Tomorrow’s Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food, 2nd Ed.

Description

'Tomorrow's Table' argues that a judicious blend of two important strands of agriculture–genetic engineering and organic farming–is key to helping feed the world's growing population in an ecologically balanced manner. Pamela Ronald, a geneticist, and her husband, Raoul Adamchak, an organic farmer, take the reader inside their lives for roughly a year, allowing us to look over their shoulders so that we can see what geneticists and organic farmers actually do. Readers see the problems that farmers face, trying to provide larger yields without resorting to expensive or environmentally hazardous chemicals–a problem that will loom larger and larger as the century progresses–and they learn how organic farmers and geneticists address these problems. The book is for consumers, farmers, and policy decision makers who want to make food choices and policy that will support ecologically responsible farming practices, and for anyone who wants accurate information about organic farming, genetic engineering, and their potential impacts on human health and the environment. The first edition was published in hardcover in 2008 and in paperback in 2009. This second edition reflects the many and varied changes the fields of farming and genetic engineering have seen since 2009. It includes a new preface and three new chapters-one on politics and food-related protests such as the Marin county anti-vaccine movement and the subsequent outbreak of whooping cough, one on farming and food security, and one containing various recipes. Existing chapters on the tools of genetic engineering, organic vs. conventional foods, the tools of organic agriculture, and food labeling and legislature have all been updated. Cover......Page 1 Half title......Page 4 Tomorrow’s Table......Page 6 Copyright......Page 7 Dedication......Page 8 Contents......Page 10 List of Figures......Page 12 List of Tables......Page 14 List of Boxes......Page 16 List of Recipes......Page 18 Foreword to the First Edition by Sir Gordon Conway......Page 20 Foreword to the Second Edition by Michael Specter......Page 22 Preface to the First Edition......Page 24 Preface to the Second Edition......Page 28 Acknowledgments......Page 30 About the Authors......Page 32 Part I: Introduction......Page 34 1. Green Revolution 2.0......Page 36 Part II: The Farm......Page 46 2. Why Organic Agriculture?......Page 48 3. The Tools of Organic Agriculture......Page 68 Part III: The Laboratory......Page 82 4. The Tools of Genetic Engineering......Page 84 Part IV:  Consumers......Page 106 5. Legislating Lunch......Page 108 6. Whom Can We Trust?......Page 129 7. Are Genetically Engineered Foods Safe To Eat?......Page 137 8. The Mistrust of Science......Page 158 Part V: The Environment......Page 188 9. Conserving Wildlands......Page 190 10. Weeds, Gene Flow, and the Environment......Page 201 Part VI: Ownership......Page 216 11. Who Owns the Seed?......Page 218 12. The Seed Industry: Accelerating or Impeding Innovation?......Page 228 Part VII: The World......Page 252 13. Feeding the World Ethically......Page 254 14. Choosing Innovation......Page 271 Part VIII: Dinner......Page 282 15. Deconstructing Dinner: Genetically Engineered, Organically Grown......Page 284 Glossary......Page 300 References......Page 310 Name Index......Page 358 Subject Index......Page 362