The Future of Food

[CT Guy]

Slightly off-topic but I thought people would appreciate it. It's a free movie on hulu.com and does a good job of showing the dangers of GMO crops and explaining the history of farming.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/67878/the-future-of-food

Check it out!

 

[Clackamas Coot]

Good information. Thanks!

 

[antimatter]

all food will be grown hydroponically in the near future.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

ROFLMAO

Uh huh!

Currently, at the wholesale level, hydroponically-grown produce is a joke. And I'm including the products coming out of both Holland (B.C. Grown) as well as their sister company up in Vancouver, B.C.

It's crap - pure and simple.

CC

 

[Clackamas Coot]

CT Guy

Since you live on the West Coast you may find this interesting.

All of the produce loaded and shipped on the West Coast comes from the Salinas, Oxnard, Los Angeles, San Diego districts with a minor play from the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs and the surrounding areas) and the Yuma District for most of the year.

The desert districts (Coachella Valley and the Yuma District) produce most of the vegetables from mid-November thru late April depending on the weather.

Then the shipping point move up to Oxnard/Santa Maria until mid-June and then Salinas kicks in. It's a fact that you could walk across the city of Salinas on the top of trucks being loaded. 500+ trucks a day are loaded when Salinas (and the surrounding areas) are in full gear.

Baja California supplies the tomatoes, peppers, et al. during the winter months as well. In fact they're the biggest producer in the time frame.

Hydroponically-grown produce? Basically out of Vancouver, B.C. and some imports from Holland vis air freight (meaning HUGE logistical costs) so that when the consumer enters a grocery store like Fred Meyers in the month of December they'll have beautiful peppers and tomatoes available - sure there's no flavor or nutritional value but they get 'the look' for the holiday dinners.

Factor in the debacle known as 'Cal-Gene' out of the University of California, Davis in the 1990's regarding GMO seeds and you'll get a good understanding on the 'how' and 'why' we're in the situation that we find ourselves in.

Peace.

CC

 

[magiccannabus]

I think this read was interesting:

It's in PDF form, which I am not a fan of, but I think they make a good case for organic farming. My own experience thus far with organics really has impressed me and I am inclined to believe a lot of their argument, as biased as it may be...
http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/files/GreenRevUP.pdf

 

[Microbeman]

Slightly off-topic but I thought people would appreciate it. It's a free movie on hulu.com and does a good job of showing the dangers of GMO crops and explaining the history of farming.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/67878/the-future-of-food

Check it out!

Can't view it from Canada. Bummer!

 

[jaykush]

good movie ive seen if before. good thing i grow my own food. or at least half of it.

 

[buddah]

eat real food!!!

Real cheese........!!!
Real meat...........!!!
Real veg.............!!!
Real water.........!!!!

fuck off all da fakes!!!!!!!
most food in Comercial Supermarkets are fake!!!!

 

[maryjohn]

Here's an idea: if you live in a temperate zone your diet will vary with the seasons. Heavy on the meat in the winter, lots of sugars in the summer.

 

[CT Guy]

Can't view it from Canada. Bummer!

You can't watch Hulu from Canada? Are you sure? You may be missing Flash or something else on your computer.

CC,

I have been to Salinas, it's amazing how much production they get out of that valley. I think hydroponics has potential, though maybe just on a more regional level to eliminate the shipping.

 

[jaykush]

I have been to Salinas, it's amazing how much production they get out of that valley

i have family in the salinas valley, though so much food comes from there. they use TONS of chemicals. and are slowly little by little, year by year killing the soil.

 

[antimatter]

CT Guy

Since you live on the West Coast you may find this interesting.

All of the produce loaded and shipped on the West Coast comes from the Salinas, Oxnard, Los Angeles, San Diego districts with a minor play from the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs and the surrounding areas) and the Yuma District for most of the year.

The desert districts (Coachella Valley and the Yuma District) produce most of the vegetables from mid-November thru late April depending on the weather.

Then the shipping point move up to Oxnard/Santa Maria until mid-June and then Salinas kicks in. It's a fact that you could walk across the city of Salinas on the top of trucks being loaded. 500+ trucks a day are loaded when Salinas (and the surrounding areas) are in full gear.

Baja California supplies the tomatoes, peppers, et al. during the winter months as well. In fact they're the biggest producer in the time frame.

Hydroponically-grown produce? Basically out of Vancouver, B.C. and some imports from Holland vis air freight (meaning HUGE logistical costs) so that when the consumer enters a grocery store like Fred Meyers in the month of December they'll have beautiful peppers and tomatoes available - sure there's no flavor or nutritional value but they get 'the look' for the holiday dinners.

Factor in the debacle known as 'Cal-Gene' out of the University of California, Davis in the 1990's regarding GMO seeds and you'll get a good understanding on the 'how' and 'why' we're in the situation that we find ourselves in.

Peace.

CC

The nutritional value is the same for chemically grown crops, and generally the cash crop strains that are grown are bred for high yields and not for flavor, you need to grow heirloom strains if you want flavor. The reason why all food will be grown hydroponically in the near future is because our population will be so large that farming in fields will be out of the question since the yields are so much lower and the water consumption in hydroponics is way less then soil ex. regular field grown tomatoes 5-10 tons an acre, an acre of hydroponic greenhouse yields 300 tons... btw there are already 4000 acres of hydroponically grown produce in North America.

 

[CT Guy]

i have family in the salinas valley, though so much food comes from there. they use TONS of chemicals. and are slowly little by little, year by year killing the soil.

I totally agree. We're actually working on expanding our operation to include some programs for these large farms that are based on biological farming principles. I think it's the only option these farmers are going to have soon, as they rob the fertility of the soil with all the chemicals and are polluting the groundwater in the process.

 

[thoughtcollapse]

What does it matter anyways. In a thousand years this place will be uninhabitable solely on the fact that most people don't know or don't want to know. The mentality pretty much everywhere is to live for yourself and not for your neighbors. The world sucks straight up because of volatile human interaction and apathy towards the next generation.

 

[jaykush]

I totally agree. We're actually working on expanding our operation to include some programs for these large farms that are based on biological farming principles. I think it's the only option these farmers are going to have soon, as they rob the fertility of the soil with all the chemicals and are polluting the groundwater in the process.

good luck, for me its one small farm at a time. a few dozen small farms are better than one big giant farm anyways imo. too bad it doesn't always work that way.

 

[spiral]

wow thanks for the video. Didnt really know that much about gmos, that is some scary shit. Now im all freaked out. can this be stopped?

 

[maryjohn]

good luck, for me its one small farm at a time. a few dozen small farms are better than one big giant farm anyways imo. too bad it doesn't always work that way.

Actually to get out of this mess we will need to think big. Big enough to do rotations over 7 years while maintaininG production. They are starting to do it in chile where big land is easier to get.

 

[Calimed]

There is a famous garden guy in the bay area that is trying to get people to slowly build up their soil over a period of 10 years, I went to one of his classes once for biointensive gardening. If you follow his guidance you can rebuild the soil, grow in a much smaller space.

I forget his name but he wrote the book how to grow better vegetables.

 

[maryjohn]

It's not about space, it's about reducing the need for intervention. By working out complex rotations involving various types of agriculture we can stay organic much cheaper and have more dependable yields.