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Binding: HardcoverDewey Decimal Number: 664 EAN: 9780195301755 ISBN: 0195301757 Label: Oxford University Press, USA Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 232 Publication Date: April 18, 2008 Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA Studio: Oxford University Press, USA Editorial Review: Product Description: By the year 2050, Earth's population will double. If we continue with current farming practices, vast amounts of wilderness will be lost, millions of birds and billions of insects will die, and the public will lose billions of dollars as a consequence of environmental degradation. Clearly, there must be a better way to meet the need for increased food production. Written as part memoir, part instruction, and part contemplation, Tomorrow's Table argues that a judicious blend of two important strands of agriculture--genetic engineering and organic farming--is key to helping feed the world's growing population in an ecologically balanced manner. Pamela Ronald, a geneticist, and her husband, Raoul Adamchak, an organic farmer, take the reader inside their lives for roughly a year, allowing us to look over their shoulders so that we can see what geneticists and organic farmers actually do. The reader sees the problems that farmers face, trying to provide larger yields without resorting to expensive or environmentally hazardous chemicals, a problem that will loom larger and larger as the century progresses. They learn how organic farmers and geneticists address these problems. This book is for consumers, farmers, and policy decision makers who want to make food choices and policy that will support ecologically responsible farming practices. It is also for anyone who wants accurate information about organic farming, genetic engineering, and their potential impacts on human health and the environment. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Tomorrow's Table: Organic low key propaganda for corporations Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food is a commercial effort to impose genetically engineered food and the licenses to sell those seeds onto organic farming. The author claims that genetic engineering is just another farming practice from the long history of farming improvements. That claim is not right, genetic engineering is a fundamental and radical departure from the 14,000 year history of selecting improved varieties after crossing those plants. The genetically ... Read More Rating:  - Tomorrow's Table is an important bookI enjoyed reading the book and come away the better for it. This is an important work that cuts through a lot of...let's just call it dross...and makes plain to those of us without degrees in plant science what is important to consider in any handling of questions about and objections to the tools of modern plant science. The authors elegantly and masterfully frame the concerns and questions in the intricate tapestry of all pertinent aspects of agriculture. I look forward to hearing of its effective ... Read More Rating: - A pleasant surpriseI was given this book by a friend who is an organic "true believer" and when he handed me a book I sort of expect a re-hashing of the usual pro-organics arguments I've heard many times over the years. Instead I was pleasantly surprised. The book is straight forward, well-reasoned, and accessible. I have a background in agriculture and molecular biology, and so at times I found the science a tad too simplistic to strongly hold my interest, but I suspect that for the average reader, it strikes ... Read More Rating: - An Excellent Introduction To Biotech and A Unique ViewI made it through the book in a day or two. It is not overly technical; it is an excellent introduction to biotech and organic farming. I did not really get into the book until the last chapter; I guess I kept wishing for more technical information, for the authors to drive home their point of view. However, the point they are trying to make cannot be more important. That is that biotech has a place in organic farming to make it more "sustainable". RoundUp ready crops have made it possible for ... Read More Rating: - Required reading for foodiesAs a consumer who shops at grocery stores that specialize in organic food, I have noticed a proliferation of signs and labels stating that this or that product is GE or GMO free. These labels don't do much to inform the public and do much to increase anxiety. This book is a great antidote; informative and detailed, clear and engaging. Readers of recent books on the politics of food, such as Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver or The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan will be interested ... Read More |
