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national geographic's 'five steps' won't feed the world: an iowa farmer's view

Posted: May 10 2014

The following essay written by George Naylor was published published by the Huffington Post on May 9, 2014 and is deserving of attention.

George NaylorPicture via National Geographic

The brief article, "A Five-Step Plan to Feed the World" offered by Professor Jonathan Foley in the latest National Geographic magazine, clearly states the stark features of a global society on the brink of overshooting the capacity of the ecosphere. I highly commend Professor Foley and his colleagues for being honest about the depth of the crisis because in the general media, and especially the farm media, one wouldn't know that anyone should be alarmed at all. Here in Iowa where the landscape is plastered with millions of acres of genetically modified corn and soybeans along with their poisonous herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and fertilizers polluting our lakes and rivers, our institutions deny that Silent Spring has arrived, let alone that anything needs to change. In fact, politicians and educators of every stripe bow to the god of Norman Borlaug, mesmerized by the World Food Prize mantra that we must feed the world using whatever new technology the chemical giants offer to deal with new problems turning up every day. Alarmingly, looking at the title of Foley's article, we see the same mantra! Click HERE to read more----->

hudson, new york