reap as we had sown

Have anyone been to a livestock farm, a poultry farm, the crowd cages or fences with tons of livestocks and poultry or the big field with tons of varities of crops, this is what a industrial agriculture like. In the most effective, economic and techno-scientific method to produce our daily food. However, just taking anything from nature aren't really able to maintain the gross market. Therefore there is different kind of manual controls to the livestock genes, fastening their growth speed, controlling their qualities, having manuall selection on different species and foul the unfavorable, massively reproduce the species with the best genotype.

simple definition of industrial agriculture
a modern form of capital intensive farming in which the machinery and purchased are substituted for the labor of human beings and animals.
pros: cheap food (the crucial point)
        release of labor from agricultural activities
        increasing of supply
Cons: elimination the diversity of species
         causing co-evolution of virus
         massive of pollution

Everyone want to have meals with  various of dishes. To have such supply, scientists did under go the genetic modification and give a modified product such as the seedless grapes, livestock with high growth rate, larger eggs, etc. These all sound fabulous, and did make our meals more charming than original.

However, it is a quick burst in the natural ecosystem and the diversity of the certain species. since the industry is aimed to the fastest growing, predictable quality of the livestocks, rich one may use advanced techno skills in bleeding the favorable bleeds, however, the poor and small-scaled farms farmers may use the renowned as good but used for generations bleeds for reproducing the massive amount of livestock. Moreover, since most of the farmer are aimed to the most effective and economic methods to gain more income, as a result the livestock may crowed in the limited area and results in once there was a outbreak of infectious diseases or inheritable defects, all the livestock in the farm might be infected or even spreading towards the neighborhood farms. There is tons of example on the situation as the H5N1 and more. And for some extreme cases there is also infection on humans.

Also for such kind of industrial agriculture, in the livestock farm, the byproducts of livestock did contributed one eighth of the overall Greenhouse Gases emission and it shows the cons of the industrial agriculture.

In the point here, we figured out what we have sown this century, the massive of mutated virus from the byproduct of the technological modification from the better livestocks as part of the evolution, the co-evolution. Moreover, the weaker species have been eliminated and extinguished, the ecosystem of it has been affected, the collapse of the ecosystem may finally we reap as we had sown.

Therefore the original sustainable agriculture was recommended to retrieve the lost from the industrial agriculture.

simple definition of sustainable agriculture

a traditional farming process, aimed on the sustainability among economical, environmental and social

the organic farming is an good example
pros: Disease and Pest Resistance
         Lower Input Costs
         Less effect on the environment
Cons: Low productivities
          Labor intensive

Discussing on the disease and pest resistance, it can be explained that as the group of livestocks kept have various of genes and did have difference of resistance to the disease and it allows the nature evolution of the livestocks, the stabilizing selection.

About the lower input cost, it did depend on the expected productivity and the intensiveness on labor. Since, sustainable agriculture is a method aimed on harmonizing with the nature, as it is able in using less manual artificial. Same to the effect on the environment, since it is a method which retain the tradition and simply less harmful chemical ( crops industry) or less hormone fed ( livestocks farm).

Below, I attached the table about the contrast of the industrial agriculture and sustainable agriculture

for better knowing click here

References:


The Costs and Benefits of Industrial AgricultureSustainable Agriculture--A New Vision
<http://www.portaec.net/library/food/costs_and_benefits_of_industrial.html>


Industrial agriculture and the loss of biodiversity
<http://www.helium.com/items/1293414-farm-diversity---lessons-for-the-future>


Organic vs Industrial Agriculture: Can we have the best of both?
<http://lifemorenatural.com/?p=1155>


Industrial Agriculture
<http://www.economywatch.com/agriculture/types/industrial.html>


Advantages and Disadvantages Organic Farming: Good Things, Barriers and Environmental Effects
<http://www.small-farm-permaculture-and-sustainable-living.com/advantages_and_disadvantages_organic_farming.html>


Industrial Agriculture v. Sustainable Agriculture
<http://scienceblogs.com/worldsfair/2009/05/industrial_agriculture_v_susta.php>

People I did comment on:

My sister's keeper----------Designer babies

I do believe most of you has read or heard of the " My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult

Story is about the young girl, Anna, who was born to help her elder sister Kate who suffered from AML( Acute promyelocytic leukemia). When the family knew that Kate was suffered from the AML, they consulted the doctor and the doctor gave an advise that to have another child who has the genes match with Kate. By the normal sexual inter-cross, there is a rise that the offspring may not be the favorably one, here comes the topic of todays blog, designer babies.


Designer babies are whom being designed before its birth as to obtain an desirable characteristics. In Anna's case, she was designed to have the same blood type as Kate does. This kind of bio-tech did help a lots in terms of the medical aspect.


