May 11, 2009 - 1:21pm
the case for wonder bread
I found this presentation from Louise Fresco today, you might like it too. There were no TFL members in her audience...
What if the world would go back to baking its own bread? Would that be a bad thing?
Cheers,
Jw.
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I had to laugh a bit at the hand-raising when asked who preferred the Wonder Bread. Her explanation that most people preferred it because they had the feeling/image that the whole grain was more "authentic" sorta rubbed me. I'd guess it has more to do with the fact that most supermarket white bread tastes like raw flour paste once you chew it.
She makes the point well that the wealthy countries can and should help the poor nations develop an agriculture system to cheaply supply the masses with flour. It is flour after all that has the great potential to prevent starvation.
I'm a fan of the TED system. Thanks for bringing that link forward.
Eric
That is indeed a good point. I found that her talk was a bit too pro modernization, pro mechanization, and pro science. Science in particular has clearly failed where food is involved. One need look no further than the general state and health of so many Amercicans to realize that something is very wrong.
We need more science like we need more DDT or Agent Orange or PCB's etc. etc.
I too am a big TED fan and agree that we should all help our neighbors whether locally or globally,
Jeff
We should be careful where to lay the finger of blame. Science did not fail the public. Using technological innovation to increase profit margins may have done.
FP
Or Science. Or bread, for obesity.
How about personal responsibility?
If you overeat, stuff your face with overprocessed junk food, and refuse to walk if you can ride, then you suffer the consequences of your choices.
The world has already ramped up grain production in the past 40 years, and we've done a pretty good job of feeding an ever-growing population. But unfortunately that can't continue forever. I still remember when crude oil hit $140 a barrel. The recession brought down the price, but the reason why it went so high in the first place is that production hasn't kept up with demand. When the recession ends and demand starts rising again, so will the cost of diesel, fertilizer, electricity for irrigation pumps and everything else which goes into making that bag of flour. It's no coincidence that when the price of oil skyrocketed, so did the price of wheat.
Richard Manning here talks about how the world avoided massive world famine in the 1960s thanks to breeding programs and access to cheap, abundant fossil fuels.