Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food

by Pamela C. Ronald, Raoul W. Adamchak

Overview

"Tomorrow's Table" argues that a judicious blend of two important strands of agriculture—genetic engineering and organic farming—is key to helping feed the world's growing population in an ecologically balanced manner. Pamela Ronald, a geneticist, and her husband, Raoul Adamchak, an organic farmer, take the reader inside their lives for roughly a year, allowing us to look over their shoulders so that we can see what geneticists and organic farmers actually do. Readers see the problems that farmers face, trying to provide larger yields without resorting to expensive or environmentally hazardous chemicals—a problem that will loom larger and larger as the century progresses—and they learn how organic farmers and geneticists address these problems. The book is for consumers, farmers, and policy decision makers who want to make food choices and policy that will support ecologically responsible farming practices, and for anyone who wants accurate information about organic farming, genetic engineering, and their potential impacts on human health and the environment.

The first edition was published in hardcover in 2008 and in paperback in 2009. This second edition reflects the many and varied changes the fields of farming and genetic engineering have seen since 2009. It includes a new preface and three new chapters-one on politics and food-related protests such as the Marin county anti-vaccine movement and the subsequent outbreak of whooping cough, one on farming and food security, and one containing various recipes. Existing chapters on the tools of genetic engineering, organic vs. conventional foods, the tools of organic agriculture, and food labeling and legislature have all been updated.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199342082
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	04/10/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	376
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Pamela C. Ronald is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center at the University of California, Davis.

Raoul W. Adamchak has grown organic crops for thirty years. He farms and teaches at the certified organic Market Garden at the University of California, Davis Student Farm. Raoul has received the UC Davis 2020 Sustainability Champion Award for Environmental Excellence.

Table of Contents

Foreword to the First Edition by Sir Gordon Conway
Foreword to the Second Edition by Michael Specter
Preface to the First Edition
Preface to the Second Edition
Acknowledgments
About the Authors


Part I: Introduction
1. Green Revolution 2.0

Part II: The Farm
2. Why Organic Agriculture?
3. The Tools of Organic Agriculture

Part III: The Laboratory
4. The Tools of Genetic Engineering

Part IV: Consumers
5. Legislating Lunch
6. Whom Can We Trust?
7. Are Genetically Engineered Foods Safe to Eat?
8. The Mistrust of Science

Part V: The Environment
9. Conserving Wildlands
10. Weeds, Gene Flow, and the Environment

Part VI: Ownership
11. Who Owns the Seed?
12. The Seed Industry: Accelerating or Impeding Innovation?

Part VII: The World
13. Feeding the World Ethically
14. Choosing Innovation

Part VIII: Dinner
15. Deconstructing Dinner: Genetically Engineered, Organically Grown

Glossary
References
Index

Editorial Reviews

The most ecologically balanced way to increase crop yield and decrease the environmental impact of food production is to use both organic farming and genetic engineering (GE). So argue Ronald, a plant geneticist at the University of California, Davis, and her husband, Adamchak, an organic farmer who serves as the market coordinator at the university's organic farm. Using an eclectic mix of writing styles including instruction, personal story, reflection, and recipes, the authors make their case, explaining genetic modification from traditional plant breeding to laboratory gene splicing in clear prose that general readers can understand. Their personal stories illustrate the workings of an organic farm and the ethical morass consumers face when buying groceries. The authors create nostalgia and empathy by reflecting on private moments in their lives, but the recipes (culinary and laboratory) interspersed throughout the book are an odd and somewhat distracting addition. While not a comprehensive review of GE, this book offers a compelling portrait of how GE and organic farming can coexist for the future betterment. A good addition to any public library.
—Joshua Lambert

Library Journal

"The authors are eminently qualified to present authoritative descriptions of their respective disciplines, which they do in a readable and accurate manner. But the noteworthy aspect of the book is the way they then marry their separate fields to argue logically for the use of GM technologies to improve organic agriculture. Ronald and Adamchak's clear, rational approach is refreshing, and the balance they present is sorely needed in our increasingly polarized world." —Science Magazine

"One of the best, most balanced accounts of transgenic agriculture that I have read." — David McElroy, Nature Biotechnology

"This is an important book Tomorrow's Table is a real education on the many choices farmers today must make regarding seeds. It's very good in explaining genetically engineered seed, how it's used today (mostly to help plants fight off insects and tolerate herbicide) and how it will be used in the future (to increase disease resistance, drought tolerance, vitamin content and crop yields, for example). The book separates out clearly the issues of how to make sure new seeds are safe, how to price them and how to treat them as intellectual property. I gained an understanding of the history of organic farming and learned about some of the very clever ways organic farmers control pests. Compared with conventional agriculture, many organic techniques can be more cost effective for poor farmers. I agree with the authors that we will need the best ideas from "organic" thinkers and from scientists - including genetic engineers - to feed the world and help the poorest." —Bill Gates

"We found the book insightful and well-documented." —Organic Gardening Magazine

"They are leading a chorus of young scientists and forward thinkers who see genetic modification not as a threat to sustainable farming but as a new way to make it better...[Ronald and Adamchak] are true believers." —Forbes

"Here's a persuasive case that, far from contradictory, the merging of genetic engineering and organic farming offers our best shot at truly sustainable agriculture. I've seen no better introduction to the ground truth of genetically engineered crops and the promising directions this 'appropriate technology' is heading." —Stewart Brand, creator of the Whole Earth Catalog

"Whether you ultimately agree with it or not, Tomorrow's Table brings a fresh approach to the debate over transgenic crops."—Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food and The Omnivore's Dilemma

"A unique, personal perspective on the ways in which genetically enhanced crops can improve wholesome agricultural productivity, helping to achieve the low chemical inputs that are the goal of organic agriculture and of those who care about our environment and health. Highly recommended." —Peter H. Raven, President, Missouri Botanical Garden

"This wildly eccentric book juxtaposes deep scientific analysis of genetically engineered agriculture with recipes for such homey kitchen staples as cornbread and chocolate chip cookies." —Booklist

From the Publisher