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Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food
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there must be a better way to meet the need for increased food production.
Written as part memoir, part instruction, and part contemplation, 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. The reader sees 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. They learn how organic farmers and geneticists address these problems.
This book is for consumers, farmers, and policy decision makers who want to make food choices and policy that will support ecologically responsible farming practices. It is also for anyone who wants accurate information about organic farming, genetic engineering, and their potential impacts on
human health and the environment.
- ISBN-100195301757
- ISBN-13978-0195301755
- PublisherOxford University Press
- Publication dateApril 18, 2008
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions9.3 x 1 x 6.4 inches
- Print length232 pages
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Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
Review
-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
-This book is a tale of two marriages. The first is that of Raoul and Pam, the authors, and is a tale of the passions of an organic farmer and a plant genetic scientist. The second is the potential marriage of two technologies--organic agriculture and genetic engineering...Like all good marriages, both include shared values, lively tensions, and reinvigorating complementarities. [The authors] share a strong sense of both the wonder of the natural world and how, if treated with respect and carefully managed, it can remain a source of inspiration and provision of our daily needs.- --Sir Gordon Conway KCMG FRS, Professor of International Development, Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College, London, and past President of the Rockefeller Foundation, from his foreword
-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
-Welcome as water in the desert--at a time when partisans compete to see who can deliver the hardest slam against those who think differently, what a welcome surprise to find this book building bridges between unnecessary antagonists. The developers of crops improved through biotechnology and the practitioners of organic agriculture want the same thing-a way to grow food that helps farmers tread more gently on the land. Ronald and Adamchak explain how simpatico these two approaches are at heart. For a future that will bring unprecedented challenges we will need all the tools we can muster. Tomorrow's Table shows how organic and biotech can coexist and complement one another. Bravo, and bring on Volume II.- --L. Val Giddings, President, PrometheusAB
-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
"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
"This book is a tale of two marriages. The first is that of Raoul and Pam, the authors, and is a tale of the passions of an organic farmer and a plant genetic scientist. The second is the potential marriage of two technologies--organic agriculture and genetic engineering...Like all good marriages, both include shared values, lively tensions, and reinvigorating complementarities. [The authors] share a strong sense of both the wonder of the natural world and how, if treated with respect and carefully managed, it can remain a source of inspiration and provision of our daily needs." --Sir Gordon Conway KCMG FRS, Professor of International Development, Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College, London, and past President of the Rockefeller Foundation, from his foreword
"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
"Welcome as water in the desert--at a time when partisans compete to see who can deliver the hardest slam against those who think differently, what a welcome surprise to find this book building bridges between unnecessary antagonists. The developers of crops improved through biotechnology and the practitioners of organic agriculture want the same thing-a way to grow food that helps farmers tread more gently on the land. Ronald and Adamchak explain how simpatico these two approaches are at heart. For a future that will bring unprecedented challenges we will need all the tools we can muster. Tomorrow's Table shows how organic and biotech can coexist and complement one another. Bravo, and bring on Volume II." --L. Val Giddings, President, PrometheusAB
"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
About the Author
Pamela C. Ronald is a Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of California, Davis. Her laboratory has genetically engineered rice for resistance to diseases and flooding. Her work has been published in Science, Nature, and other scientific periodicals and has also been
featured in newspapers including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Le Monde. She is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Raoul Adamchak has grown organic crops for twenty years, part of the time as a partner in Full Belly Farm, a private 150-acre organic vegetable farm. He has inspected over one hundred organic farms as an inspector for California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) and served as a member and President
of CCOF's Board of Directors. He now works at the U.C., Davis as the Market Garden Coordinator at the certified organic farm on campus.
