Seed Vault Still Makes Me Wonder
Paige Lindel asks the questions: What role will I play in the new world? Or in this world for that matter?
One month ago, the new ark launched, this one a little more stationary than the last. The Global Seed vault, carved into the permafrost layer of an island off of Northern Norway, aims at protecting the world’s food supply from natural and man-made disasters.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault preserves the seeds of the world’s most important crops by storing them at -18 degrees Celsius. But even in the event of a power failure, the natural environment of the location will continue to store seeds at -4 degrees Celsius. Seed Banks are not a new concept. There are hundreds of these collections around the world. What sets the Global Seed Vault apart is its natural protective environment as well as its capacity – estimated at 2 billion seeds or over 4.5 million different plant DNA.
Cary Fowler, Director of the Trust said of the vault that preserving the diversity of our agriculture will be the greatest weapon in combating climate change and “meeting the food needs of a growing population.”
Crop diversity is one side of the debate on how best to protect the world’s food supply. Another solution to the onslaught of environmental hazards is genetic engineering. Scientists have been genetically splicing plants for hundreds of years using methods such as cross-fertilization to create more desirable traits. However, this type of breeding can still create hundreds of unexpected and undesirable traits. Genetic engineering takes the guess work out of this process by inserting just one or two genes into a single plant. When plants are threatened by new viruses and new environmental conditions, genetic engineering can provide the solution to save the important export crops of small communities and ensure a reliable food source.
Some activists believe that left to seed, naturally genetically engineered crops will wreck havoc on both farms and in the surrounding eco-systems. In an attempt to restrain the spread of genetically engineered plants, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Delta and Pine Land company began developing technology for the “terminator seed”- a seed that would restrict the use of GE plants by making the second generation of seeds sterile. Monsanto, an agricultural products company and the world’s biggest seed supplier, pledged in the 2006 Guardian article, “World braced for terminator 2,” that his companywould not make the technology commercial. Those opposed still believe that it could be the nail in the coffin for small farmers. These opponents believe that removing the ownership of subsequent generations of plants would basically reduce the farmer’s role to serfdom.
While these two arguments are not precisely opposing sides of one argument they provide two very different philosophies. The natural course of environment aside, the first has the undertone that man must protect man from man and the second implies that man’s scientific capabilities can protect man from any of his well-meaning mistakes.
Mankind’s ability to adapt has been one of the qualities that has made our existence so enduring. However in our highly evolved society, even the optimists that believe we will always adapt to find a scientific escape out of our impending environmental disaster must concede that this adaptation will be in the hands of a few well-trained scientists whose job security is based on a few politicians or a handful of businessmen.
Despite the lack of control over the larger fight, there is a small and persistent movement of individuals who are taking different kinds of individual environmental action. Some of them drive cars with lower emission standards; with better gas mileage. Others are switching their power sources to more renewable energy sources and others are simply using less resources. Others are shopping closer to home. Vegetables gardens and small homestead have seen a small comeback. I do not ignore that it is a popular marketing tool right now – the word green is being exploited by businesses all over the world that have little regard for anything but green dollars. And it is fashionable to be seen as environmentally conscience.
But I don’t think of it as fashionable every still-dark morning as I bend to weed the condom wrappers and cigarette butts from my small patch of torn-up grass. Here in South Central Los Angeles, I never cease to be amazed by the magic of persistent lettuce heads and peas. And although not beautiful, the carrots push their way around rocks, searching for the sparse nutrients in the soil, and grow stronger. I do not have to rely on my harvest to eat. Nor do I have to rely on my garden for my income. I cannot feed my house on this meager effort - I can barely feed myself. To build that kind of solution I would need more thought, more hands, and a little leadership to show me the way through this complicated ocean of issues.
Tags: LA, news and notes, paige lindell
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