Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Booms, Busts, and Recoveries -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: elmatador who wrote (28564)	2/8/2003 10:22:51 PM
From: Maurice Winn	Respond to of 74559

ElM, it's not a matter of efficiency. It's a matter of inefficiency that we can't get tree-ripened fruit and fresh this, that, and the other. We used to get bananas which tasted like bananas and tomatoes which had flavour and apples which weren't cold-stored wax replicas. There is a lack of feedback on quality and price so the producers are making less profit and less sales than they would otherwise do. I eat few bananas now because they are so pathetic. Similarly, eggs are pathetic. They go for size and hen-laying capacity rather than quality. Food quality is appalling around the world, other than a few exceptions. Belgian beef is almost inedible. While living there, we got some Argentinian free range beef and it was fantastic! It was like being brought back to life from a mortuary. Jay has probably got a very good investment in Argentina. Unfortunately, it's not sold with the information attached. People just see generic meat or generic bananas and there's no way to tell whether the producers have heard of quality [other than buying a tiny amount and being once again disappointed]. There is usually not even any way of identifying the producers. It's as though the producer are ashamed of their products and try to hide. I think there is a huge business opportunity for good quality products. Which doesn't simply mean big and shiny. Flavour, nutrients, lack of pollutants, and other quality aspects are vital. Mqurice

To: elmatador who wrote (28564)	2/8/2003 11:39:28 PM
From: Moominoid	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

The only problem with the farmed salmon (and shrimps) is they still depend on wild fish for feeding and for obtaining larvae/eggs. They are like the feedlots that grain is brought to for cattle which begin their life cycle often elsewhere too.

To: elmatador who wrote (28564)	2/8/2003 11:43:37 PM
From: LLCF	Respond to of 74559

But that doesn't deal with your original assertion which it seems you've totally flip flopped on. DAK

To: elmatador who wrote (28564)	2/9/2003 2:35:11 AM
From: EL KABONG!!!	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

Hi elmatador, But in order that everyone eats a banana, we had to produce, store and transport it efficiently, otherwise only around the tropics people would eat a banana. Yes, we have no bananas, we have no bananas today... Yikes!!! story.news.yahoo.com COULD THE BANANA SLIP OUT OF EXISTENCE FOREVER? Tue Jan 28, 9:55 AM ET Philadelphia, Pa., January 28, 2003 (featureXpress) -- The next time you order a banana split or sip on a banana daiquiri by the poolside, make sure you savor the sweet taste of the popular yellow fruit, because it may go the path of the mighty dinosaurs - extinction. That's right, the crescent-shaped fruit, which is one of the largest agricultural products in the world, is in for the fight of its life against a plague of pests and diseases. The banana's biggest foe is Black Sigatoka, a fungal disease that affects the fruit's all-important leaf area, causing premature ripening and reducing the productive life of the banana. Huge banana plantations all over the world would feel the impact if the banana slipped off the face of the Earth. Dr. James Pierce, associate professor of genetics and biotechnology at University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, says the banana is unlike most other native or wild fruits, and this uniqueness is at the root of the problem. The type of banana to which we are accustomed - big, yellow, sweet and seedless - is different than wild bananas, which are smaller, have seeds and not much fruit. The bananas that we see in the supermarket are generated from a single cultivar that is generated from two different species that are joined together, called a hybrid. According to Dr. Pierce, one of the banana's distinctions among fruits is the fact that it is a triploid, instead of a diploid, meaning that they have three sets of chromosomes, instead of two as most other fruits have. This is where the problem lies. "Because the bananas we eat are triploids, they can only be grown, not through sexual reproduction, but asexually," says Dr. Pierce. "Since bananas are sterile, they are basically cloned and are bred to be these beautiful yellow fruits that are sweet, have no seeds and last very long. There is no variety since there is no sexual reproduction. Bananas have the same genotype or genes, and are essentially identical clones." So is the banana as we know it doomed? Some researchers claim the delicious, yellow fruit could become extinct within the next 10 years. Dr. Pierce says the amount of money and pesticides needed to preserve the banana against the Black Sigatoka is growing. "Plants have to use lots of fungicides because this fungus, like many microorganisms, is becoming resistant to the chemicals' effects," he says. Dr. Pierce believes the answer may be two words that many consumers are nervous to associate with their food - genetic engineering. He says scientists and researchers will need to develop measures via genetics to help the banana against disease and pests. If not, it could be devastating to consumers, particularly in third-world countries, who rely so heavily on its nutrition and abundance. "This is a genetic problem," says Dr. Pierce. "Hopefully, there are biotech companies that are looking to tinker the genetic information of bananas to help us grow new genotypes that are resistant to the parasite, but still contain the same characteristics in the bananas that are in supermarkets and in our kitchens. "There's been a big backlash over genetically modifying foods," adds Dr. Pierce, "but what will people do if there are no more bananas and the only way to save them is through genetic engineering? That is the question everyone may have to answer." KJC

To: elmatador who wrote (28564)	2/9/2003 4:33:39 AM
From: X Y Zebra	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

But in order that everyone eats a banana, we had to produce, store and transport it efficiently, otherwise only around the tropics people would eat a banana. Same for the salmon. Left to the rivers, only a few guys around the rivers wold eat the fish Well... "everyone" perhaps the first question is "how many is everyone" ? Have we humans gone into an "excess capacity" run that we reproduce without measure...? We think in terms of ideal efficient productions. What is the optimal, most efficient "production" of humans... or perhaps we should ask What is the most efficient "substenance level of planet earth"? Are we so pretentious that we demand that the rest of all species in this planet serve us? if so, what level of quality should we strive for ? excellence"? or minimum possible common denominator ? Elitist ? no, not necessarily. We are democratic people who think everybody has the write to taste a salmon. For that, I think, we should produce more efficient. well... ok, then what is the standard to set then... see above... excellence or minimum possible common denominator. or... how many is "everybody" ? I believe that if we have a responsibility to strive to produce efficiently... efficiently in terms of quantity or quality. Is there a responsibility from us humans to mind our environment and the manner in which we impact it ? Is there anything wrong with measuring our growth of population ? or be mindful of the environment that surrounds us... ? So now.. it is not chicken in every pot... it is salmon in every microwave ? when millions reproduce without logical measure, indeed religion --opium-- presents an obstacle to any effort to plan the size of the family, particularly in the poorest countries... what hope do we have to provide what nature is capable to produce out of a river... measure is the key and quality, (the highest possible) of life ought to be what we strive for... maybe then... we can reproduce in equal quality what nature is capable to produce without the need of harmful "additives". Lastly... yes, there are many democracies around the world of different levels... and in order to make such democracies and production processes efficeint, we should not forget an important question .... if we are to provide a salmon in every home... we should also ask... "how much?" and "Who is going to pay for it?" [so we get the right answer, hence the efficent production we are after] jmo.