Throwing rotten tomatoes at public food gardens
This is the last post you can comment on for the month of October.
Is it a good idea to promote gardening? Is the author right that publicly available vegetable gardens are going too far? Is his glowing view of industrial agriculture on target, or is his analysis not taking some important aspects into account?
First I have to say that I completely agree with the content of this article, but not with the way the content was presented. Most of this society is prejudiced against anything that is not "natural". Maybe it is because they feel guilty that they live with comforts of technology, compared to the way people were living in the past. I have many friends that believe everything that was made artificially, such as food in the supermarkets or even medicine made in pharmaceutic companies is foul and should not be consumed. Usually, when I ask them about the reasons of their beliefs, they keep on repeating that it is not natural. However, just as the article states, these artificial ways of producing food has helped decrease the poverty in the world and I am not even talking about the benefits of mass produced medicine.
ReplyDeleteEven though I agree with the author on these topics, I think that he got a little carried away with calling people that plant these gardens socialists. It makes me angry if I talk to people that I think are wrong and refuse to listen to my reasoning, but after all these are idealists that want to help other people. I think that this is a great and sometimes useful quality and should be supported.
This project is much similar to communism:Great idea, but it has one serious flaw: people. I have read the study refferenced in this article, and it is really convincing. Also in the comments below, there is a post by a farmer who planted apple trees for his laborers. In autumn, as soon first apples were ripe, someone hrvested them all - even green ones. When asked why, they justified themselves with "If I wouldn't harvest it, someone else would". Behold, the main problem of this fantastic idea.
ReplyDeleteAlas, people are egoists when there is no crisis. One of their main focuses is profit. Therefore, as the writer states, there is a high probability that someone WILL rip all the fruit, and sell it on market for almost no effort. It will cost the grower, and only one man will have the profit. I doubt that the presenter of this idea wants to support hasty individuals, but that is what's going to happen. So much for "Idea worth spreading".
I do not believe that there is any big problem concerning commerical ariculture. Yeah, of course that they are concerned only about income. Good luck selling shitty food, though. Commericaly produced food is more controlled than those grown in garden, so I agree with author of the article. Moreover, I have no problem with GM plants. For more than 40 years of existence, there is no recorded sickness tracable to GM food. Also, I don't know what's so wrong about the modification when it's not harmful. This is why I have no problem with supermarkets.
I would like to comment on Milan's article. First of all, I do agree with Milan's idea that this concept would not work in most societies. For example here in Slovakia, where people are still used to the communist way of thinking, somebody would take the food. I think that this is also true for the countries that suffer from famine, since hungry people would put their personal benefit before the benefit of others. I think that this is a problem, since this idea was intended for such countries.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Milan said that this idea would not work anywhere, since he states that it is a natural tendency of people to think of their personal benefit before the benefit of others. I disagree with this, since I know an example that works. In Austria, there exist a box for selling the newspaper. People put the money in the box and then they take the newspaper. This idea worked. When they wanted to install these boxes in Slovakia, they found that the boxes were usually empty, with no money or newspapers. I think that this shows that it is not a natural tendency of people to behave like that, but it is definitely the way they behave when they are taught so or in a bad circumstances. That is why I also think that this idea would not work in places that need the help.
@Janka
ReplyDeleteOkay. I agree. I got carried away. A little. I hadn't thought about developed countries when I was writing my comment. Sure, it might work in Austria, Holland or nordic countries. I was thinking about South Africa and, well, Slovakia. I think we concur that it wouldn't work. I am also pleased to see that you have the same opinion on supermarkets. Yes, the article is quite convincing. I wouldn't have taken any ground, if I hadn't read it. You have formed that opinion sooner it seems what I admire. I also agree that idealists should be supported, but only to certain extent. It is not idealists nor rational people who push society forward, but their cooperation. And yes, he got little carried away, but guerilla gardening IS socialist – or pretty damn close to it.
Like Janka and Milan, I also agree with the opinion of the author of the article. Nowadays, people think of the trend of BIO and natural products as correct and very healthy. There are a number of people that eat only natural fruits vegetable labeled “BIO“ with no artificially added substances or genetic modifications simply because they think it is right. Producing goods that are to be consumed by the whole world must be made in large scale. Our food sources are getting lower year by year, and there is a risk that in hundreds of years, there will be no resources to make food from. In order to decrease the risk, it is needed to process fruits and vegetables in a very efficient matter. I think that genetic modifications like for ex. GM rice that is enriched by a large Vitamin A content is beneficial. Nowadays, scientists are developing tomatoes with new traits like increased resistance to pests or environmental stresse. I think that this is definitely a step forward in the modern world, a great way to save resources for other generations.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I admire people that have gardens and pest their own fruits and vegetables on the land. From the perspective of a single person, it may seem better for him/her to eat food that is not artificially modified or pumped with chemicals. However, as I already mentioned, from the view of the society, growing fruits and vegetables without any modification is hard and inefficient. In conclusion, it is absolutely up to the consumer to choose which way to go with, since each person has the right to eat whatever he/she wants.