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Re: [SANET-MG] Scientific Investigation of Organic Agriculture



Hi Dale,
I think that integration of organic and conventional agriculture is an oxymoron (A rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in /a deafening silence/). Organic(sustainable)agriculture will survive only if it keeps at arms length from conventional chemical based agriculture. Organic agriculture programs may co-exist in agricultural faculties in a university only so long as there is mutual respect for true academic freedom.The USDA organic program seems to have been forced into prostituting organic agricultural to the whims of congressmen who serve the chemical industry.Grant money will have to be portioned out to organic agriculture in proportion to the market share of the organic industry not the whims of academic bureaucrats who have no real appreciation of what organic (sustainable) agriculture is. In the long run it may be most rational to sequester organic (sustainable) agriculture in research institutes and liberal arts colleges who are free of the groping paws of academic bureaucrats (vp, deans and department chars) who dance to the tunes of the chemical industry. I truly fear that the "organic"programs in land grant universities will siphon off research grants destined for organic agriculture and use if for public relations to promote genetically modified crops as being "organic". As a graduate of Washington State University and a former faculty member at the University of Washington I think that neither are safe homes for organic agriculture but Evergreen or Reed might be. Sincerely, Prof. Joe Cummins

Dale Wilson wrote:

Hi Joe,

If someone referred to me as a "conventional scientist" I
would be insulted.  It is a contradiction in terms, since
good science is always unconventional.
I had understood that your work with the seed companies was
as a technician. As an insulted scientist you should not
object to revealing the source of your PhD degree and your
authorship of scientific papers.

Actually, I am not easily insulted (Sanet cured me ;-).  I do research.
Ph.D. from Ohio State in 1986 with Miller McDonald's program. Regarding scientific papers, well, I'll send you a list if you want.

What do you think about integration of organic and "conventional"
research?

Dale


		
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