So writes Mark Bittman in the NYTimes.
Logically he's saying we need higher food prices, in order to attract more people to farming.
That's not the way he's going. Instead, while he acknowledges beginning farmer programs which assist people to buy land, he suggests that we forgive student loans for people who farm for 10 years. Needless to say I don't like the idea--it's bureaucratically messy and, I suspect, economically inefficient.
Monday, June 15, 2015
Friday, June 12, 2015
The Elderly and Self-Driving Cars
Vox has a piece on the problems of the elderly who must drive up driving. As someone who's more rapidly nearing that time than I'd like, I like it all, especially as I endorsed self-driving cars (see the label) though there's more to the piece than just that.
And here's a Technology Review discussion of such cars.
There is one problem I can see with such cars. Since we know that a human is driving the other car we see on the road, we can assume the car will behave in certain ways. It's likely early on that self-driving cars won't. An example: a cardboard box falls off a truck--from the way it falls and bounces a human will assume it's empty. A self-driving car may have to assume it's full, and to be avoided, possibly by an emergency stop, which the human driving the car behind that car won't anticipate. But such problems aren't show-stoppers.
And here's a Technology Review discussion of such cars.
There is one problem I can see with such cars. Since we know that a human is driving the other car we see on the road, we can assume the car will behave in certain ways. It's likely early on that self-driving cars won't. An example: a cardboard box falls off a truck--from the way it falls and bounces a human will assume it's empty. A self-driving car may have to assume it's full, and to be avoided, possibly by an emergency stop, which the human driving the car behind that car won't anticipate. But such problems aren't show-stoppers.
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Truest Headline Ever
The man who wrote "Headless Body in Topless Bar" just died. But I nominate this as the truest headline:
"Oldest Person in the World Keeps Dying"
"Oldest Person in the World Keeps Dying"
Wasting Food
I've posted a few times on the idea that food waste occurs when customers reject food at the supermarket. Buried in this article is the assertion that half of food waste comes in business channels, but half comes at home because of reasons like these:
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Egg Prices--Back to the Good Old Days
I mentioned this back in April, when I was amused by the euphemism--"depopulation" used to cover killing the infected poultry.
Now the bird flu epidemic has resulted in killing so many birds that there's an "egg crisis".
As is usual these days this reminds me of my youth. In the 1950's we just beginning the process of switching from small growers to contract growers. The reason for the change was economics. There were two cyclical processes at work: supply/demand and feed prices.
Small growers like my parents had no pricing power, meaning that egg prices yo-yoed up and down. If feed prices were down, you could make money. But if you were making money you'd increase your flock and your neighbor would blow the dust off her brooder stoves and order some chicks. The result would be overproduction, and prices would drop. Meanwhile the prices of feed (corn, wheat, oats) would have their own fluctuations.
My mother would get very indignant at this, blaming the people who weren't true chicken farmers but who simply jumped on the bandwagon of higher egg prices.
The solution, obvious in retrospect, was for consolidation to give big egg producers some pricing power, and the ability to adjust production in line with market conditions. That meant going to contract farming, where the farmer has the chicken house and associated equipment, and simply contracts with the big outfit to produce x number of eggs from y number of hens. (It's similar to the process for growing chickens for meat.) This reduced price risk meaning egg prices have been more stable.
Unfortunately, the logic of contract farming meant replacing small flocks with large flocks, taking advantage of labor-saving equipment (I've no fond memories of gathering eggs from under possessive hens who'd bite my hand and twist.) In effect it's like moving air travel from lots of single engine planes to 747's, meaning safer air travel and fewer accidents, but when there is an accident, it's big. That's where we are now.
Now the bird flu epidemic has resulted in killing so many birds that there's an "egg crisis".
As is usual these days this reminds me of my youth. In the 1950's we just beginning the process of switching from small growers to contract growers. The reason for the change was economics. There were two cyclical processes at work: supply/demand and feed prices.
Small growers like my parents had no pricing power, meaning that egg prices yo-yoed up and down. If feed prices were down, you could make money. But if you were making money you'd increase your flock and your neighbor would blow the dust off her brooder stoves and order some chicks. The result would be overproduction, and prices would drop. Meanwhile the prices of feed (corn, wheat, oats) would have their own fluctuations.
