Tim_Benton_GFS

Re GM - I can see that finding ways to move genes around quickly (GM as currently defined and other genetic technologies, now and in future) can potentially play a role in food production, especially in the face of climate change. But, as with any new crop or variety, getting it right (reducing risk and public acceptability) are key. I don't think GM is a magic bullet tho - but whether it is 1% or 5% or 10% of the "answer" I dunno.

Lots of foods we could do with more of - e.g. millet, quinoa etc are nutritious foods but haven't had a wide audience. Lots of fruit and veg are rather under-used. Getting nutrition right requires something of a diversity...

Food in the event of food shortage... on my doorstep are more rabbits than are good for my garden...so if all else fails, meat will be on the menu ...

Hmmmm....

Lots of improvement is possible. We can grow more food in the developing world using current technologies if we improve infrastructure (e.g. reducing the cost of transporting fertiliser inland); we have much better plant varieties than we used to, and understand a lot more about sustainable soil management and what we need to do to preserve ecosystem services. In the developed world, we have an obesity epidemic, but we are seeing green shoots of changing dietary patterns - and the more we learn about how to undergo nutritional transformations healthily, the more we can transport the knowledge. We are seeing changes in business practice, where resilience and sustainability are moving from "nice to have" to core business...

There are a lot of positives happening. What we really need to do is find ways to encourage the green shoots to flourish... We need leadership and advocacy and understanding at all levels to make this work.

I wouldn't come to work if I didn't have hope...

Indeed...and I like vegetarian food anyway... But caloric and nutrional security work on different timescales...

I hope the widespread concern for bees and other pollinators will translate into sensible strategies for management. But, if the bees ever really do disappear (and all the other pollinators like hoverflies, some butterflies and moths and...) then insect pollinated crops are in for a hard time. "Replacement" colonies of pollinators will be needed, or hand-pollination with paintbrushes... Or robot bees, perhaps as a technofix? But let's hope it never happens...

I'd like to rephrase to "government, greed or public lack of knowledge"...

Government tends to be most comfortable when it is pushing messages that have some degree of immediate and popular support - so long term and "difficult to deal with" issues tend to be, well, um, difficult to deal with.

Greed is pervasive if we consider that most of us choose to over consume at a rate that is 2-4x our "fair share" in terms of the global per capita access to resources from ecological foot print analysis. The mantra of eternal economic growth could perhaps also fit in to this heading - and chasing growth for ever, on a finite resource base, is for sure, in the long term an impediment to progress.

I don't think the public is stupid...more less aware of the consequences of decisions. We, as consumers, understand much more of the carbon footprint of electricity use than the carbon footprint of food. Many people say "if only I knew more, I'd make better choices...".