Basic information on the genetic processes


a baby whose genetic makeup has been artificially selected by genetic engineering combined with in vitro fertilisation to ensure the presence or absence of particular genes or characteristics.
[ a simple and direct introduction from Wiki]



simply, by the In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF)
in case you don't know what it means, "In Vitro" in Latin means "in glass"
the youtube link below was about the IVF
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeigYib39Rs


but before transferring the embryo to the uteri of the mother
the doctor will undergoes the genetic screening and chose for the favorable genes and a future technology, germinal choice technology
which the way to choose for the favorable baby that the couple wants


Although there are many ethicists do challenge this technology did way to far as a human should do and is violating the humility,
we should identify the case in different aspect as there is two sides for everything


In the term of medical,
when the fetus was found suffering some genetic disorders as Down's Syndrome
which can be detect immediately by the AFT ,CVS or PUBS and have the gene corrected
as an result, the baby can be born as a healthy one and free from those genetic disorders
in the above case, it is actually helping the baby to relieve from the medication suffering originally owned 


however, in Anne's case,
although with her donation to her sister, she can kept her sister alive, but before hand, her existent on earth was ordered to assist her sister by donation, the genes were specifically set, this is totally unfair to her as everyone on earth should not be bother by others before birth,

Also, in term of ethics,

An embryo is treated as a life, simply saying, but the IVF, since it takes several eggs from the ovary as test example, and only one and mainly one fertilized egg will be transfer back into the mother. This means the others were killed, in the title of useless.

Actually, if a couple would like to have genetic makeup baby as they think they can decide whatever they like, they ought to thought about the consequence, once if their child know how he came from, he might urge that it is humiliating as he came by the individual arrangement of his parents. Moreover there are risks within the process which might do dreadful consequence to the child.

If in terms of preventing inheritance disorders, they should be calm enough “The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) says that 3out of every 100 babies born in the United States have some kind of major birth defect.” Simply only 3% of babies might result in birth defects. Also if the parents want a healthy child, they should have a good family plan instead of relying on the genetic engineering.

In the society, there are millions of passage discussing on the genetic engineering and I do added a few to the references which they did identify the case in depth.

References:
My Sister's Keeper

Wikipedia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeigYib39Rs

http://kidshealth.org/parent/system/ill/birth_defects.html#

(a suggested website on discussing birth defects)

Debating designer babies <http://www.spiked-online.com/articles/00000006DD57.htm>

(a good essay on the conflicts)

Comments:

Dora Lam

http://adorablogs.blogspot.com/2010/10/ideal-babyit-could-be-yours.html

http://dropsneakersnotbombs.blogspot.com/2010/11/designer-babies-smh.html

Leave no trace

With the improvement of humans’ technology, damage on nature is not capable to avoid, albeit worse. With the greediness of human, there is more and more destruction in nature, over consume of natural resources. ON the other hand, environmentalists did set up different Green Association as to protect the environment and educate people from damaging the Earth. Through out the years, environmentalist did enquire the government for setting up laws to protect the endangered species and National safari or park to preserve the living environment of the species as to maintain the balance of the ecological system of the rural area.

                                                                      

Discuses about the National Park that Canadian Government authorised, the primo National Safari Banff National Park, established in 1885.

Later then, more and more National Park was established. Till now, there are 38 National park and national park resources which consist of 2.25 percent of the land in Canada. With this gross amount of Land used for preserving the rural area, most of special cultural habit of animal.

Take Algonquin as example, Algonquin is a heat spot of hiking and camping. With its charming scenery, it is crowded with hikers, campers and amateur photographer during the summer. With this numerous amount of visitors, it is crucial to maintain the nature environment. Government and different NGO did do a lot of measures to protect the nature but to those hikers, campers and people who enjoyed the nature, we should follow a "Leave no trace" principle.

Leave No trace,

History on Leave No Trace 

is a nonprofit organization in 1994, 

But the Leave No Trace concept is over 40 years old.

Concept on Leave No Trace

The Seven principles

PLAN AHEAD AND PREPARE

Identify the expectation of the trip you like,

Choose equipments which are environmental friendly and safety

Be aware to the weather throughout the trip

Have a good meal planing based on Less trash, Light packet wrap, and Low dependence on cooking( campfire)

TRAVEL AND CAMP ON DURABLE SURFACES

Travel on trials

no shortcut should be make as if everyone did this, the durability of the shortcut path will over the limit and it does damage to the environment

Camp on High-use area( mainly authorized as a camp site )

Try not to destroy any vegetation cover of landscape

DISPOSE OF WASTE PROPERLY

Basically follow the regulation of the campsite, not to dispose the waste to any unauthorized area even you see a lot of trash has been placed there

LEAVE WHAT YOU FIND

Don't try to take any rocks or specific structure as they are part of the cultural and the historic structures and artifacts

MINIMIZE CAMPFIRE IMPACTS

As campfire may lead to a hill fire

use lightweight stove as to replace using campfire of any cookery

if it is a crucial part of the camping

clean up after the function

RESPECT WILDLIFE

do not try to interact with the wildlife

any kind of interaction are forbidden, such as feeding, forcing wildlife to flee

BE CONSIDERATE OF OTHER VISITORS

Try to respect others, clean up after camping, leave a neat environment for the next user

(a short video clip on the Leave NO trace)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87McXuyO5uc&list=QL

Benefit of the Concept

better planning results in better guilty of trip

protect the quality of the nature resources

For more details, feel free to visit the Leave No Trace website

i dont know whether it is ok or not

People  I did comment on:
Dora Lam
Denise