

The Musk Who Wants to Change The Way We Eat - jgayduk
https://medium.com/backchannel/the-musk-who-wants-to-change-the-way-we-eat-b34da6422d6c

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jhartmann
I love the following comment 'Musk won’t rule out GMOs permanently, but he
feels that currently they are used in a way that encourages the use of
pesticides and other chemicals'. I wish more people had this common sense view
of GMO's. Genetically modifying things is not itself bad, but modifying things
so we can spray crap tons of chemicals on them is probably not a very swift
idea.

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beat
It's a good perspective. My concern is mostly about biodiversity. GMOs _as
designed today_ are about monocropping and chemical dependency... they're a
vendor lock-in scheme wrapped in productivity enhancement.

Globally, productivity isn't our big food problem. Sustainability is. But the
best solution for sustainability is probably the opposite of GMO - protecting
heirloom varieties and local crops, using crop rotation and low-till
techniques to minimize soil damage, and thinking about farms in terms of
centuries rather than years.

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thatcat
I'm not sure that heirlooms are inherently more sustainable. Genetically
modified strawberries for example don't freeze at lower temperatures, it is
also possible add heat resistant traits, or make other modifications. Immunity
to certain pesticides is just one business model for GMO's.

~~~
beat
It's a question of vulnerabilities. It's not just about shelf life or growing
season... it's about surviving blights and such. Look into the history of the
Big Boy banana (and the current concerns about cavandish bananas) for more on
this.

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steele
ouch, the title immediately throws this guy in Elon Musk's shadow.

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clarebear
I would guess that if Elon Musk is your brother, you probably get used to that
shadow.

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beat
From reading the article, it doesn't seem like either of them feel a shadow.

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TheBeardKing
tldr: the thin savior from Boulder, CO embarks to Memphis on a stated mission
of evangelizing the ignorant fatties of Memphis, TN, but all he really does is
open a GMO-free organic restaurant called "The Kitchen" to make money off the
rich, niche, hipster market.

edit: ; to :

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paul
Toxic cynicism.

Change happens one step at a time. Tell us about the amazing things you are
doing.

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PopeOfNope
Toxic cynicism or reasonable skepticism? In anything involving health or food,
it pays to keep an elevated level of skepticism. Too many people make too much
money off of scams that have no scientific basis, but lots of marketing.

Btw, I visited boulder last week and ate at The Kitchen Next Door. The food
was delicious, but nothing struck me as especially healthy. Most of it was
fried.

