They can be grown all over the world although they won't grow in a rice paddy, but they are grown in large amounts in the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, India and Africa. They tend to be hardy and easy to grow, and although they aren't the single answer to human nutrition, they are a convenient way of getting more vitamin A.
Historically, poor people did have a wide variety of food sources as different foods would be available at different times of the year. If you're scavenging for food rather than just buying the cheapest food available, then you're more likely to get a variety of foodstuffs.
By the way, don't ever call me american. I'm English and not proud of it, but I'm not american and especially not from the US.
Yes, you're right. My point was that the choice isn't between "grow this rice" and "let them die", but that there are plenty of other ways to go about treating the problem. I since read a bit more about Golden Rice and it does look to be a good solution for culture that use rice as a staple. Another great solution is to encourage a wide diversity of food sources rather than settling on a staple crop for the majority of nutrients.
What? Firstly, I don't condone killing 20-25% of anyone (my family or not) and I don't believe my post stated that I was okay with it.
Secondly, I most definitely am not a christian - I'm an atheist. I also don't play the lottery.
Thirdly, I'm English so you may think that I had a part in causing the Irish Potato Famine, but that was way before my time - I just happened to be born on the same lump of land.
I love sweet potatoes. I tend to use them as a mashed potato replacement or roasted along with other vegetables. I've been known to microwave them whole as a kind of jacket potato. They're really good as a base for dips or soup as well.
Debt is an important factor in deciding which crops to grow. If you need to generate cash, then you're not going to bother to grow local food which won't generate any (or hardly any) cash, but instead you'll grow crops that can be sold to the wealthy (typically outside of the debt ridden country).
However, I agree that capitalism also exacerbates the problem.
However, I still have some concerns about licensing food crops, even though Golden Rice has been developed for humanitarian reasons (they did try to commercialise it, but developed countries aren't vitamin A deficient so there wasn't much of a market). There's always the possibility that some of the related license holders can change their minds and nothing about patents is ever clear cut.
I was mainly thinking about Africa, rather than the Philippines, but the same situation exists there as well.
It's not the rice that is forcing them to grow cash crops, but it's their external debt that forces them to grow cash crops for export which then leads to local consumers being unable to afford the crops that are grown within their own country.
Ownership of the seeds from a crop is vitally important to people who are trying to feed themselves as they may not be able to purchase the seeds for the next season if they have a bad season. If they switch away from traditional crops (that they can keep the seed from) to GMO crops, they'd better have kept enough seed for switching back again if they fall on hard times.
I'm sorry, I don't follow what you mean by "domestic consumption" and how that refutes anything.
Vitamin A deficiency is a worldwide problem with the worst affected area being Africa and the least affected areas being North America, Europe and Russia.
The big advantage of having high vitamin A in rice is that a lot of cultures have rice as their main staple, so in theory it's a quick way of increasing worldwide vitamin A consumption. The downside is the GMO/ownership issues.
That's a false dichotomy - there's more than one way to skin a cat. How about we encourage them to grow more sweet potatoes (which naturally have a high vitamin A content) rather than forcing them to grow cash crops to export in a futile attempt to pay back their international debts?
I'm not sure who I mistrust more: the UK or China. At least if it's China that causes a meltdown then we'll be free to discuss it without having terrorist laws used against us.
Thanks for your sympathy - on the bright side, we get to put 'u' in random words (e.g. colour) and can use 's' instead of 'z' when we want to.
That's the most retarded thing I've read in my life! Just how how does reducing the rights of a corporation affect the rights of any individual involved?
Slashdot Mirror
They can be grown all over the world although they won't grow in a rice paddy, but they are grown in large amounts in the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, India and Africa. They tend to be hardy and easy to grow, and although they aren't the single answer to human nutrition, they are a convenient way of getting more vitamin A.
