Archive for 2004
« Previous EntriesWhat’s The Most Foolish Organic Food Claim of 2004?
Friday, December 31st, 2004Dennis Avery
My nominee for the most foolish organic food claim of 2004? The competition was stiff, but here’s my winner: Eating organic food will reduce global warming, because organic farming doesn’t use energy-intensive fertilizers and pesticides.
The claim was made most recently in a electronic column titled “Fight Global Warming With Your Knife and Fork,” by […]
When Visions Collide
Thursday, December 30th, 2004Niger Innis and Paul Driessen
The Rainforest Action Network’s real target is the Third World’s Poor
Rainforests are disappearing at a frightening rate, the students were taught, so they raised $523 for an activist group’s “protect an acre” program. At the behest of their teacher and the group, they trekked into Manhattan to ask a major bank […]
Noah’s Ark Left High And Dry At Global Warming Conference
Wednesday, December 22nd, 2004Dennis Avery
Greenpeace built a big Noah’s Ark in downtown Buenos Aires for the global warming conference last week. Placards said it represented the “millions at risk” from flooding as more CO2 melts the polar ice caps.
It was good street theater—but short on reality.
The Earth’s warming trend, 0.8 degree Celsius since 1850, has raised world sea […]
In Ancient Times, Christmas Was Feast Amid Scarcity
Friday, December 17th, 2004Dennis Avery
Do we need to amend our Christmas tradition to reflect modern affluence and abundance?
American Christmases currently feature huge feasts and lavish gift exchanges. The feasting, at least, dates back long before the birth of the Christ child. The Yuletide was the time of the winter solstice, the shortest days of the year.
It was a […]
A Killer Diet Rebuttal: Chicken Little Tale Sings A Familiar Tune
Thursday, December 16th, 2004Dennis Avery
This article appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Sunday, December 12, 2004
Is a fiery new book on the food industry dead right, or is it just rattling the flatware?
When has a dead horse been beaten long enough? When five books with nearly identical titles, all saying the same things have been published. That’s when! […]
Prophets, False Prophets and Profiteers
Wednesday, December 15th, 2004Paul Driessen
Some ten thousand delegates, scientists, activists, politicians and journalists have convened in Argentina for the COP-10 confab on “solutions” to the theoretical problem of “dangerous” and “catastrophic” global climate change. Months of hype and consternation preceded the event, to pressure the United States and Australia into ratifying the Kyoto Protocol.
“The Day After Tomorrow” and […]
The Thrills of India’s Highways
Monday, December 13th, 2004Dennis Avery
The Taj Mahal is fabulous, and the prince of Rajahstan’s gold-brocaded wedding suit is too. But I just traveled a highway in India—one of the most thrilling experiences of my life.
Cars, busses and gaily-painted trucks roared along, amid clusters of motorcycles, motorbikes and bicycles. The bikes carried up to three people each, rickshaw bikes […]
In Praise of Pesticides
Monday, December 13th, 2004Dennis Avery
Dennis Avery, director of the Center for Global Food Issues at Hudson Institute, US, doesn’t believe that organic farming can meet the world’s food needs. Avery tells Chandrika Mago of The Times of India that the environment movement is feeding off new scares.
Question: Can we do without pesticides?
The environment movement is opposed to all […]
Will We Have To Hitchhike Into Our Future?
Friday, December 3rd, 2004Dennis Avery
American intellectuals love Cuba’s minimal economy. Being rich, they confuse poverty with chic.
I recently heard National Public Radio wax eloquent about Cuba’s new transportation system for the 21st century: hitchhiking!
Cuba’s transportation is now so decrepit it can move only about 15 percent of the traffic it moved 20 years ago. So travelers gather along […]
The Nine Most Dangerous Myths About Pesticides and High-Yield Farming
Wednesday, December 1st, 2004Presentation in New Delhi, India for a Seminar on Pesticides: Myths, Realities, and Remedies
Dennis Avery
It is a tremendous privilege to be in India, a key site of the Green Revolution, to discuss pesticides, the modern miracle of high-yield agriculture, and the future of our world.
For thousands of years, mankind was constantly threatened by hunger […]