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13 November 2018
Cambridge Climate Research Associates (CCRA) Transition-Studies.Net & Food-Matters.TV
Tim Weiskel - 2
Food Policy & Food Systems Fall, 2018 - Prof. E. Messer Week 10 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Food Policy & Food Systems Fall, 2018 - Prof. E. Messer Week 10 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Boston U. MET ML 720 Food Policy & Food Systems Fall, 2018 - Prof. E. Messer Week 10 - (November 13) Biofuels, Land Grabs, and the Right to Food: The Legacy of Colonialism and the Evolution of the Global Food System Timothy C. Weiskel
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And then, where are we located in Earth time?
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Sixth major mass extinction “episode” = now
And then, where are we located in Earth time?
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Schematic representation of species ratio transformations through
- time. Note bene the pace and magnitude of the transformations we
have become accustomed to as “normal” are systemically quite abnormal and cannot persist much longer.
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Remember, … the trophic structure of the ecosystem is crucially important. Therefore, in an ecosystem ratios really matter.
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We can begin to ask about “overload” questions, but answering these questions will inevitably raise further (perhaps embarrassing
- r revealing) questions
about ratios.
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Some have already argued that there are too many humans currently alive and about to live for the planet to sustain them.
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The international scientific community has been convened to address this question. And they have issued the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Report (March 2005). David Malakoff, "Report Urges Action Against Ecosystem Damage," NPR - Morning Edition, (30 March 2005). http://www.npr.org/dmg/dmg.php?prgCode=ME&showDate =30-Mar-2005&segNum=5&mediaPref=RM
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Part of the problem comes from transforming the ratios between the “wild” species (forest tree), the “cultivated species” (stalk of wheat) and ourselves. This 1995 UN Ecosystem Assessment Report is the largest and loudest warning signal from the environmental scientists ever.
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No amount of genetic engineering will address the ethical problem of limit posed by the most recent scientific studies.
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"Tunisia: A Taste of the Future? Climate Change, Food Prices and Political Chaos "Fueling the Coming Revolutions: Climate Change, GMOs and the Ethanol vs. Food Conflict“
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Q: Why has the human community side-stepped
- r ignored the
“population” problem?
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Q: Why has the human community side-stepped
- r ignored the
“population” problem? A: Because of
- ur fanciful
understanding
- f the
ecosystem.
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Q: Why has the human community side-stepped
- r ignored the
“population” problem? A: Because of
- ur fanciful
understanding
- f the
ecosystem.
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http://www.climate-talks.net/2008- ENVRE130/Audio/20090913-NPR-Borlaug-dies.htm
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BBC, Newshour, 13 September 2009
http://www.climate-talks.net/2008- ENVRE130/Audio/20090913-BBC- Borlaug-Newshour-obit.mp3.
Norman Borlaug (1914 – 2009)
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http://www.climate-talks.net/2008-ENVRE130/Video/20090913-YouTube- Borlaug-Promoter.htm
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Clearly the most basic problem of environmental ethics in Western civilization is that We have largely ‘forgotten’ (and it may be that many
- f our leaders never knew) the basic ecological insight
about our collective “niche” as a species in the global ecosystem.
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Never before….and never again.
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Climate Change
Global Food System Agriculture Soils
Earth’s Ecosystem Supporting Humans
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Climate Change
Global Food System Agriculture Soils
Earth’s Ecosystem Supporting Humans
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Climate Change
Global Food System Agriculture Soils
Earth’s Ecosystem Supporting Humans There ARE limits!
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Climate Change
Global Food System Agriculture Soils
Earth’s Ecosystem Supporting Humans There ARE limits!
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This was clearly demonstrated to the modern world by a group of MIT scientists who issued a Report to the Club of Rome in 1972 entitled, “The Limits to Growth”
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Global population has tripled in the lifetime of many adults alive today.
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Global population has tripled in the lifetime of many adults alive today. This has never happened before in human history AND it will not happen again.
