Healthy ecosystems thrive through competition and natural selection. In the absence of these strong ecological forces the ability for an organism to increase its fitness and succeed diminishes. At the genetic level homozygosity develops within a population if natural selection and mutation is not present. When the individuals in a group lack heterogenous characteristics the ability of the that population to fend off disease and predators is reduced to dangerous and unproductive levels. In genetic modification of food withith industrial levels of scale, the global food supply is placed in peril. Industrial agriculture uses techniques of crop management that involve establishing single groups of organisms produced in the same limited area. This type of agriculture is often referred to as monoculture.
With concerns over how global warming may impact the ecosystem now and in the future, unstable food systems could be devastating for some less developed nations. Additionally, large conglomerates participating in genetically modified foods have the potentional to monopolize the global food network and cutoff competition and self sufficiency in a dynamic landscape. If only a few companies are allowed to control the food system, the many will suffer the sake of the few.Michael Poland on monoculture:
http://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/videos/michael-pollan-the-problem-with-monocultures
- Sam Epperly
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