrial Integration)

Series of appropriations and corporations digging holes into production' fertilizer, mechanization, (GMOs are a part of this) incorporate universities into this thinking.

GMO worries

Several concerns around GMOs: - safety for consumption: tumors? - Ecological Impacts: - Gene patenting: blocking legitamate research by companies etc. Industires obscure political-economic aspects of the technology by naturalizing GM crops as part of long history: really its a expanding corporate control-- appropriationism. Disembeddedness.

Important Caveat;the real story

Story normally told that India starving, and luckily US came in with PL480 and from ship to mouth exports, saved millions of lives. But in reality, India wasn't producing enough food BECAUSE of PL-480 (became dependent on the imports from US). Detrimental to Indian agriculture

GMO affects on agro

Surge in use of Roundup in US Don't really know if bad or not Definitely not known to be safe tho How much food has it made for us? - GM crops usually do better in side by side comparison; not always true though Soy bean- many of the studies found that it has a yield drag (with everything else the same, use GM trait grow same way, roundup ready trait yieled A LITTLE LESS) this yeidl drag is small so the farmer still uses b/c it is easierto grow: just spray entire field w/ roundup. Safety/Yield issue: Safety and yield ; two significant points of concern for GM crops: Don't have convincing evidence that GM crops are bad for env/humans

Would golden rice raise vitamin A levels in population?

The only scientific study done showed it raised vitamin leve in bodies of kids who are already well fed. - but what about kids who are malnourished in other ways

Reality of GMO today

There are virus reststance crops out on the market-pumpkins, squash, zucchini, not all and we can't be sure how many b/c no stats Non browning apples Weirdly colored carnation Tons og GMO cros are made but only tiny percent are ever commercialized, gets great press but never goes anywhre

US context 1950s

US grainoverproduction was out of control. So it's the fact that was had this excess and the fact that India was investing in cities and industry not agriculture made the perfect storm that led to huge flow of American Grain into India. Really detrimental to indian agriculture. cheap grain influenced consumption and production in ways that deepened the dependence on imports. Artificially low wheat prices, in combination with rising prices for other goods, adversely affected private investment in the farm sector. Community development and irrigation increased wheat acreage, but yield per acre declined by 12% from 1952 to 1958 and then stagnated."

GMO's feeding the Global South?

US greatly dominates GM crop planting world wide - Number 2 and 3 are Brazil and Argentina, where crops grown not to feed people by HT soybean used as export crop to feed CAFOs in developed world. - in developing south, India, Pakistan and China growing, but mainly growing Cotton. -Bottom Line: contrary to claims back in 90s, Gm crops are making exceedingly minor contributions to feeding ppl in global south.

Modification History

Watson and Crick publisehd theory of DNA 1958: Tatum states in Nobel Peace Prize statement that processes called biological enginnering and improvement will be invented. 1973: Boyer and Cohen made recombinant DNA and firest genetically modified organism.

Wheat Story

Wheat bred in MX by Borlaug. Brought to rest of the world.

Will GW lead to isolated food crises?

With absolute certainty; in fact it already is. The worst problems will come not from agriculture being backward, but the lack of safety nets. Extreme weather events will increasingly cause flooding of fields destruction of crops destruction of agricultural infrastructure PR by industry to use genetic engineering to make "more digestable" etc. but crisis had nothing to do with sorghum digestability. food crises will require political and economic solutions. (its not about crops neccessarily, we overproduce now anyway seen by huge bailout by US gov't after dought 1988-- US farmers had that entitlement, but ethiopia doesn't get that entitlement, little resources ALLOCATED to help them. )

What should i eat

ask yourself questions of what you're trying to accomplish with food choides? - health personal sense of comfort food choise as social identity concrete effects: think institutionally, strategically and critically about individuation This response is called individualization of responsibility: Thus thinking this way doesn't challenge the INSTITUIONS. So instead you should think institutionally: to fix the problems. if these is no mass movement, you've wasted your effort. You're haven't attacked the basic problem: the rules that the system runs under. You may have satisfied yourself that you have done your part: so don't go farther by changing the rules. You have provided policy makers w/ a convenient excuse to not change because its on an individual level. You have looked after your own interests and reinforced the problem: wealth ppl can buy organic but the other people who aren't wealthy still have to eat pesticides. Understand dynamics of food system.

