Agriculture
I have seen some trends developing over the past few years and am throwing out my predictions for the state of food in 2013. This mainly applies to the United States because the rest of the developed world and much of the undeveloped world is far more advanced when it comes to food and food [...]
Making a huge splash in the press recently is that it looks like some folks are finally admitting that genetically engineered (GE), also called genetically modified organisms (GMO), crops cause a new class of weeds resistant to herbicides. They are being dubbed superweeds because the increased use of herbicides on GE crops has super (no [...]
Continue reading about Superweeds from genetically engineered crops
As I have said before, the Neolithic Revolution is the singular most important era in human history, in my opinion. It is also called the Agricultural Revolution. Without it, civilization as we know it would never have been possible. I would also submit that the people who domesticated wild plants and animals were incredibly intelligent. [...]
Continue reading about Mesoamerica and the Neolithic Revolution
Last week, a Stanford University study was published which got way more press that one would expect. For example, you can read one article written just after the study’s release in the New York Times: Stanford Scientists Cast Doubt on Advantages of Organic Meat and Produce. Essentially, the study claims that organic products are not [...]
Continue reading about Stanford “organic no better than conventionally grown food” study debunked
Guar gum On the surface, this is an amusing story, at least it seemed that way when I saw the headline, “Food Industry Blames Fracking for Guar Gum Bubble.” Economically, it is serious and a great demonstration of agriculture’s dual purposes producing crops for both food and non-food use. Currently, the food industry is having issues with [...]
Food has defined human development and evolution since Homo Habilus The single most important factor affecting development of human culture throughout prehistory and history (history being defined as what has occurred since written records have been kept, prior to that, we depend only on the archaeological record for our data) is food and how we [...]
Ever wonder where the foods you like to eat originally came from? Have you ever wondered how our prehistoric ancestors coped with only the foods they had at hand? First they were hunter-gatherers, then came the development of agriculture that allowed for permanent settlements and the evolution of food plants from something most of us [...]