Product details
- Publisher : Oxford University Press (April 18, 2008)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 232 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0195301757
- ISBN-13 : 978-0195301755
- Item Weight : 1.04 pounds
- Dimensions : 9.3 x 1 x 6.4 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,242,171 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #951 in Biotechnology (Books)
- #1,011 in Sustainable Agriculture (Books)
- #2,491 in Botany (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Pamela Ronald is Professor of Plant Pathology and Chair of the Plant Genomics Program at the University of California, Davis, where she studies the role that genes play in a plant's response to its environment. Send messages to pcronald/ at/ ucdavis/ dot/ edu
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonReviewed in the United States on February 11, 2019
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 11, 2019
And what a fantastically educational and thoughtful source this is. Before you sign that next antiGMO petition, or go to the polls about a labeling law, you need to read this book. You owe it to yourself to be informed, and Pam and Raoul have the unique perspectives of an organic farmer and a biologist that deserve to be heard.
I purchased the book with the hope of finally finding proof that Organic and GM farming can be combined for the betterment of society and our health.
What I did not expect was a book about a married couple, their vacations, their fights with family, what they taught in class on any given day, what they ordered from seed catalogues, or their favorite recipes. I have enough recipe books, I can look through my own seed catalogues, and quite frankly I don't know them well enough to care about what goes on in their lives.
This is a very important topic & they do have some good ideas. But they buried it in superfluous fluff that was boring to the average reader, making it difficult to ferret out the real topic at hand. Not too technical by any means. It was just boring and the majority of it not to the point at all.
I wanted to give up on the book several times and consider it money wasted. I came back here and reread the reviews to see why it got such a high rating and noted all the reviews that said it didn't get good till at least halfway through, or the last chapter. So I tried again, skimming through page after page, skipping page upon page of recipes, looking for the "good part" to finally arrive. It finally did, but it was a lot of work to get to that little bit of true information.
The previous reviews are dead on about not getting good till about halfway through or even only the last chapter. So if you feel that paying the price of the book to read about their lives but actually only get some good information out of less than 20% of the book is worth it, by all means go for it. Personally I wish I'd saved my money.
However, the point they are trying to make cannot be more important. That is that biotech has a place in organic farming to make it more "sustainable". RoundUp ready crops have made it possible for farmers to stop using much more damaging and toxic herbicides and to go to no-till farming to preserve topsoil. It is the only answer for some problems sometimes, such as virus resistance. It would allow conventional farmers of sweet corn to stop using a slew of really noxious insecticides.
Like Dr. Savage said in his review, I do not think that the organic farming movement is going to "hear" this message and see the wisdom in it, but if they could I think they would have to redefine the way they think of organic vs. sustainable.
Top reviews from other countries
It is written by a husband-wife team: one an organic farmer, and the other a plant scientist who has created flood-resistant variety of rice. This is an interesting combination, and presumably as a rare a combination as marriage between an Israeli and a Palestinian. The authors argue for the benefits of organic agriculture as well as genetically-engineered technology but go further than that: they argue that GE crops complement the ideals of the organic movement.
Critics of GE foods claim that the technology is no panacea to the problems of population and food supply. So it isn’t. But neither is organic farming or simply cutting down on waste or redistributing consumption. There is no magic bullet. But the authors convincingly show that GE can be one of the tools we can use to deal with the problem. Crops that can be bred to require less pesticide and water, than can survive greater extremes of heat and cold, and produce better yields and nutrition, are all good things. They can be done and should be done. Such things can be done and the technology has proven benefits elsewhere. Because of GE, we no longer have to kill calves to extract rennet from their stomachs to make cheese. This can be synthesised using a fraction of the energy consumed to raise and kill a baby cow, and without having to harm anything.
The potential benefits of the technology are easier to demonstrate than the potential risks. The positives are certainly based on better evidence than the negatives. But all is to take a cost/benefit analysis of the issue. Unfortunately, given that the opposition to GM is often less to do with the science and more to do with values and culture, which belong to the realm of absolutes which are not up to negotiation or trade-off, the authors’ judicious, rational and cool-headed attempt to engineer (so to speak) a meeting of minds is unlikely to be heeded by inveterate opponents of GE.
Well written and informative. Theory and examples from all over the world. My knowledge on this subject went from anacodote to fact in short order.





