Tag Archives: Food

KRUGMAN FLUNKS FOOD—AND HISTORY, BY: DENNIS T. AVERY

Paul Krugman is a big deal: Princeton professor, New York Times columnist and Nobel laureate (2008). Krugman wrote last week about the “food crisis, the second one to hit the world in the last three years.” His key statement: “what really stands out is the extent to which severe weather events have disrupted agricultural production. And these severe weather events are exactly the kind of thing we’d expect to see as rising concentrations of greenhouse gases change our climate—which means that the current food prices surge may be just beginning.” Continue reading

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MUDDY RIVERS: DON’T BLAME FARMERS, BY: DENNIS T. AVERY

When people hear that I’m an advocate of high yield farming to feed the world and protect the environment, assertions of farm runoff into the rivers are raised to support charges against modern farming methods. Urban dwellers, even some of my rural neighbors, tell me their concerns about large-scale farming ruining our rivers “because the rivers are muddy.” They worry about even more soil erosion as farmers gear up to double food production over the next 40 years to feed a peak population of 9 billion people. Continue reading

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CITY FARMING—PIGS IN THE SKY?, BY: DENNIS T. AVERY

Green visionary, Dixon Despommier, of Columbia University has proposed growing our food in city high-rises, to cut food transport energy use. The bad news is that city farming would be impossibly expensive—as it always has been. The good news: the high-rise farms will never be built. Continue reading

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MAKING GOOD SCIENCE DECISIONS, BY: DENNIS T. AVERY

I can’t help but praise Michael Specter’s new book: Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives. Specter warns that we live in a world where the leaders of African nations prefer to let their citizens starve to death rather than import genetically-modified food grains. Childhood vaccines have proven to be the most effective public health measure in history, yet people march on Washington to protest their use. Fifty years ago pharmaceutical companies were regarded as vital supports for our good health and lengthening life spans; now they are seen as callous corporate enemies of health and the environment. Continue reading

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LOSING THE ORGANIC DEBATE, BY: DENNIS T. AVERY

Intelligence Squared, a philanthropic foundation, which brings Oxford-style debating to American issues, invited me to be part of a debate on whether the organic food movement is a scam. The invitation was a big deal, with the audio carried nationwide by National Public Radio and the TV shown repeatedly on Bloomberg TV. Continue reading

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CLIMATE WARMING CREATED FARMING, BY: DENNIS T. AVERY

A new study by Dr. Shahal Abbo of Israel says the invention of farming wasn’t due to climate change because farming depends on a relatively stable climate. Dr. Abbo isn’t looking at the picture broadly enough. Continue reading

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ANOTHER FAILING BIOFUEL “MIRACLE”, BY: DENNIS T. AVERY

CHURCHVILLE, VA—My wife is complaining about our increased costs at the supermarket. I remind her that every pound of meat, milk, and butter we buy requires several pounds of corn to produce—and biofuel mandates have shoved the corn price up … Continue reading

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HAITI’S DESPERATE FOOD CROP OUTLOOK, BY: DENNIS T. AVERY

CHURCHVILLE, VA—In a normal year, Haiti must start now preparing for the spring planting season, which ends in May.  The spring crop usually produces 60 percent of the country’s food.  Unfortunately, many families have had to eat or share the … Continue reading

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GREENPEACE OPTS FOR MILLIONS OF BLIND KIDS, BY: DENNIS T. AVERY

CHURCHVILLE, VA—The earthquake in Haiti has caused more than 100,000 deaths and destroyed the homes of 1.5 million people. It’s a devastating blow to Haiti—but we don’t know how to prevent earthquakes. All we can do is help Haiti rebuild. … Continue reading

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COPENHAGEN DASHES 3RD WORLD EXPECTATIONS, BY: DENNIS T. AVERY

CHURCHVILLE, VA—Once again the “rich countries” have managed to yank prosperity away from the Third World. And at Christmas too.   We’d promised them billions of unearned dollars in guilt payments for something called “global warming.” They don’t pay that … Continue reading

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