Maybe Prince Charles should look again at Malthus. Malthus looked a population (P). Was Malthus wrong? In the early 1800’s, Malthus worried that the human population would soon outstrip the ability of humans to feed themselves. By the mid 1940’s agricultural methods were not keeping up with the human population and widespread famine seemed possible. Then, improved agricultural methods increased food production. Each time as the human population increases, scientific research translated into modern agricultural methods move the line. Which line am I talking about?

This is not a fable. This is an opportunity for a very vibrant class discussion/debate. There are perspectives and alternatives on both sides of the issue making this another opportunity to explore an issue as part of the Science-Technology-Societal Impact problem solving. Understanding this problem solving model is probably very important to the majority of students even if they do not go onto careers in science. All of them will become voters, and understanding societal issues is an important function of making educated democratic decisions.

I sketched out a simple population graph.

On the graph, the green line represents the population growth. K₁ represents the population that results when the biotic potential and the environmental resistance comes into a sort of equilibrium. This population is the carrying capacity. A change in the environmental resistance results in a change in the carrying capacity. As an example, improved methods of food production led to a new carrying capacity K₂. The difference between K₂ and K₁ is the increased number of individuals that can exist due to the increased carrying capacity.

It seemed to me that Prince Charles took a shot gun approach to the question of GM crops. He points at big business, and the displacement of the small family farmer. He is an advocate for organic food, the conservation of water, the rainforest and the puritiy of seeds. He doesn’t seem to like big agribusiness, large supermarkets and definitely not genetically modified food.

In Canada according to Peter Brenders of BIOTECanada, GM crops are rigorously tested, reduce pesticide use, increase yields, enhance food security, support small farmers, and are environmentally friendly. In other words, Brenders addresses all of the concerns of the Prince.

Supporters of the Prince even talk about issues of social justice. They suggest alternatives such as giving people more entitlement to the land, land reform, redirecting agricultural extension services to small farmers, and looking at a wide range of sustainable farming techniques which don't rely on invasive high technology approaches. At this point one must ask the question of what do they really mean by social justice. If the population represented by the yellow band on the graph is a result of the improved agricultural methods, to go back to the lower carrying capacity could result in the catastrophic reduction of our world wide population. When evaluating the effect of the decision making in this process and of the action to take, at least two populations are in play.