Monday, May 5, 2008

Farming: Energy or Food

Who would have ever thought that THIS would be a debate? A discussion if you will.

I hold the belief that as human knowledge grows we are able to use technology to do more with less. For example, as CD's replaced Vinyl many people who "lived" on "making" records were simply let go. However, people had to be employed in the CD manufacturing industry so the drop in employment was mitigated by a rise in employment.

Likewise, as valuable farmland (across the globe) was gobbled up due to urbanization and poor urban planning, many economists were not worried about food shortages. In fact studies showed that we were able to produce more food on less acreage than ever before. Until now.

Why?

Because our "obsession" with everything "GREEN" may have helped to exacerbate this food crisis we are now facing.

There is hope. Our ability to solve problems and be creative has spawned many an invention and new way of thinking. Man's ability to thrive, survive and adapt is the reason we have screwed up things many a time. In the end, though, we have managed to come out on top. This is not the time to panic but to think and act.

I, for one, am excited about these times we live in.

Karim Kanji

Read an exerpt from Paul Zane Pilzer's best selling book HERE to understand the basis for my arguement.

KK