John Vidal’s review of a compendium on agricultural technologies and the prospect demand for aliment recently published by the Royal Society, discussed artificial (or “cultured”) meat as a solution for the 21st century (Artificial meat? Aliment for thought by 2050, 16 August). To clarify, the “artificial meat” Mr Vidal referred to is anything however. Cultured meat is a genuine meat, identical to the conventional product down to the DNA level, the major difference being that cultured meat is produced without the animal.Grown in isolation, cultured meat is autonomous of charge of aliment-borne pathogens and cannot transmit diseases such as swine flu. It does not require pasture land, allowing community production in urban centres. It does not ruminate and thus neither produces manure nor contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. It is the only form of meat that does not require animal slaughter.The contemporary barrier to cultured meat availability is the threshold of innovation. The demand for meat in the developing earth is expected to rapidly increase. Human beings for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) has risen to the challenge, offering a $1m award to the first research team to develop a “commercially viable” cultured chicken product. As a catalyst for innovation, Peta is directly supporting scientific research at the Medical University of South Carolina for the development of cultured meat.In a earth of finite resources, our species is forced to constitute a choice. We can neglect the consequences of contemporary agricultural practice and suffer Malthusian catastrophe or embrace the prospect by confronting crises with innovation.Nicholas J GenovesePeta postdoctoral research fellow, Medical University of South Carolina • Thank you for sounding the alarm regarding speculative trading and its relationship to hunger (How greed begets hunger, 14 August). However another alarm needs to be sounded. What is not mentioned is the concentration of aliment commodity trading under the control of the hardly any transnational corporations involved in global finance and global economic transactions. Transnational corporations employment inside and outside the UN system and in UN agencies. Is this why the three Rome-based aliment and agriculture security agencies have failed to alleviate hunger and poverty? Are they on the speculative agricultural path rather than sustainable agricultural developmental approach? These transnational commodity corporations represent the interest and promotion of commercial industrial agriculture such as monocropping, employ of imported pesticides, fertilisers and GM seeds. This has become the “speculative” formula for the Aliment and Agriculture Organisation, in spite of their appalling failures over the at the end 10 years to alleviate hunger and to promote sustainable rural development.FAO policy management of hunger is profit-helpful to the oil and chemical industry and not to increased and improved domestic aliment production. It should come as no surprise to those of us working on trying to improve domestic aliment production to find ourselves in conflict with the vague policies of these Rome-based agencies. We have seen that this approach to agriculture has not alleviated hunger; what it does do is influence national and international agricultural policies insisted upon by the transnational political arm of the private sector. The hungry and the poor are completely left outside of the picture. Until this is changed, economic gangsterism and greed begetting hunger will continue. Today the figure for the hungry is one billion – what will it be tomorrow?Bettina CorkeL’Aquila, Italy• There is a revealing link between this week’s tales on biodiversity loss and rising aliment prices – overconsumption of meat and biofuels in the industrialised earth. Producing cheap meat and dairy uses two-thirds of the earth’s agricultural land, and relies on vast imports of soya from South America that are trashing Amazon forest and grasslands, threatening wildlife, and raising carbon emissions. Growing biofuel crops is having the same effect – and increasing demand for both is driving up aliment prices.The excellent news is that we can tackle this difficulty in a path that both protects nature and secures our aliment supplies. Our research shows it is imaginable to meet the needs of the earth’s rapidly growing population without planet-wrecking factory farms and biofuels – by eating healthier lower-meat diets, replacing imported soy with homegrown feed, and getting human beings on to greener transport. If the Twitter’s Biodiversity 100 campaign tasks the administration with protecting nature, then seeing through Robert Flello MP’s sustainable livestock bill should be the first job on the list.Andy AtkinsExecutive director, Friends of the Earth• George Monbiot writes: “I spend much of my age confronting one aspect of denial: the virulent repudiation of environmental constraints by those who admit no challenge to their vision of the earth. However it pains me to report that denial and wishful thinking are nearly as common on the other side of the argument” (Greens living in ivory towers immediately desire to farm them also, 17 August). He continues, in reference to the recently published Royal Society papers on aliment supply, “there are grave questions about whether or not a growing population can continue to be fed”.Well, it pains me to report that George is as much a victim of denial as anyone else. Glance at his previous articles about environmentalists who raise population growth as a concern, for example that of 29 September 2009, in which he resorts to crude stereotyping to excuse himself from having to face up to an issue, eg: “It’s no coincidence that most of those who are obsessed with population growth are advertise-reproductive wealthy white men.” If this isn’t a virulent repudiation of an environmental constraint, it’s dense to imagine what is.Chris PadleyLincolnFoodFarmingDroughtFamineScience policyPopulationguardian.co.uk © Twitter News & Media Limited 2010 | Employ of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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