[Editor’s Note: Ben Gordon received his Master’s in development practice from UC-Berkeley in 2016 and will begin a PhD program in agricultural and resource economics at UC-Berkeley in fall 2017.]
Until [2016], I still wavered in my view of the role of modern biology in agriculture. But today, now that I understand its history, scope of application (i.e. as a tool in plant breeding, not an entire agricultural system), and limitations, I firmly believe it plays a crucial role in enabling humanity to address some of the most pressing challenges of climate change, migration, and moving toward a renewable economy. This is based on reading hundreds of blogs, papers, and reports from many countries and all sides of this complicated issue.
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I was fortunate to see “Food Evolution” at a prescreening … and came away thankful that a 90-minute documentary was able to unpack how the world of plant breeding got mired in political and social turmoil. … But the next week, leading up to another screening at UC Berkeley campus, a letter denouncing the film as propaganda, and signed by a number of academics, was sent to several listservs, and subsequently published online. To see people affiliated with UC Berkeley and other universities describe “Food Evolution” as such is beyond disheartening.
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It’s true, biotechnology has a long way to go to meet its potential, but this is an opportunity, not a disaster.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: “Food Evolution” – the ever evolving science
