One interesting topic was that of the genetically-modified (GM) food controversy, which varies dramatically depending on which part of the world we are looking at. For example, GM foods are not specially labelled in the US, while they are in other countries. One of the interesting points was that consumers' tastes may even shift to prefer GM food, such as for being tastier than organic food.
Going into the process of GM, one of the takeaway points I felt was that despite all the controversy surrounding GM, humans have been changing the diversity of life by selective breeding since ages ago; only recently have we managed to directly manipulate the gene structure to bring out desirable traits.
We touched on some interesting innovations like goat milk containing spider silk protein for a wide range of human uses. Other innovations seek to minimise the impact of waste on the environment, such as bioplastics (plastics produced from biomass) like polyactic acid (PLA) using corn. I wished we talked more on its negative impacts: Since the kernel of the corn is used to make PLA, it could mean a significant strain on the food supply should it be implemented on a wide scale. I feel that it raises the question of whether food should be used to make products like plastic, or whether they should be used for biofuels or feed livestock at all.
Many of our discussions talked about the unequal distribution of food, due to a variety of reasons, such as economics, politics, etc. I felt that one of the messages I could take away from the session was that while technology has been very powerful and instrumental in increasing our crop yields, it does not solve the problem of world hunger, which has a whole complexity of causes.
During Cedric's presentation, he raised the notion that Agriculture is humanity's biggest mistake. It is worth pointing out that humans have lived as hunter-gatherers for about 90% of human history, up till 12,000 years ago. Therefore, it is profoundly thought-provoking that while we have thousands of years of recorded history, that is just a fraction of the timescale of human existence. I feel that without the mere invention of agriculture, civilisations would not have been possible. Would it have been better to have remained as hunter-gatherers, living in harmony with nature and without the conflicts that came with civilisation? But it would also mean that science and technology would not have progressed; humans would never have had a scientific understanding of the cosmos or even ventured off planet Earth.
I would rate the session an overall 8; we had quite a lively discussion and quite a few difficult, yet profound questions were raised.