Never before AND never again…
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https://environmentalju sticetv.wordpress.com/ 2012/08/16/people-and- planet-speech-only/
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The “Food” Problem Norman Borlaug addressed the
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The “Food” Problem
The Food/Population Problem
… but we have come to understand that this is only part of:
Norman Borlaug addressed the
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The “Food” Problem
The Food/Population Problem
Norman Borlaug addressed the
… but we have come to understand that this is only part of: … and that, in turn, is only part of:
The Food/Population/Environment Problem
(This Requires a Paradigm Shift)
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Norman Borlaug (1914 – 2009)
The Crucial Question Is: Will the students and followers of Norman Borlaug be able to make the paradigm shift to sustainable agriculture that is now required for our collective human survival?
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If they cannot make this needed paradigm shift – if we cannot collectively make that shift – then, we can expect some very rude and costly disruptions in the global food system in the relatively near future.
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Consider the “conversion experience” –the “epiphanal experience” described by Ray Anderson….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hG- c1KY7Y4&feature=PlayList&p=FA50FBC214A6CE87&index=7 http://youtu.be/-hG-c1KY7Y4?t=4m41s
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“….people like me should be in jail…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hG- c1KY7Y4&feature=PlayList&p=FA50FBC214A6CE8 7&index=7
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Which of these two gentlemen is closer to understanding the ecology & ethics of sustainability?
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Norman Borlaug
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Norman Borlaug Ray Anderson OR
…blog on.
Which of these two gentlemen is closer to understanding the ecology & ethics of sustainability?
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Paradigms – or worldviews – have enormous implications for ethics and for public policy…
In the middle of the 20th century – largely following the paradigm championed by Norman Borlaug –
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Paradigms – or worldviews – have enormous implications for ethics and for public policy…
In the middle of the 20th century – largely following the paradigm championed by Norman Borlaug – humanity transformed agriculture from solar based systems to a global petro- dependent one. If we are ethically responsible for the foreseeable consequences of
- ur own behavior what does this mean for the ethics of agriculture?
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Paradigms – or worldviews – have enormous implications for ethics and for public policy…
In the middle of the 20th century – largely following the paradigm championed by Norman Borlaug – humanity transformed agriculture from solar based systems to a global petro- dependent one. If we are ethically responsible for the foreseeable consequences of
- ur own behavior what does this mean for the ethics of agriculture?
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Chapters in African Agricultural History: Much Needed New Investment? Or “Neo-Colonial” Land Grab?
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Chapters in African Agricultural History: Much Needed New Investment? Or “Neo-Colonial” Land Grab?
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Boyleston Hall Harvard Yard
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Boyleston Hall Harvard Yard
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Boyleston Hall Harvard Yard
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Where do YOU stand in the midst of these paradigm shifts?
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Where do YOU stand in the midst of these paradigm shifts? You need to pay attention to how your mind and heart are being “furnished.” If you don’t someone else will do it for you.
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Where do YOU stand in the midst of these paradigm shifts? You need to pay attention to how your mind and heart are being “furnished.” If you don’t someone else will do it for you. Higher education is your last best chance….That’s what it is for. It can prepare you for the paradigm shifts that you will have to undertake in your own life…
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Where do YOU stand in the midst of these paradigm shifts?
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Where do YOU stand in the midst of these paradigm shifts? Where you stand matters,
because you will find that if you don’t stand for something you can fall for anything…
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Consider Africa’s Agricultural Circumstance.
The Current trend in African Agricultural History:
Are We Witnessing Much Needed New Investment? Or "Neo-Colonial" Land Grab?
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Are There Alternatives?
Beyond The "Green Revolution:" The Current Paradigm Shift in Global Agricultural Science
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Are There Alternatives?
Beyond The "Green Revolution:" The Current Paradigm Shift in Global Agricultural Science
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13 November 2018
Cambridge Climate Research Associates (CCRA) Transition-Studies.Net & Food-Matters.TV