Fix Agriculture Woes In the Marketplace, NOT IN A LAB!

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This is the age old mantra:  we can monkey with nature - twist her to bend to our will in a chemical lab - if it suits whatever problem we believe we have. 

Scientists in India have genetically modified a tomato to remain ripe, but not spoil, for up to 3x longer than tomatoes cursed with "normally functioning genes."  The reasoning?  They claim that as much as 50% of produce is lost to spoilage between harvest and dinner plate in the developing world.  I'll take that statement one step further to point out that increasing the food supply by cheating Mother Nature decreases the amount of land and the number of farmers needed to produce food.

While the statement is true that there is 50% spoilage loss in developing countries, it is a hard stretch to say that it is the tomato's fault.  It is NOT the tomato's fault, people.

Ummmm.  It is OUR fault.

Claiming that this new genetic modification "paves the way for the future of all fruits" scientists argue their Right To Modify Nature is fundamental to the survival of the human species claiming that with the global population may double in the next 50 years, we have to genetically modify all of our food to protect our natural resources.

I refuse to concede that the tomato is smarter than a human being. 

I refuse to concede that our last refuge of hope for the survival of the human race is to run away, not actively solve our own social problems, and point the Blame Finger at a perishable, inanimate object.

I refuse to concede that all of our global problems can be solved in a lab and NOT by farming sustainably, paying fair wages to our workers, supporting our farmers, and creating policies that protect agricultural practices.

Maybe that is just too hard. 

Oh, and by the way . . . . . . Agriculture in India is the means of livelihood of nearly two-thirds of the workforce for that entire country.  The monsoons, the droughts, the government loan schemes, the slave-labor wages that force farmers to plow under their fields because they can't pay wages to bring their tomatoes to market, the Intellectual Property Rights of Monsanto and Cargill, and the harsh IMF rules have left India with the highest farmer suicide rate in the world.

Blame the tomato, man.

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