It seems like there is a very open war going on between two factions in the world, and they are both after your food.
First we have the organic only group who search out all food products which are as Mother Nature intended; in all their mud encrusted, oddly shaped or grass fed glory. With the battle cry that organic is inherently better and much more nutritious than the (allegedly) cancer inducing chemical soaked alternatives on your supermarket shelves, as they trawl through farmers markets with an air of foodie superiority. These people are fervently opposed to any tampering of nature by mankind and are willing to pay for the privilege too, you will never see a cheap frozen processed TV dinner in their shopping basket. But is this a lifestyle choice for middle class hipsters rather than a decision based on logic and fact that will work long-term?
Meanwhile science is creating pest and disease resistant GM ‘super-crops’ and growing ‘meat’ in laboratories to counter the ever looming global food crisis. They can appear sympathetic to the organic chasers, as plants modified to be disease free promise to grow like weeds in poor soil and provide nutritious food which would not need the pesticides or chemical fertilisers so hated by them. This logic also applies to meat production. Flesh grown in lab conditions would not need antibiotics, medicines or even traditional feed…also you can keep all your rainforests as it would negate the need for huge areas of grazing land. But does this utopian win:win sound a little too good to be true as it is, after all, being delivered by big business with their sights aimed firmly on your plate.
The funny thing is that both have environmental silver bullets. They both have health and nutrition cards to play. It’s like a cross between a Mexican stand off and Texas hold all. Both sides have counter arguments which seem to make absolute sense and neither are able or willing to call each other’s bluff. So where does the truth lie? Or does it even exist?
As time slips away the pressure on food producers (traditional or otherwise) grows ever heavier.
Time is THE factor. As the global population soars the clock ticks ever faster on our need to solve the food crisis. Humans have cross bred and overcome diseases in fruit and vegetables for hundreds or years, but this process takes a lot of time, time which we can no longer afford. As we pack in ever more produce into smaller areas, our cruel mistress Mother Nature takes the opportunity to hit back. Just look at the plight of the Cavendish banana.
Will a field of super-strain crops take over and eradicate every other plant species for a 1000 miles around it?
Could the demand for organic food cause more naturally occurring diseases, pests and fungi to mutate and take hold?
With nature facing huge challenges from man from evermore polluted oceans to global warming is there space for us to be picky about where or how our food is produced?
Perhaps if we turn our back on GM we will be condemning millions of people to starvation and malnutrition?
Or have we simply run out of time already? Will the global population eventually (or inevitably) out strip all possible methods of food production, after all we have finite space on this planet…
What do you think? Which side of the fence do you sit on…or are you firmly on it?
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I am in the organic camp. I don’t consider myself a nazi on the subject and I understand both sides of the argument. I switched to organic after I tasted produce that my dad grew “for a laugh” in his new allotment that had remained untouched for some 50 years or so. Everything he grew was massive in size and with such rich and distinctive flavour that I was blown away. Especially when compared to the bland tasting produce that I find in local supermarkets.
For me it’s so easy to keep up with the organic lifestyle as I have all my food delivered once a week so no air of superiority when scouring the local markets.
I’d rather not knowingly consume GMO produce as I don’t know what the long term effects on the human body are. I leave that to those braver than me. In principle it’s a great idea if it means that it can help solve famine, however when wheat plants were 5 feet tall I didn’t suffer from a gluten intolerance. Now I do. So whenever possible I stick with old school produce. 🙂
Cristina, Good point about flavour. Although you could attribute some the bland taste of supermarket ‘fresh’ vegetables down to months of cold storage! Quite right too that the long term effects of GM produce are a bit of an unknown, but does that mean we should shy away from them? The upside of GM could be a huge benefit to the world, also remember in the past we have brought ‘unknown’ quantities into the food chain before, tomatoes and potatoes for example. People were extremely wary of potatoes when they were introduced…hard to believe now. For now we all have options and going for flavour will always be my choice too…but what if those options should run out?