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Tomorrow's Table

On this web log I explore topics related to genetics, food and farming.

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Pamela Ronald is Professor of Plant Pathology at the University of California, Davis, where she studies the role that genes play in a plant's response to its environment. Her laboratory has genetically engineered rice for resistance to diseases and flooding, both of which are serious problems of rice crops in Asia and Africa. Ronald is co-author with her husband, an organic farmer, of "Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetic and the Future of Food".

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"[Tomorrow's Table" is a fantastic piece of work. I totally recommend it whether you are pro GMO or anti-GMO." "This is an important book... 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...I certainly recommend this book"-- Bill Gates

"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"-- Stewart Brand, creator of the Whole Earth Catalog

We found the book insightful and well-documented." -- Organic Gardening Magazine

"Whether you ultimately agree with it or not, Tomorrow's Table bring a fresh approach to the debate over transgenic crops."-- Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food and The Omnivore's Dilemma

"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." -- Science magazine

"Brilliant... the best book I have ever read about the ways in which genetically engineered and organic food relate to each other and society." -- Michael Specter, Staff writer for The New Yorker

"A unique, personal perspective ... Highly recommended." -- Peter H. Raven, President, Missouri Botanical Garden
"A tale of the passions of an organic farmer and a plant genetic scientis...a source of inspiration." -- Sir Gordon Conway KCMG FRS, Professor of International Development, Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College, London, and past President of the Rockefeller Foundation

"Simply one of the best scientific presentations of organic agriculture I have read in that it is soundly grounded in the literature and does not over-reach, while remaining staunchly and reasonably pro-organic." -- Phil Stewart

"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

Tomorrow's Table in the classroom at Oregon State University:
"I really enjoyed the book. It did a great job of keeping everything in perspective. Use again!"
"Use again! A great resource and easy to understand"
"The textbook was great. It had a story line to it. It was easy to remember."

"Tomorrow´s Table, una búsqueda de la verdad sobre la agricultura orgánica y la modificación genética" -- Antama Fundacion

book cover.jpg


bostonglobe.jpgArticle, The New Organic in The Boston Globe

rice.jpgArticle, Making Rice Disease-Resistant in Scientific American


podium.jpgRonald speaking schedule


Ronald publications

Read Reviews of Tomorrow's Table

Interviews, lectures and profiles

Read about submergence tolerant rice

Learn about pattern recogniton receptors and disease resistant rice

Learn about the Genetic Resources Recognition Fund

Learn about Biofuels

November 29, 2009

Green 2.0

Category: Stewart Brand

This book is both a manifesto for a more progressive green movement (which Brand calls Green 2.0) and an enjoyable tour in the life of a brilliant thinker and writer.

Read on »

November 24, 2009

Also, What If We're Attacked By Beets? What Then?

Category: genetics and society

I feel that that every child in America, or wherever they live in the US, should be exposed to science, although only for brief periods and only while wearing a protective lead suit.

Read on »

November 18, 2009

Africa's Organic Peasantry

Category: International Agricultural Development

An article in the Harvard International Review by Paul Collier paints a stark view of African peasantry. Collier presents a convincing argument that for African agriculture to become more productive, it needs modern agricultural technologies and new modes of organization...

Read on »

November 17, 2009

Appropriate technology for sustainable agriculture

Category: Genetically engineered crops

An appropriate technology, as asserted by the economist Schumacher in his book Small is Beautiful, should promote values such as health, beauty, and permanence. Low cost and low maintenance requirements are also of prime importance in Schumacher's definition. Considering both...

Read on »

November 8, 2009

The Right to Know: Why GMO Labeling Law Isn't So Black and White

Category: GMO

Guest blogger Rob Hebert is a second-year student at Georgetown Law. Before moving to DC, he lived in Brooklyn, NY, just blocks from a bar that had over twenty-five beers on tap and thirty arcade machines that all played for...

Read on »

November 7, 2009

And so, driven on ceaselessly toward new shores

Category: poetry

I am traveling now far away from home towards a large lake in Zurich. What a perfect time to receive this poem from Jan Visser. Le Lac (written in 1820 by Alphonse de Lamartine) Ainsi, toujours poussés vers de nouveaux...

Read on »

Flood tolerant rice soon to be released to Bangladeshi farmers

Category: Bangladesh

The Daily Star of Dhaka reports today that flood-tolerant rice will soon be officially released in Bangladesh. The flood-tolerant rice varieties (called Sub1- rice) can help farmers, many who live on less than $1/day, dramatically increase yield during floods....

Read on »

November 5, 2009

Plants and Bacteria 'Talk' to Thwart Disease

Category: innate immunity

In plant and animal innate immunity, like many of the dances of life, it takes two to tango. A receptor molecule in the plant pairs up with a specific molecule on the invading bacteria and, presto, the immune system swings...

Read on »

November 4, 2009

Science bloggers to discuss "GMOs" with Michael Pollan

Category: Genetically engineered crops

The Changemakers international online community selected biofortified, a group website devoted to providing factual information and fostering discussion about plant genetics, especially genetic engineering, as the grand prize winner in the GMO Risk or Rescue Competition. This would not have...

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November 3, 2009

Biotechnology for Sustainability

Category: Genetically engineered crops

Kent J. Bradford, Professor of Plant Sciences and Academic Director of the Seed Biotechnology Center at UC Davis, is today's guest blogger. Ever since our ancestors adopted an agricultural lifestyle about 10,000 years ago, our own sustainability has been intimately...

Read on »

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