Prof started this session by recapping the previous session. He mentioned that people are looking at their own self-interest and not as a whole, thus ignoring the consequences of their actions. Hence, are we able to change our behavior before we absolutely have do so when things out of hand? In my opinion, I think that the majority will only change their way of doing things when they realize the severity of the matter. This is the same as treasuring something only when you lose it. Nevertheless, there are still people who will consider the future and do things that will not harm the future generation.
I have learnt a few terms in this session.
Agribiotechnology - Application of biotech in agriculture
Food Biotechnology - High-value added food such as yogurts
Diversity of Life - the management of diversity
Environment Bioremediation - the cleaning of the environment after it is being contaminated.
In addition, I learnt the different colours of Biotechnology.
White – Industrial Biotechnology
Red – Biotechnology related to blood or human
Blue – Water/ Marine Biotechnology
Green – Agribiotechnology
During the session, Prof showed the class a video of Dr Norman Boriaug and told us that advance in technology in agriculture sector will not be possible without him. I think that he has really helped the world in reducing food shortage. With advancement in Agribiotechnology, quantity and quality of food increases and improves, making the lives of many better.
Prof also told us an example of environmental pollution which had adverse effects on the people - the Love Canal. People dumped industrial waste in the underground, thinking that they could hide the waste and it would be safe. However, the industrial waste leaked and contaminated the underground water which was used by the people living around it. This has resulted in cancer in the people who had consumed the water. A large amount of money was spent to clean the Love Canal. This example has taught me that we should always consider the consequences of our actions as our actions may harm us in the end. People should also take environmental pollution seriously as this has been a problem that affects many countries negatively. Hence, waste management is very important. A better method to dispose waste will be to use waste as raw materials for production of interesting products. Proper waste management can thus get rid of the waste safely and reduce the need to look for raw materials for the manufacture of products.
Prof then went in depth to discuss about Agribiology: Agribiology versus Agribiotechnology, where not all Agribiology are Agribiotechnology, farmers becoming farmists who are more specialized, growing food versus growing energy resources, and Genetically Modified (GM) food. Many countries are now using their land to grow food and energy resources. In some countries, more land is even used to grow energy resources. In my opinion, I think that using the land to grow food should be the main priority and only excess land should be used to grow energy resources. We should not deprive others of food just because the land is used to grow energy resources. Alternatives can be found to produce energy other than using the land to grow energy resources.
I like the discussion about Genetically Modified (GM) food as this brought back my knowledge about GM food from Biology. Prof mentioned that there is a need to label the GM food and the country where it comes from to let consumers decide whether to consume the GM food based on the traits in the GM food. I agree with the Prof. Even though GM food has increased the quantity and quality of food, social issues regarding GM food still exist. Thus, GM food should be labeled so that consumers are able to make their decisions wisely.
In the Powerpoint slides by Prof, I agree with the quote by Mahatma totally, “There’s enough on this planet for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed”. I believe that the resources available in the world is actually sufficient for everyone, but as lives of people improve, they request for more, depleting the world’s natural resources and resulting in shortages of resources in some countries.
Lastly, Prof talked about food security which is a condition where people have access to sufficient, nutritious and safe food to meet their dietary needs for a healthy life. I learnt about the different access types to food security such as physical, economic, sociopolitical and physiological. Physical factor is to make sure that food gets to grow, economic factor is that it is viable for people to get the food to grow, sociopolitical factor involves people having the right and access to food and physiological factor involves people having care when they need.
I will rate this session 8 out of 10.
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