posted on Feb, 29 2008 @ 09:14 AM
reply to post by dismanrc
This is where we get into a touchy subject. There are several solutions on the table that could likely be used.
1. Stop subsidizing cotton. Africa can do it better and cheaper than we can. And it erodes the soil. There are hundreds of thousands of acres of
land that isn't farmed each year, as things like rye grass are rotated in to replenish the nitrogen in the soil. Plus, the damage we are doing to
west Africa by holding down cotton prices for them is disasterous and helping to push poverty (and thus, radical Islam) in the region.
2. Move towards a hemp based ag system. Hemp is extremely versatile, easy to grow (in every climate), decreases soil erosion, and can account for
our fuel needs.
3. Genetically modified crops. Yeah, i don't know what i think about them either. But it is an option. Perhaps we just grow them in hydroponic
chambers or something. Expensive to build, but the yield vs. maintenance would likely pay off in the near term.
Regardless there are countless hurdles. The nations (failed) drug policy is one. Our increasing propensity for creating malicious foreign policy is
another (i thought "leaders" would meddle less, look forward more....i guess i am wrong). Then there are the smaller problems, like maintaining
high levels of food supply in a much more inconsistent and unpredictable weather environment. We would have to diversify crops locally to ensure that
we didn't have all our eggs in one basket. A year without corn would be a disaster.
There are solutions. Some of them are buried in obscure science journals, and need to be applied. Many of them are obvious and have "morals"
hurdles that we must jump. We should be technologically sound enough to withstand most things that don't just outright kill us (gamma ray burst, for
example).