I discovered an interesting book called "Pilgram on the Great Bird Content" by Lyanda Lynn Haupt. It sounds like a fascinating story about nature, birds and Darwin's unique character, which covers important scientific, philosophical and emotional issues related to evolution and nature.
Although I haven't read it, I have read the first chapter which was absorbing and thought provoking. You can check it out online too.
I'd love to buy it but I've already just bought Jane Goodall's "Harvest for Hope and have a million other books to read. Harvest for Hope is "easy to read" in the literary sense, but tough emotionally. Besides all the environmental damage our food production systems cause, there are some horrific stories of cruelty to animals. But she does at least give positive alternatives and ways to take action. All I can say is, buy organic when you can. It's better for your health, the environment and animals. Although it may be more expensive, I wonder if it really would be if other farmers were not subsidised by the government for their inefficient and cruel ways of farming?
I suppose I'm painting a picture that farmers are all evil when they aren't (except those that torture animals!). It's tough to make a living from farming, so even those that do like the idea of conservation still want to make the most money that they can out of their land so that they can feed their family, educate them, etc. It makes you wonder if feeding 6 billion people is really viable?
2 comments:
i know, in an ideal world we would all be eating organic but ist a good question you ask, at the end, is it really viable to feed 6 billion people ?
i was always under teh impression that there was enough food and capacity to produce enough food for all the world inhabitants but the distribution of this wealth and food is what was not well managed ...
hi Sanisha! Thanks for blogging. I'm pretty sure there is enough food to feed everyone, but as you said not everyone has access to it. It's strange that once people could just grow their own food, but now systems have are so out of balance that small farmers can't cope financially or the land is no longer fertile/available.
The Green revolution helped to feed the massively growing global population, but most of these farmers were (and are) massively subsidised by governments to make food as cheap as it is. Farmers cut further corners by not keeping their animals in good condition, but also use the subsidies as an excuse not to use their natural resources carefully.
What I wonder is if food really is "cheap" to produce? Can it be produced cheaply and sustainably?
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