Re:Humans once opposed coffee and refrigeration: why we ofte...
by xorcist on Monday July 25, 2016 @07:03PM
(#12162228)
Because monocultures have been around for over a century, opposing them is irrational? That doesn't make sense. If your goal is to increase biodiversity, it would (at least on the surface of it) seem entirely rational to boycott GMO products. Would you care to elaborate why this is not the case?
Re:Humans once opposed coffee and refrigeration: why we ofte...
by bduerst on Tuesday July 26, 2016 @03:45AM
(#12163952)
See this sentence:
>[Monoculture's] for sure a risky practice, but even if you removed Monsanto or even GMO technology from the agricultural industry, you would still have farmers monocropping hybrids.
Attributing monocultures to GMO is irrational.
Re:Humans once opposed coffee and refrigeration: why we ofte...
by etangent on Monday July 25, 2016 @07:07PM
(#12162249)
> It seems you're more upset at what agriculture has become under capitalism and economies of scale
And even then, it has to be pointed out that it is specifically the economy of scale that is irking the grandparent, not capitalism. The USSR was certainly not capitalist, but its vast centrally planned agriculture was optimized towards efficiency, not towards feel-good/organic qualities, and exhibited all the problems (except perhaps GMOs because they were not developed at the time) that people who rail against contemporary capitalism tend to complain about.
Monocultures have been an agricultural practice since the 1800s, long before GMOs and Monsanto. It's for sure a risky practice, but even if you removed Monsanto or even GMO technology from the agricultural industry, you would still have farmers monocropping hybrids.
It seems you're more upset at what agriculture has become under capitalism and economies of scale, because the majority of consumers select for food based on lowest price, and not flavor or variety like you prefer.