Oops - forgot to include this link which may be of interest http://www.feeding5k.org/gleaning.php/
Historically, poor people did have a wide variety of food sources as different foods would be available at different times of the year. If you're scavenging for food rather than just buying the cheapest food available, then you're more likely to get a variety of foodstuffs.
By the way, don't ever call me american. I'm English and not proud of it, but I'm not american and especially not from the US.
Yes, you're right. My point was that the choice isn't between "grow this rice" and "let them die", but that there are plenty of other ways to go about treating the problem. I since read a bit more about Golden Rice and it does look to be a good solution for culture that use rice as a staple. Another great solution is to encourage a wide diversity of food sources rather than settling on a staple crop for the majority of nutrients.
What? Firstly, I don't condone killing 20-25% of anyone (my family or not) and I don't believe my post stated that I was okay with it.
Secondly, I most definitely am not a christian - I'm an atheist. I also don't play the lottery.
Thirdly, I'm English so you may think that I had a part in causing the Irish Potato Famine, but that was way before my time - I just happened to be born on the same lump of land.
I love sweet potatoes. I tend to use them as a mashed potato replacement or roasted along with other vegetables. I've been known to microwave them whole as a kind of jacket potato. They're really good as a base for dips or soup as well.
The population fell by 20-25%, so there were significant survivors.
Debt is an important factor in deciding which crops to grow. If you need to generate cash, then you're not going to bother to grow local food which won't generate any (or hardly any) cash, but instead you'll grow crops that can be sold to the wealthy (typically outside of the debt ridden country).
However, I agree that capitalism also exacerbates the problem.
What about the Irish?
Yep, I read about that after posting.
However, I still have some concerns about licensing food crops, even though Golden Rice has been developed for humanitarian reasons (they did try to commercialise it, but developed countries aren't vitamin A deficient so there wasn't much of a market). There's always the possibility that some of the related license holders can change their minds and nothing about patents is ever clear cut.
I was mainly thinking about Africa, rather than the Philippines, but the same situation exists there as well.
It's not the rice that is forcing them to grow cash crops, but it's their external debt that forces them to grow cash crops for export which then leads to local consumers being unable to afford the crops that are grown within their own country.
Ownership of the seeds from a crop is vitally important to people who are trying to feed themselves as they may not be able to purchase the seeds for the next season if they have a bad season. If they switch away from traditional crops (that they can keep the seed from) to GMO crops, they'd better have kept enough seed for switching back again if they fall on hard times.
I'm sorry, I don't follow what you mean by "domestic consumption" and how that refutes anything.
Vitamin A deficiency is a worldwide problem with the worst affected area being Africa and the least affected areas being North America, Europe and Russia.
The big advantage of having high vitamin A in rice is that a lot of cultures have rice as their main staple, so in theory it's a quick way of increasing worldwide vitamin A consumption. The downside is the GMO/ownership issues.
That's a false dichotomy - there's more than one way to skin a cat. How about we encourage them to grow more sweet potatoes (which naturally have a high vitamin A content) rather than forcing them to grow cash crops to export in a futile attempt to pay back their international debts?
The seeds being owned by a company is a problem, though. It's like open vs closed source but applied to food.
To go from 0 to 4% is actually an infinite growth rate, which demonstrates that growth rate is a poor metric to use.
So, it has come to this.
The truth, points to itself.
Understanding is a three-edged sword, your side, my side and the truth.
So, it's come to this.
Wait a minute - this isn't a first post.
I'm not sure who I mistrust more: the UK or China. At least if it's China that causes a meltdown then we'll be free to discuss it without having terrorist laws used against us.
Thanks for your sympathy - on the bright side, we get to put 'u' in random words (e.g. colour) and can use 's' instead of 'z' when we want to.
Unfortunately, I am British (English to be more specific).
So, it has come to this.
How many of those new PhDs become tenured professors? It's not exponential growth at all.
That's the most retarded thing I've read in my life! Just how how does reducing the rights of a corporation affect the rights of any individual involved?
So, it has come to this.
USA's appalling education showing again.