Blog 5

I thought that the film The Future of Food took on a growing dilemma with our agriculture and farming. It was interesting bearing witness to the development of genetically manipulated foods and the tolls it took on patenting. I never knew about Round Up and the seeds and how the company pretty much bought out the entire market. With the patenting now being able to be used on genes and anything that it can inhabit, the ownership policies are harder to escape. It was surprising how patenting of genes quickly took a toll on food sources. With that, I never realized how much our agriculture and farming really effect other countries in their agriculture and farming habits in their production of crops. I guess I didn't see the extent of the harm of all paperwork and government involvement in patenting but I have come to see the greater effects as time passes on.

The film makes me more weary of the food I eat, then I begin to think about how much of my food isn't already somewhat tainted. I think that even without the genes the soil and our land in itself is a polluted foreground for crops. Another thing I thought about was the goal of the green revolution in feeding everyone was a good idea but the fact of the matter is that we already have enough food to go around, it's just not being shared. the film also brought attention to this but I think one of the most interesting areas that was discussed not in much detail was the suicide gene which allowed the crop to not produce more crop once it is harvested. I never heard about such a thing but it made me more attentive to the effects of this gene if it somehow got out and destroyed needed crops especially in other countries that rely on farming and agriculture life to survive.

Enserink, Martin. "Preliminary Data Touch Off Genetic Food Fight." Science 283.5405 (1999): 1094-96. 2 May 2008.