My mother would get very indignant at this, blaming the people who weren't true chicken farmers but who simply jumped on the bandwagon of higher egg prices.
The solution, obvious in retrospect, was for consolidation to give big egg producers some pricing power, and the ability to adjust production in line with market conditions. That meant going to contract farming, where the farmer has the chicken house and associated equipment, and simply contracts with the big outfit to produce x number of eggs from y number of hens. (It's similar to the process for growing chickens for meat.) This reduced price risk meaning egg prices have been more stable.
Unfortunately, the logic of contract farming meant replacing small flocks with large flocks, taking advantage of labor-saving equipment (I've no fond memories of gathering eggs from under possessive hens who'd bite my hand and twist.) In effect it's like moving air travel from lots of single engine planes to 747's, meaning safer air travel and fewer accidents, but when there is an accident, it's big. That's where we are now.
Rubio and Real Estate
The Times has a story on the Rubio family finances today.
Slate notes that the Rubios were doing what every striving upwardly mobile person was supposed to do in 2005, buy real estate. They were fortunate--they lost money, but didn't have to hit the bankruptcy court.
I'd cut him a break--IMHO learning to deal with money is a multi-generational thing. I've been reasonably successful by learning from my father's (over conservative) and grandfather's (a sucker) mistakes.
Slate notes that the Rubios were doing what every striving upwardly mobile person was supposed to do in 2005, buy real estate. They were fortunate--they lost money, but didn't have to hit the bankruptcy court.
I'd cut him a break--IMHO learning to deal with money is a multi-generational thing. I've been reasonably successful by learning from my father's (over conservative) and grandfather's (a sucker) mistakes.
Tuesday, June 09, 2015
The Quiz Kids
One of the Quiz Kids just died. Too young to know them? The wikipedia entry.
It was always fun when I knew the answer. (My memory may be playing tricks here--did I ever know the answer?)
It was always fun when I knew the answer. (My memory may be playing tricks here--did I ever know the answer?)
Monday, June 08, 2015
Ridiculous Headline
On a Grist post:" 90 Percent of our diets could be local, if we nix Big Ag"
What's omitted is the fact we'd have to nix most of our way of life.
What's omitted is the fact we'd have to nix most of our way of life.
Swoosh Nets Student $35
That's the factoid of the day: the Nike "swoosh" trademark just earned the person $35.
From a Wonkblog post on the evolution of 12 famous trademarks.
From a Wonkblog post on the evolution of 12 famous trademarks.
Friday, June 05, 2015
The Perfect Potato
Technology Review has a post on a British effort to engineer the perfect potato. As far as I can tell from a quick read, it involves identifying potato varieties with the desired traits (blight resistance, etc.) and the genes involved, and combining them into one potato. Apparently there are "genetically modified" varieties already, each with a desired trait, so it's a logical next step to combine them.
When they write "genetically modified", I'm assuming it's not inserting genes from one species into another, but rather moving the genes in the laboratory, not by cross-breeding. It raises the question I've noted before: where do you draw the line in opposing GM-foods? At one end of a continuum is a plant/animal which is different than any which lived before, because the combination of genes is new, but one created by normal sex/seed production. Then you get into conventional breeding. Then moving genes in the lab, but still within the same species. Then using CRSPR to edit genes out. And finally adding genes across species lines.
IMO you can make the same cautionary argument in each case--there might be harm to humans from this new combination of genes. Obviously the likelihood grows as you move along the continuum. Again in my opinion I don't think there's much likelihood of harm at any point.
When they write "genetically modified", I'm assuming it's not inserting genes from one species into another, but rather moving the genes in the laboratory, not by cross-breeding. It raises the question I've noted before: where do you draw the line in opposing GM-foods? At one end of a continuum is a plant/animal which is different than any which lived before, because the combination of genes is new, but one created by normal sex/seed production. Then you get into conventional breeding. Then moving genes in the lab, but still within the same species. Then using CRSPR to edit genes out. And finally adding genes across species lines.
IMO you can make the same cautionary argument in each case--there might be harm to humans from this new combination of genes. Obviously the likelihood grows as you move along the continuum. Again in my opinion I don't think there's much likelihood of harm at any point.
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