Soulnoid's Journal, 10 May 2012

I have to see this movie. Thanks for sharing. I wanted to comment about the agriculture knowledge you shared. I do agree that messing with what's perfectly fine in it's natural form is asking for trouble. Do you think this is regarding selective breeding and genetic modification? His debate is that we as humans do the same thing regarding selective breeding-instinctivelty choosing a mate which will produce healthy offspring. Some of the science is beyond me-but I still long to find out who is telling the truth! 

What he is talking about is the 'laws of natural selection'. Basically the laws of natural selection are going to weed out the weak, the strong prevail. Plants do this naturally, but through genetics we have changed this, in some cases for good and others bad, we can't go back at this point!!!! As for a our food, I think we have done some damage, we want cheap food and the way to do this is to lower the cost of growing it and get a higher yield per ac. Corn and wheat are to 2 big ones we have changed. Not to long ago we were producing about 1/4 the yield we can today on the same land, this is from genetic change. We can also spray those fields with herbicides (plant killers!) and not kill the corn or wheat, again done through genetics. So when you eat something with corn or wheat in it, you are eating a product that has been changed from the one 20 years ago and you can't kill it, LOL. So when we changed the genetic make up of the plant, what else did we change? As humans we look to improve by choosing our mate, or hope to. Yes, even ugly folks are draw to ugly folks, by choice, not because they are what is left over (I know that sounds really rude, but more just trying to make a point, I am no model of the perfect man). If the laws of natural selection were still in place for humans, we would not have the population/food problems we have. I most likely would not still be here with my flat feet, bad eyesight and spinal/head issues. I don't know if there is a truth, there are facts, but you have to decide what you stand for and what you want your life to be. For me, I have seen this change a lot over the past 10yrs.  

Nice to meet you. First of all, congratulations on getting below the 200 mark! That must have been quite a milestone for you, especially considering your job. It can be challenging to eat well while traveling (not to mention the stress level you must be under). Keep up the good work.  

My hopes are this; we will see, perhaps with our youth, ways to return to the olden ways. In some instances it is because of cost we find families living with each other, assorted types of communes, neighborhoods and communities uniting ect. As for food you are so right and it is scary to see the signs in front of fields and know this means its been genetically altered. Hothouse tomatoes sold in the market and who knows what we dont know about. BUT at the same time there are also alternatives showing themselves. Granted at this time its still considered "hippie style" Gardens are popping up every where and it is becoming cool to grow your own whether in pots or in the ground. I love the idea of turning your yard, front or back, into a garden instead of grass. This may be off topic of what your trying to say which I do get. My hopes may be naive but they are my hopes. I think eventually there will be a revolution trying to turn back the clock and undo the evil, so to speak. I only hope its not to late.  

You know, I read about all the advances in farming and ranching - how much more productive the land is nowadays with new seeds, cultivation techniques, equipment etc. And then there is the backlash against it and the push to return to natural/organic little homegrown local gardens as the way to fix our health crisis....Makes sense. I grew up on a ranch. Grandma had a huge garden & fruit trees. We had chickens for eggs, and our own grassfed beef cattle. Been that way forever. My grandma lived to 93 AND SHE WAS ALWAYS OVERWEIGHT. She was a great cook. Made from scratch meals everyday. Canned her garden veggies. Still she was plump her whole life! Active, good diet, survived a heart attack at 89 -- about 5'2, and well over 200 lbs. Annectodal, sure. But just throwing it out there, it boggles me. 

petuniak, I have seen the future.... fresh veggies will be grown in warehouses under LED lights, the top of the warehouse will have solar panels to heat and produce energy for the crops. Why a warehouse? #1) there are lots of them unused in major cities #2) much cheaper to heat #3) crops can be timed to hit peaks much better #4) pest control is a thing of the past in a closed enviroment, true ORGANIC! It does make a lot of sense. I have consulted on a major project happening in Brooklyn later this year, they opted for greenhouses on top of warehouses in the end. Hothouse tomatoes are not that bad, it is just that the types they grow are bred to ship, not for taste. If you find a local hothouse that grows garden types, they will taste like garden types. Jess, I agree, some are ment to be larger, but I still bet it was what your Grandma ate on a regular basis that made her so strong. I admit, I want to lose weight for looks, but I am also losing weight because I am eating better food. I eat 3 hard boiled eggs every morning, we were all told that eggs are bad for us a few years back, now it is what the chickens are fed that is bad for us.... I don't know, but I buy free-range or organic when I can. Does it make a diff, I have no clue.... maybe next spring I will get some chicks and raise my own eggs....  

Chickens are fun believe it not. Interesting about the warehouses. It bothers me all the empty buildings. It's good they will get use out of them. Technology and ingenuity together at last.