So I went to Indianpolis this week and hung out with standard agronomists and kids from standard high-input agriculture. It was fascinating to observe. The same companies that took the profit out of farming from farmers, and that continue to profit from farmers' hard work, actually have them all convinced that they are working for their sake--and the greatest good. The enemy is the city-based environmentalist, with silly demands about things they don't understand. There is a huge, misplaced gap that needs to filled.

After WWII, farmers were told they had to mechanize. Animals, which provided work and manure, were replaced with machines that required fuel (fuel was previously farmer-grown pasture) and inorganic fertilizers. It was brilliant--farmers were told it was for their own good, to maximize their yields. Control was taken out of their hands and into the hands of companies selling them their products. Yield *is* better, but only because it is so high-input. Calorie-for-calorie, it is not more efficient (like corn ethanol fuel--looks more efficient only when full costs of growing it are not included).

Then the plant breeding programs started. Many programs explicitly had the goal *not* of improving yield, but of making a patentable seed that could be sold to farmers. Farmers never had to buy seed before, but with the breeding programs, they now felt they had to buy the seed. Hybrids were invented for this reason, *not* for yield improvements. Genetic engineering is just an extension of this. The technology and motive is not much different (the fact that city environmentalists think it is very different, decreases their credibility and pits them against farmers who feel helped by this).

Interesting things have also happened with commodity markets and other different forms of ownership. The point is, self-sufficiency was taken away from farmers, and made to feel it was in their self interest. The gap is SO huge--there are literally farmers who say glyphosate (Round-up) is so safe, you can drink it. Because it's for killing plants, you see, and so it's safe for humans. BUT it is true that it is much safer than some other herbicides out there--paraquat for instance, is far worse. BUT it is also true that Round-up has increased monoculture, which is horrible for many reasons (environmentally and for food security). So, these issues are complex. But I am listening to the other side, not pushing my point of view, just listening. My mind is slightly more clear from meditation, and I am so glad I can listen without judging much. I can't pretend to have all the answers.
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Side note: no recycling, and I made it as a vegetarian by eating huge amounts of fresh corn and melon--certainly there was no Boca or mushroom burger. So it was a different world, one full of strip malls. Very interesting.