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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

GMO:

Michael Dimock, Roots of Change discusses sustainable Ag and biotech seeds

Category: biofortified

Michael Dimock, Roots of Change,

Read on »

How to feed a hungry world

Category: agricultual policy

Rather than focusing on how a seed variety was developed, we must ask what most enhances local food security and can provide safe, abundant and nutritious food. We must ask if rural communities can thrive and if farmers can make a profit. We must be sure that consumers can afford the food. And we must minimize environmental degradation.

Read on »

Is Organic Food the Answer?

Category: agricultual policy

As every farmer knows, farming practices span a continuum. Each season, crop and location brings challenges.

Read on »

Proving Malthus Wrong: Sustainable Agriculture in 2050

Category: biofortified

So to both reduce poverty and help farmers contribute more to the global food supply, we must help farmers in low-income countries do more, with less, in places that need it most. The solution? Research, development and distribution of technologies that produce more agricultural output using less land and water.

Read on »

Forbidden Fruit: Genetically Engineered crops in New Zealand

Category: biofortified

This fairly benign statement led to a press release suggesting that I was a stealth agent of the US government (for proof, you need only look at Wikileaks)

Read on »

Can we coexist?

Category: biofortified

California farmers grow 350 recognized crop and livestock commodities under a variety of farming conditions, often on adjoining fields. Good communication and common sense is key to peaceful coexistence.

Read on »

On Monday night, Tomorrow's Table meets Dr. Oz

Category: biofortified

On Monday afternoon, yours truly will appear with Dr. Oz, "America's doctor," (the tag bestowed on him by no less than Oprah Winfrey) before a live audience in New York City. Although I have never seen the show, a New...

Read on »

Faustian Frankenpoodles Sighted

Category: biofortified

Faust: D'you see a jet-black dog now scampering wide Through corn and stubble?

Read on »

The likelihood of pollen from GE cotton causing harm to the environment is about as likely as a poodle escaping into the wild

Category: agricultual policy

Virtually every food we eat has been genetically altered. Unless you eat wild Alaskan salmon, chanterelles gathered from your local forest, Sierra Nevada yampah and wild blueberries, your diet consists entirely of foods that have been modified by humans and domesticated in artificial, fabulous ecosystems--called farms.

Read on »

Bill Gates on how organic farming and "GMOs" can preserve the environment and feed people

Category: Bill Gates

There's a lot of great thinking [from both the GMO and organic communities], which lead to things you should care about-preserving the environments and feeding people with a decent diet

Read on »

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