This blog accompanies Catarina Passidomo's Fall 2013 course in the Geography of Food (GEOG 3660) at the University of Georgia.
Friday, August 30, 2013
Where the idea of golden rice works...
Does this idea actually make for a population that actually has sovereignty over its food supply?
Is it sustainable?
How effective do you think this will be in the long term?
I think that this form of biofortification is extremely beneficial. I believe that the methods that are being used to produce these sweet potatoes is sustainable and can only grow and become more efficient in the future. The main question that came to my mind is why don't we use these methods on other vegetables? The lack of Vitamin A is a major health issue and we should be guaranteeing nutrients to all consumers of harvested food products.
Does this idea actually make for a population that actually has sovereignty over its food supply? In this example the answer is yes, but an organization (population) can quickly lose control of a situation if the party which introduced the project lacks a thorough understanding of culture, economics, environment, etc. Is it sustainable? Same as the above answer. The trick is that there is no golden bullet. All that bullshit about fixing a problem in "100-x" years is asinine. People have to be willing to stick to a project. How effective do you think this will be in the long term? If a project has been fully studied, is flexible enough to flow with cultural dynamism, can withstand economic fluctuations, and is carried out in a manner aligned with its initial vision, than the answer is yes. If not, forget about it.
This is a very interesting article. First, I did not realize that sweet potatoes that arrive in African countries were white or yellow and contain no beta-carotene (I assumed all sweet potatoes were orange). I think this form of biofortification is a great idea! The idea of fortifying a staple food in a country, making it healthier and providing people with the vitamins their diets are lacking seems ideal.
1. Does this idea actually make for a population that actually has sovereignty over its food supply? In regards to sovereignty over the food supply, I believe that growing these biofortified foods does take away some of the control the population has over their food. The people become dependent on a certain type of seed that needs certain conditions to grow.
2. Is it sustainable? I think long-term sustainability of biofortification is very realistic because the costs required for monitoring and maintaining these crops are fairly low. The other option is to supplement the diets of malnourished people. This is comparatively expensive and requires continued financing over time.
3. How effective do you think this will be in the long term? Biofortification has already proven itself to be highly effective at addressing nutrient deficiencies on a massive scale. I do not think bioforitifcation alone will be an effective long-term solution to the malnourishment of impoverished people. Other factors (nutrition education, dietary diversification, poverty alleviation, etc.) will need to be considered and addressed if we want biofortification to be successful.
I believe that in this particular situation bio-fortification does give a nation sovereignty over the food it is growing. They may still have to obtain the crop in question, but it is not some genetically modified crop that may be harder or more expensive to obtain - it is simply a different breed of a crop they are already used to growing. In this situation I believe that bio-fortification is both sustainable and will most likely be effective in the long term as well. I feel that because many subsistence farmers (the ones that we actually want to help) are the ones who are currently growing yellow or white sweet potatoes - so they will already most likely have the infrastructure and knowledge to grow the new orange variety as well. Also, because they have been farming sweet potatoes in the regions listed on the video for hundreds of years, I feel that there is a good chance that they will continue on with this trend with the new breed of orange sweet potatoes well into the future.
I think this idea of biofortification is a very savvy idea and a much more applicable way to provide necessary nutrients to malnourished populations than before. In terms of sustainable practice, I think over time it will become easier as the introduction of nutrients into vegetables will over time integrate into the food system. It will only grow in popularity as it has already been proven to increase the nutritional profiles of those who suffer from a lack of nutrient-rich foods.
I think that this form of biofortification is extremely beneficial. I believe that the methods that are being used to produce these sweet potatoes is sustainable and can only grow and become more efficient in the future. The main question that came to my mind is why don't we use these methods on other vegetables? The lack of Vitamin A is a major health issue and we should be guaranteeing nutrients to all consumers of harvested food products.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
-Madison Boyd
Does this idea actually make for a population that actually has sovereignty over its food supply? In this example the answer is yes, but an organization (population) can quickly lose control of a situation if the party which introduced the project lacks a thorough understanding of culture, economics, environment, etc.
ReplyDeleteIs it sustainable? Same as the above answer. The trick is that there is no golden bullet. All that bullshit about fixing a problem in "100-x" years is asinine. People have to be willing to stick to a project.
How effective do you think this will be in the long term? If a project has been fully studied, is flexible enough to flow with cultural dynamism, can withstand economic fluctuations, and is carried out in a manner aligned with its initial vision, than the answer is yes. If not, forget about it.
This is a very interesting article. First, I did not realize that sweet potatoes that arrive in African countries were white or yellow and contain no beta-carotene (I assumed all sweet potatoes were orange). I think this form of biofortification is a great idea! The idea of fortifying a staple food in a country, making it healthier and providing people with the vitamins their diets are lacking seems ideal.
ReplyDelete1. Does this idea actually make for a population that actually has sovereignty over its food supply?
In regards to sovereignty over the food supply, I believe that growing these biofortified foods does take away some of the control the population has over their food. The people become dependent on a certain type of seed that needs certain conditions to grow.
2. Is it sustainable?
I think long-term sustainability of biofortification is very realistic because the costs required for monitoring and maintaining these crops are fairly low. The other option is to supplement the diets of malnourished people. This is comparatively expensive and requires continued financing over time.
3. How effective do you think this will be in the long term?
Biofortification has already proven itself to be highly effective at addressing nutrient deficiencies on a massive scale. I do not think bioforitifcation alone will be an effective long-term solution to the malnourishment of impoverished people. Other factors (nutrition education, dietary diversification, poverty alleviation, etc.) will need to be considered and addressed if we want biofortification to be successful.
I believe that in this particular situation bio-fortification does give a nation sovereignty over the food it is growing. They may still have to obtain the crop in question, but it is not some genetically modified crop that may be harder or more expensive to obtain - it is simply a different breed of a crop they are already used to growing. In this situation I believe that bio-fortification is both sustainable and will most likely be effective in the long term as well. I feel that because many subsistence farmers (the ones that we actually want to help) are the ones who are currently growing yellow or white sweet potatoes - so they will already most likely have the infrastructure and knowledge to grow the new orange variety as well. Also, because they have been farming sweet potatoes in the regions listed on the video for hundreds of years, I feel that there is a good chance that they will continue on with this trend with the new breed of orange sweet potatoes well into the future.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this!
I think this idea of biofortification is a very savvy idea and a much more applicable way to provide necessary nutrients to malnourished populations than before. In terms of sustainable practice, I think over time it will become easier as the introduction of nutrients into vegetables will over time integrate into the food system. It will only grow in popularity as it has already been proven to increase the nutritional profiles of those who suffer from a lack of nutrient-rich foods.
ReplyDelete