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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

sustainability:

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 »

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 »

Dr. Oz asks who can we trust when it comes to Genetically Engineered Crops?

Category: biofortified

The Dr. Oz show demonstrates yet again that as scientists, we cannot dismiss the general anxiety about genetic engineering, and the distrust of science and scientists in general.

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 »

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 »

Food, Farming and Genetics in Korea

Category: food

Unfiltered rice wine (makgeolli) is made through the fermentation of a mixture of boiled rice and nuruk with water. Nuruk is a fermentation starter made from grains, Aspergillus, Rhizopus and yeasts. For a great site on the history of fermentation in Asia see the FAO

Read on »

Should We Tinker With Plant Genes?

Category: agricultual policy

The growing of corn by an African peasant farmer from corn seeds that he has kept from the harvest of the previous year gives him more food security than growing a genetically modified seed, which may give a high yield, but over whose availability he has no control.

Read on »

A Harvest for 9.2 Billion

Category: agricultual policy

Sustainable agriculture demands cutting edge science and agroecological farming practices.

Read on »

What One Hardy Papaya Can Tell Us About Ending World Hunger

Category: Africa

Doing that also requires opponents to realize that by demonizing the technology, they've hindered applications of genetic engineering that could save lives and protect the environment.

Read on »

Pie is a constant in my life

Category: food

First, gather the ingredients from your garden.

Read on »

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