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18 The Daily News. Friday. February 17. 1995 Islai l IlfG
Stop depending on the world
to grow the food we need here
As we enter the mid '90s. the nomic trad have shaped environ-
Virgin Island has Unle to celebrate mental trends. thus watering the
in the area of food production. earth natural resources and ecoys-
Since the late 1800s. agiculture Dv ter in ways not obvious to us a
in the Virgin Island has declined. OU the tm Now as w eaw the '90s.
Pnor to the emanciption of slaves. u we ae beginning to see that cnvi-
St. Croix was cultivated from the ronmental trends are shaping eco-
beaches to the hlltops. and in addl- nomic trends. The cumulative
lion to sugar cane. cotton was an effects of topsoil lott In major pro-
imporant crop. been made even though other tecb ducng countrie ar being fel
In 1966. the sugar cane industry nologies in agriculture. such as Leter R. Brown describes the
on St. Croi phased out of produc- biotechnology. have taken the lead world conditions this way: "A lly
lion. Today we mport practically to improve plants, animals and pond, so the French riddle goes.
everything we need. In addition, micro-organisms. This technology contain a single leaf. Bach day the
land that was once used for agricul- has produced virus-resistant vari- number of leaves doubles two
tural production is now being uti- eties of tomatoes. cucumbers and leaves the second day. four the
lied for urban development. com- potatoes; better vaccines and dig- third. eight the fourth, and so on.
mercal and industrial uses. nosic kits used for chickens. hores Queston: If the pond s completely
On a global scale, from the and swine: and new and improved full on the 13th day, when is it hal
beginning of agriculture until the varieties of commercial flower. Mll? Answer: On the 29h day."
mid-century. growth in world agri- However, hunger till remains a You se the global ily pond in
cultural production has kept up pace global problem. In such places as which about 4 billion of us live may
with population growth. pats of Africa. Latin America and already be close to balf-f. Within
Between 1950 and 1984. world Asia manorihmelt has lneated. our children's time the lily pond
farmers raised grain harvest 2.6. Meanwhile, the world is losing top- could fill up completely. In nature.
fold compared to the beginning of soil from farmlad and tropical and clusters of lily leaves are already
the century. This rise in gran pro- temperate ain forests and ten of crowding against one another. ig-
duction came about because of thousands of plant and animal nallng the day when the pond will
modem technology, species.
Since then, little progress has Throughout modem history eco- V Se HUNGER. pageO1
Island life
7hsDdyNh*%tlda,Fftbtuy7J195I
HUNGER camR fa'
Hunger remains a disturbing problem throughout the world
ecompedelyfilld.
dmhaveapstaaypoici4as
th we oda miaid e sgip of
the lily and fail to adjust our
lifestyle to live wish~ or m ean
A cuddl itady d gloil ec
my woldindicate t FpeameR 0
Erth's biological systas and
acgyiePmemaoalix q
BelievBe, t sober big ma&h
quake had bit Japan, the wole
wold wld he bet is chose.
Jp is aeco omic upaeporr
nd p cticaly dse eaDis.ord e
omic system is connectd to the
Jlameasemket.
Al the ame lime, stress is economic deelopet The pro-
moating in biological systems, ductiviy of ocean fisheries is
pnlads fosts, o ca filarie(sU fai cches aceai wau the
adi aloplands Iai bulmm depep oceuanpouct.
a fofoodiadu sial rw me- While forests ae sinking,
a asn thssd es oside mien t mik.
The 4 billion people on Eth il aind lchiw ir ha an bkipg
with risig aspirmiors ire poting mediapsi
mmoe pesose AEb' 's rsomcs We ere ia the Vigi Isblads
od aemcidlig new's los ga m can mae a diffnce hi spite of
canyin capacity. As I mattied how hiit look glolly. As a peo.
earlier, tpicultul production ple, we often look for economic
worldwide dropped became of help outside instead of groi ing
evimmanneu l abets its play mio fumlhebidkoa eoimmically.
iseete isea 24th mal
Virgia Ibls ds Agricullre md
Food Fair. The theme, "From
DroNght to Havest is a perfect
ewmphiB of ow ajiclewtie irves
du* airm e and hrdahip rl
thdows llfar emoamy.
Yea a people, we fgl tos rcal
iet tIl ap riculue ca play a ajor
rolek sbe ecadevetlop eVir.-
p Islhada w domy. For ad
an expanded spicaltul iadettl y
can pm eTilde tooift indatiy
by providing local food to orists
employment tppomtomtsts for out
Howles this yeoses lthi stad
net heostible wis~ul m kuu
Come on, lolt s stoakhing and
be ogrVicktsre a big pn tfr
OlsxelatDiu. slidoh.&wj
uest udfiressty ecalog, U a
St. Croui ecolostll, aciisn ad
5101r.
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