ogden-the-last-book-youll-ever-read by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

6

food and farming

boutique farming

in north america the family farm has been shrinking for two hundred years. now the possibility of a renaissance is on the horizon. a new development may increase the

number of small farms. with such naturally occurring plants as potatoes, eggplant, celery, corn, and cabbages, anyone who buys the seed can grow and sell the plants.

not so with patented plants developed through biotechnological methods. these

plants are protected under patent regulations and may only be grown by private

arrangement with the patent holder.

one possibility is that small "boutique" farmers may in future operate similar to owners of mcdonald's franchises. they will enter into a contract with the

patent holder to handle the "product," the way a car dealer handles honda or bmw.

the boutique farmer will purchase the seed; plant, grow, and market the product;

and agree to participate in broad advertising campaigns supported by all growers

tied in with this product, which is what happens with a mcdonald's franchisee. in return the farmer will have the right to be the only grower of that product in a

given area -- perhaps as few as five or ten farmers per state or province.

the real innovation lies in a product developed by manipulating genes into a new

plant. it might look like a carrot, but it might be green or red, and it might

also offer relief from a particular allergy. the technique of transferring genes

from one plant to another is already well established. imagine the implications of transferring a gene from the insect, animal, or human world across the gene

barrier into the plant world. theoretically, any gene from any living organism can be moved into another living thing. as mentioned, researchers have succeeded in

transferring the gene that causes the glow in a firefly into tobacco plants. and

the university of guelph agricultural department has hatched chickens -- with the heads of quails!

along with the possibilities of unusual, nutritional, and perhaps medically

potent foods produced in this manner, new methods of growing such products will

develop. many fruits and vegetables will be grown inside, year round, and in

vertical rows. plants can be grown in what appears to be a large, vertical sewer

pipe with open "windows" encircling the pipe at regular intervals. the patented seed is planted within these windows and grows out through the openings to reach

super-pure sunlight collected on the roof of the "farm" by a device, similar to a satellite dish, that tracks the sun. fresnel lenses collect and intensify the

sunlight and feed it down to the plant through fiber-optic cables. on the way

down, a process called a "light shift" removes the infrared band of light, which is redirected to help warm the building. the harmful ultraviolet portion of the

light spectrum, which burns tomatoes and people, is discarded; only pure sunlight reaches the plants, allowing them to carry out photosynthesis. solar panels on the roof collect additional sunlight and turn it into electricity. this is stored

until the hours of darkness to provide the additional light required to bring a

total of twenty-two hours of "sunshine" each day to each plant.

irrigation

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