Plastic
May 1st, 2009 | Andrew
Four Frog Farm
We are starting to use black plastic mulch to control weeds and conserve water AND heat the soil to have our crops mature earlier. It is a boon. I also realize the burden this places on the earth, adding plastic to the landfills and using petroleum to make it. Is it recycleable?
On another topic, about GMOs, I saw this comment:
“You guys need to get your heads on straight. seroulsly we all cant afford going around buying seeds all the time, herbicide, pesticide, wasitng (sic) valuable time in the fields pulling weeds. whom (sic) is going to feed ther world in the future? the world is growing by 70 million people each year, while land is being depleted by big city’s, less water, less resources.. Think about it for a second the only way were ALL going to get to live is by using GMO seeds. perhaps there are some minor problems but, the gains out weigh the problems 10 to 1.”
I don’t know who the writer was, but I’m pretty sure it is a prank. I mean, “the gains out weigh (sic) the problems 10 to 1″. ??? To which gains do you refer? The capital gains for Monsanto, Syngenta and Dow? If yes, then I agree as well. Those are some hefty gains.
Listen, I’m no luddite, but I don’t believe GMOs are the way to go. For instance:
Human impact: unknown, with many studies showing ill, scary side-effects.
Environmental impacts: again, unknown, with species of butterfly and other beneficial insects falling by the wayside due to uninhibited Round-UpTM use, etc
Farm impacts: becoming known – more money spent on seeds; more money spent on chemicals; powerful, pesticide-resistant species of plant pests are being selected for due to larger doses of pesticides; larger and larger farms (=in general, decreasing quality, decreasing productivity/acre)
Feel free to add to the discussion. I am no zealot. This technology is unproven. It’s use does more to persuade me to hold off on it’s use. Who does this benefit the most? Ask yourselves that. If our society and world as a whole are more greatly benefited for the next 1000 years because of GMOs, then, I bow to that. If its use benefits a mulitnational corporation and a segment of large-scale farmers, then, perhaps we should change directions.
Andrew
Tags: GMOs, plastic mulch
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Part of it is our need to meet the demand for corn and other grains. Not for human consumption, but for animal feed. As the world’s demand for meat increases, so does the demand for feed grain. (Soy and high fructose corn syrup are discussions for another day.)
We know that it takes 8 to 10 pounds of grain to make a pound of beef. The manure is also stored in toxic concentrations instead of being returned to the earth at a rate that can be absorbed. What we have here is a reverse protein factory with a serious emissions problem. And for all that, we are feeding fewer people at the end of the process than we could at the beginning. The benefit is not happening here, unless you happen to move corn or meat animals.
Dan and I are vegetarians. It was stuff like this and a bunch of other things that did it for us. People occasionally ask me what it’s like to become a vegetarian. I tell them it’s like quitting smoking. The first two weeks really suck, then you start feeling a lot better.
Great topic, Andrew.
This may not be a popular comment but here goes. A big problem with the argument that we have to do whatever it takes to feed our growing world population is that it assumes we need to feed a growing population. While I think there is more then enough resources to provide our current population with a decent standard of living, our current system reinforces many unequalities which will only be made worse by adding more people.
Until the talking monkeys can cooperate a bit better, we deserve to starve, basically.
Hi Andrew,
Other issues re GMO’s – How about trespass, both that the GMO weed seeds are ending up in my garden, and my other mutations are ending up in my gut. I don’t want to be a test tube for Monsanto.
But regarding plastic in the garden I have very mixed feelings; short term practicality but what are the long term consequences? What is leaching out?
Thanks for your posts.