Bt, Beta Carotene and the Big MACCs
Commodification & The Destruction of Efficacy
One of the persistent critiques of modern industrial agriculture is that it is enthralled by the concept of the "silver bullet" approach to problem solving, an outgrowth of the reductionist methodology that arose during the Enlightenment. The Scientific Method -- and to an even greater extent, the Science Business -- is often blinded by the implications of this bias and fails to see that its methods have constrained its outcomes. This paper, which was prepared for an academic conference in 2000, examines the core error that causes this problem.
The Language of Technology
Terminate or be Terminated
The debate over transgenic technology in food and farming has been remarkably unproductive, due largely to the constant battle over how to describe these techniques. Are they radical and dangerous new innovations, capable of shattering the stability of societies and ecosystems, or merely incremental steps within a long tradition? This paper, prepared for an academic conference in 2000 examines the use and mis-use of language in this context.
