Growing enough food for EVERYBODY

Besides which, the problem of starvation here on Earth is not a
technological or agricultural problem. We already have the technology
and the agricultural capability to feed everybody on the planet. The
starvation we see is mostly the result of either socialist mismanagement
of the agricultural segment of their economy, or deliberate attempts to
get rid of unwanted people. Engineered famines has become the method of
choice for ethnic cleansing, or for bringing an enemy to their knees.

So in short, we will never eliminate hunger with a technological fix.

Regards,

Mike Combs

From: spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Bill
Sent: Monday, November 21, 2005 8:44 AM
To: spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [spacesettlers] Re: Growing enough food for EVERYBODY

If you wanted to start exporting food to Earth you would quickly reach
major problems. Both the nitrogen and the phosphorus cycles in plant
would quickly deplete the soils and atmospheres of any agricultural
unit, and returning these to the orbital soil by blasting them off of
the planet won't be economical. In many cases we are already seeing this
problem on Earth where so many nutrients have been leached from the
soils in the midwest that huge amounts of fertilizers are manufactured
and shipped to the area to offset the nutrients exported as food.

HUman waste is also a problem with any space habitat but presumably the
of recycling human waste will occur between the space colonies and the
agricultural units. I can envision a situation where entire industries
could spring from this including grading systems, and commodity and
futures markets.

If you want to feed earth you should expect to apply the technology that
we are speaking about on earth. Some level of trade and the colonies is
necessary but moving food and nutrients up and down a gravity gradient
is not realistic.