Food & agriculture – Nov 27

November 27, 2006

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Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage


Toxic seed becomes hope for the hungry

Peter N. Spotts, Christian Science Monitor
Scientists reengineer cottonseed. Now, they aim to turn more poisonous plants into human food.
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Where most people might look at a white-capped cotton plant and see the makings of next year’s T-shirts, Keerti Rathore sees food for a hungry world.

Dr. Rathore and his colleagues have figured out how to make poisonous cottonseeds fit for human consumption. The new, nontoxic seeds could give 500 million people an additional source of high-quality protein, the team estimates, if the genetically engineered plant is approved for cultivation.

In principle, this approach could expand the array of plants or plant parts humans could eat without heavy processing or precooking preparation. Rathore’s team virtually shuts off the gene responsible for the toxin. The researchers don’t replace the gene or add one to get the desired trait. Thus, some researchers suggest, the technique might be more politically palatable to people who oppose genetically modified crops.

“This is a nice piece of work,” says Steve Scofield, a molecular biologist at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. Still, he cautions, “the biggest issue they’ve got is that this will be viewed as a [genetically modified] plant. So there may be a public-acceptance issue.”
(27 Nov 2006)


Julian Darley on “Deconstructing Dinner”

Global Public Media
Global Public Media’s Julian Darley spoke in Vancouver in February 2006, and the Vancouver-based Necessary Voices Society was on hand to record his presentation. In October, Deconstructing Dinner featured his presentation in a program about the relationship between food and fossil fuels.

Deconstructing Dinner is a weekly radio program produced at Kootenay Co-op Radio in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada. The program discusses the impacts our food choices have on ourselves, our communities and the planet. Deconstructing Dinner is broadcast on seven radio stations and is available for download on the program’s web site or via a podcast feed. Click here to see all of the most recent shows.
(26 Oct 2006, but just posted)


Farmers show interest in carbon trading scheme

ABC (Au)
The company which has established a carbon trading scheme in Queensland says it is fielding plenty of calls from Queensland graziers about the program.

The Carbon Pool says its new scheme allows farmers to sell carbon rights to industrial companies who can then use them to offset their greenhouse gas emissions.

Under the deal, graziers agree not to clear their land.

But managing director Mark Jackson says there are not too many farmers eligible for the project because they need a current clearing permit from the State Government.

“I think probably there’s not that much country that is left to clear … most of these permits were issued as part of the ballot process that the State Government did in about 2004,” he said.

“Landowners who have still got areas to clear are getting pretty thin on the ground and I think that’s probably the bottom line.”
(24 Nov 2006)


Diet for a Hot Planet

Daniel Nepstad, Boston Globe via Common Dreams
Thirty-five years ago, Frances Moore Lappé’s revolutionary cookbook “Diet for a Small Planet” warned of the dire consequences of a growing taste for meat. For example, it takes up to 16 times more farmland to sustain people on a diet of animal protein than on a diet of plant protein. As US, European, and Asian farmers run out of land for crop expansion, her warning rings prophetic. The emerging meat-eaters of the emerging economies — especially China — are driving industrial agriculture into the tropical forests of South America, sending greenhouse gases skyward in a dangerous new linkage between the palate and the warming of the planet.
(22 Nov 2006)


Tags: Food