GMO industry narrative

by the 1999, the industry knew they needed a new narrative in order to gain people over for GM crops. pouring money into PR. narrative: "hope in global south" feed Africa. playing on ppl's fears of over population: "malthus card played" virus resistent sweet potato can replace the sudanic hoe.

Political Economy

effects on institutions including corporations, academy, govn) intelectual property- who can own what; capital and universties and the debate btw who can own what between these capital and universities. includes academic capitalism state subsidy commodification

Aquaculture

factory faming tuna and salmon: It was Norwegians who figured out how to industrialize this wild fish. Salmon have crazy biology: start lives in fresh water and swim toward ocean and their bodies do this switch to change over to salt water fish. Once they've lived their lives, their body swiches over to fresh water metabolism to swim back up old river, same stretch, same river, to SPAWN. Mind blowing. This makes them very difficult to industrialize. Norwegians did it in 1950s though. freshwater hatcheries, smolt factories, and saltwater grow- out pens that form the basis of modern salmon farming Once these cooped up Salmon, make problems that have to be solved: what to feed them..? Corn. (makes Salmon lose a lot of their healthy qualities that get from their natural diet and they lose their orange color). So now have put DYE into feed to make them look orange (salmofan). Diseases and pests that grow up in Salmon farms. Infect wild salmon once spread too. Packing in aniamls in to some sort of CAFO always causes Ecological problems. Pernicious Problem: Salmon Anemia- spread out of Cafos. Link between close planting of corn problems and close feeding of animals problem. This way of salmon production, unstable and unsustainble. Antibiotics issues. Like corn made fertilizer issues? Sea Lice has increases because of close feeding of Salmon. Lots of pollutants in Salmon. We have taken this fish hat used to be one of the most healthy things you can eat and turned it into a toxin. If you are pregntant, can't eat any farmed salmon at all. Less of beneficial stuff Too. SO more unhealthy stuff less healthy stuff in farmed salmon. environmental obesogens 66% of salmon is mislabeled in restaurants

Flavr Savr Tomato

first (after tobacco in china) GM crop sold - not met with too much controversy in europe

Calgene 1994

first Gmo tomato, "flavr savr tomato, first country was tobacco though but people don't remember this) technology worked. GeMO to rot more slowly, easier to pick, technological picker easier to use.

Chicken intgrated operations

fully integrated operations start in early 50s, common by end of 50s, 90% of production by early 60s (one company controlling all the steps). Control all operations except foundational breeding: feed producing, buying chickens, packaging and producing them). by mid 60s, feed producers like Ralston-Purina become leaders

Political Economy Story to GMs

genetic engineering has changed the academic institutions more than agriculture. - created academic capitalism - Changed through IPR and b/c highly research intensive technology arose. it was in university's best interests to do the research for the corporations.

Post Cardenas MX late 40s when Borlaug there

gov't investment shifted away from elijidos toward infrastructure. Land rush by private investors to capitalize on gov't investments increase irrigation means less flood fertilizing so need inorganic fertilizer use (imported from US)... pieces coming into place for Borlaug's fertilizer intensive wheat to be more attractive). Gov't giving credit for farm expansion, irrigation. guaranteed wheat prices for commercial growers. Exchange rates to promote mecahnization--> demand for fertilizer intensive wheats Moving away from small farms (under Cardenas) to commercial farms where Borlaug's wheat could thrive.

Why input-intensive industrial agro incompatible with reversion global warming

industrial agro PROFITS from selling inputs to farmers (fertilizer machines seeds GMO technologies chemicals data) - turning overproduced crops into value-added products and all produce GHG global warming.

Brave New World

like in a brave new world where the genetically modified humans created benefit only the gov't that creates them b/c docile and highly productive individuals GMOs benefit the industires that make them . this is what designing life forms does. not inherently beneficial and helpful to all mankind.

