Let Them Eat Windows
Jeremy of the Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog made two posts recently about the Bill and Melinda Gates foundations decision to dramatically increase the amount of money they give to support agriculture in some of the worlds poorest countries. Jeremy’s posts are here and here.
Two somewhat conflicting articles can be found in the New York Times and The Seattle Post.
One thing is for sure, the Gates Foundation looks set to have a big influence on how agriculture is developed in many parts of the world. It also seems likely many of us will take issue with how this unfolds.
Will this aid emphasize new technologies like GM varieties, high input systems requiring large amounts of energy, pesticides and nitrogen based fertilizers? Will it emphasize sustainable local food systems or export crops? Will it seek to relieve poverty, or simply drive farmers into cycles of debt and dependence on corporate products?
Comments
5 Responses to “Let Them Eat Windows”
**************
Leave a Reply
Name, email and website fields are all optional. Anonymous comments are welcome. It's nice if you leave a name, even if it's not your real one, just so we have something to call you.
See this post for comment policies. In principle, comments are not moderated here, but rather automatically screened for spam then posted. Because of a new caching system, there may be a delay of a few hours before your comment appears.
If you leave a comment here that isn't spam, and doesn't appear within a few hours, something has gone wrong. Please get in touch. Your comments are important and I don't want to lose any by accident.
Will a Gates Foundation tomato be as vulnerable to viruses and worms as Windows XP?
Steven has beaten me to it! I was going to say I hope their agricultural policies are better than their operating systems.
I’m originally a Seattleite, and we all have our love/hate feelings toward Bill and Melinda. Interesting post & thanks for the link to the Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog. I’ve not heard of it and it’s right up my alley!
LOL – I’m not on a first name basis with them – meant Bill and Melinda Gates…
And considering their creation of cheap, clunky windows systems that sustain themselves for a year or two and are then thrown away… I can only guess that they will not be looking into the details of the agriculture they support too *terribly* much.
Great. That’s just what we need, more monopoly hopeful super-capitalists ‘solving’ poverty problems…