[extropy-chat] GM Food [was: World map of human ES cellandnuclear transfer policies]

[Eugen Leitl]

On Sat, Dec 10, 2005 at 09:01:47AM -0800, spike wrote:

> Ja, but we can live perfectly healthfully on no meat.  We
> can synthesize vitamins.

It is more difficult to achieve a balanced diet for hardcore
vegans. Especially for toddlers -- it takes considerable
attention to detail on part of the parents to avoid mental
retardation, however minor.

It works. It's just not natural for us, and takes more attention to detail.
It is easier to screw up you (and especially your kids) on a vegan
diet. It is more difficult with ovolactovegetarians, and if you
add (but top-predator and aquaculture) fish you're reasonably
healthier than your average carnivorous bear. 
 
> We will eventually use some of our farmland to grow
> energy crops as one of several solutions to our energy

Growing energy crops is a *terrible* nonsolution to our energy 
needs, as we have often discussed on this list, in quite
recent past, actually. As to growing our calories in solar
ponds -- a good idea, in theory. In practice, it is difficult
to keep the bad cyanobacteria strains out, which produce toxins
potent enough to kill a large cow (and frequently do).

If you can keep the bad guys out, it might work.

> needs, with traditional oil, nuclear, wind, solar and 
> coal also being in the mix.  If a fraction of the humans

Short-term, there's no doubt there's no way around an energy
mix. But long-term, we're in a glut of energy, and our (local)
limit is how much you can radiate through the atmosphere without
elevating temperatures overmuch (extraterrestrial solar).

Already mid-term (less than 50 linear years) we can expect solar to
dominate the energetic landscape.

> decide vegetarianism works for them, that frees up land
> to be used to produce ethanol and biodiesel.  We can

Hopefully, in a few decades nobody with bother with ethanol
and biodiesel. (Okay, maybe not ethanol, I'm rather attached to
my Laphroaig).

> compensate for energy crops by eating less meat.

It's never going to work. It either has to become terribly expensive,
or terribly unsafe.

-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org
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