Edinburgh International Science Festival

Yesterday I went to an event at Edinburgh's International Science Festival.  I went to a talk called "Feeding 7 billion."  While I was there I learned some interesting facts and thought you too might be interested.  The panelists talked about an advance in husbandry, crop improvement, and pest, disease & waste control all contribute to food supply keeping it's pace.  They talked about cultural issues and not wasting resources.  Some developed crops could have duel uses such as the rice crop with vitamin A genetically modified to be in it.  I learned that not all big farms are bad, meaning that yes super-farms are not sustainable but they are necessary in some parts of the world to feed the large population, however there should not be any more super-farms established else where.  There are limits to large systems, the UK theoretically could become self-sufficiant, but Scotland has a huge export market.  People need to start thinking by this motto: Think local, act local.  Farmers markets have gone into a decline, because good food is expensive food.  This makes me sad, because in Madison it has always been such a treat to go to the farmers market.  I remember working it for Carandale Farm, the hustle and bustle of morning walkers picking the best fruits and veggies.  I hope that I never see it go on the decline, because it is a wonderful farmers market.  It was an interesting discussion, the fact that our planet is going to need to go from supporting 7 billion people to 9 billion by 2050 is terrifying.  I hope to get to some more discussions as the festival continues over the next 2 weeks!      


www.sciencefestival.co.uk