Word: cornelis
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...They merely set up a susceptibility to gaining weight under certain conditions--and without question, those conditions are now ubiquitous. In essence, says Dr. Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health, sedentary lifestyles and a cornucopia of food have transformed people into the equivalent of corn-fed cattle confined in pens. "We have created the great American feedlot," he says...
Agricultural policies now in place define the very idea of unsustainable development. Just 15 cash crops such as corn, wheat and rice provide 90% of the world's food, but planting and replanting the same crops strips fields of nutrients and makes them more vulnerable to pests. Slash-and-burn planting techniques and overreliance on pesticides further degrade the soil...
...National Agricultural Research Organization of Uganda has developed corn varieties that are more resistant to disease and thrive in soil that is poor in nitrogen. Agronomists in Kenya are developing a sweet potato that wards off viruses. Also in the works are drought-tolerant, disease-defeating and vitamin-fortified forms of such crops as sorghum and cassava--hardly staples in the West, but essentials elsewhere in the world. The key, explains economist Jeffrey Sachs, head of Columbia University's Earth Institute, is not to dictate food policy from the West but to help the developing world build its own biotech...
Natural materials are all the rage. Cargill Dow, a joint venture by the agricultural giant (Cargill) and the chemical company (Dow), is manufacturing biodegradable and recyclable plastics from corn sugars. The company already makes environmentally friendly packaging for Sony products and pillow stuffing for Pacific Coast Feather. "Our fate is tied to how many products we can make from renewable resources," says chief technology officer Patrick Gruber. The company opened a $300 million facility in Blair, Neb., last year that makes packaging material, plastic cups and film wraps...
...must do better than we are doing. We should cap carbon emissions from power plants and make cars and trucks more efficient. Renewable fuels like ethanol from corn and other biomass sources can displace oil in vehicles, if we help create the opportunity...