Week 7: Biobusiness – Agriculture & The Environment

Finally it’s the end of week 7, and soon the hard-earned 1 week break will commence. Though i foresee much of the time will be spent in school completing projects and what-nots, it shall be a breather after these grueling 7 weeks!

This week’s topic revolves around Agricultural development, and environmental impacts in Biobusinesses. Personally, im pretty intrigued by the idea of GM foods and GMOs, and this week’s lesson was indeed interesting for me. Prof mentioned in class: “When we are able to grow the resources we need, we will finally be on the road to sustainability”.
This quote left me thinking for a moment and I think the question now lies in how to grow the resources we need sustainably?

The food vs energy debate has also been brought into the spotlight in recent years as energy costs have been increasing exponentially and ultimately, countries / people who have the financial means will be gaining more than those under-privileged people. Technological advancement will greatly help in improving the efficiency of farming, and education is still the key in ensuring this.

Leonard presented on ways to increase crop intensity and i thought that the idea of vertical farming was kind of cool. Crop production are usually affected by seasonal changes / weather etc. but with this technology, year-round crop are made possible. With vertical farming, natural disasters like flooding etc. will not affect the regularity of crop supplies and also, if the crops are grown organically, the  absence of herbicides/pesticides etc. will be absent in the eco-system (i.e.: groundwater, industrial waste etc.) All in all, I believe it is moving in the right direction.

Sheryl’s presentation talked about “growing meat”. The idea of “man-made” meat is a little disturbing at first, but by observing the over-consumption of food in many countries, I would think that it’s not impossible for us to be eating lab-grown meat in the near future. If we really consider the sustainability of lab-grown meat vs traditional farm grown ones, the potential benefits will definitely outweigh the eminent fear we have. Benefits of lab/in-vitro meat can include: reduction in cost of producing meat, more nutrients, less fats, better taste etc.

On a personal note, i’d rate the session 8/10, the presentations we engaging and enlightening !