Borlaug's Understanding

maintained that technology acted only as a catalyst offer the state interventions that die the real work of energizing production: genius of dwarf seeds was to crate one that was needy to kinds of inputs only gov't could provide. "we move governments".

HT: herbicide resistance

mostly roundup ready. have a corn field, have weeds, spray herbicides in targeted areas; Ht puts gene from bacteria into crop that makes it tolerate herbicide applications. Monsant has patent and sells this product called Roundup: so monsanto sells th seed, trait and roundup too.

Will food crises cause famine

no 1:1 comparison of agro crises-->famine amartya sen "Famine is not caused by underproduction, but by societal decisions that food is not an entitlement." its a policy matter.

Small Holder exploitation

occurs in this integrated operation Corporatiosn loan farmers the money to buy a big farm to raise lots of chicken (farmer in debt). Farmer has to do all the work to raise the chicken. Once raised, the chickens sold to the corporation for production and processing. Risk held with farmer, because if chicken don't do so well, then the farmers are the ones who hurt. Work for corporation and absorb the risk. also play a role in creating environmental & p/health problems that affect them(a form of self-exploitation) exploitation of contracted farmers to cooperations correlation btw poverty, low mobility and concentration of CAFOs.

Will agricultural technology companies meet the challenges of GW

probably not, will always promote intensive input industrialization and create ghg.The contemporary form of input-intensive industrial agriculture is inherently incompatible with reversing the course of global warming. what they will do is capitalize on it for PR. "genetic engineering solution for food crises"

Typhoon Ravaged Phillipines Vs. Ethiopia

response by Unicef, gov't, diasporic community, payouts. So could have led to massive famine b/c ppl believed those ppl were entitled to be fed and the resources were available to feed them. Vs. Ethiopia drought: no feeding programs by gov't. Not that agro situation was worse than ethiopia, it just has to do with policy and the way people respond to it. We don't even have good policies to respond to crises in our own PUERTO RICO. post Maria.

Technology Fetishim

seeing technologies as having self-contained power that actually resides in people and institutions. In green revolution: the dwarf wheat of Borlaug seen as having power. but in reality the crops were not actually hight yielding, no self contained power to feed more people, they were tools to promote industrilization adn hook farmers into industrial agro and benfit the industries. Religious: give power to the bible and holy water Marx: commodities fetish, we se commodities as having power but power is with people who deal with the commodities.

Two Year Drought Stage

set for industrial agricutural solution. Borlaug wanted his MX wheat exported everwhere. promotion of input-intesnive wheat narrative. MS swamintahn appointed sciencea divosr in India and wa san ally of Borlaug. 1967: import 18k of mexican seed. Policy makers sided with Boralug in spite of breeders warning: techology make policy makersl ook really good. triumph narrative irrisitable to indian officials. the quick response looks good.

Study Statement:

that breeding for decreased sensitivity to atmospheric CO2 concentration could partly address these new challenges to global health. But can we count on corporations to do what is good: ppl instead do work based on economic gains.

Harvesting value from academics

this is a enhanced story of hybrid corn: industry harvested value from universities (land grant colleges) this is even bigger b/c so much more money and research needed

1960s in india change

to accommodate the industrial industry intensive MX wheat from Borlaug: - massive ferilizer imports, new factories that gov't guaranteed to make a profit, subsidize fertilizer into mega farmers, provide pesticides, credit, invest in water inrastructure; star food crop to uy wheat and rice to guraantee prices. Seeds subsidized. farmers switch over to borlaug's wheat and rice ofcourse. wheat was used as a tool to change policies give gov't tools to build and control water infrasturucture, subsidides, fertilizer industires.

Technological solutions to extreme weather events?

we have been developing technologies for a long time that are based on dependable supplies of external inputs. (need fertilizer) assume a safety net of farmers, and consumerS: farmers will have, water, tractor fuel etc. but sometimes nature doesn't cooporate so we see yield fluctuations all the time!