Dartmouth Events

Glenn Stone, Washington U., St. Louis

Glenn Stone, Washington U., St. Louis - Sustainability and the Information Divide: GM Crops and Local Farms

Friday, April 26, 2013
4:00pm – 5:30pm
Rockefeller 1
Intended Audience(s): Public
Categories: Lectures & Seminars
Following eras in which machinery and chemicals were primary drivers of change in agricultural systems, information has become a vital input into agriculture. However the roles and effects of information in different forms of production vary dramatically. This talk examines contradictory roles of information in two of the most salient trends in agricultural change in recent decades: genetically modified (GM) crops and the rise of locally-oriented small farms. GM crops are located in a set of relationships between institutions and farmers that are exceedingly rich in commodified information. Meanwhile local small farms, popular in part because of backlash against industrial agriculture, struggle with a range on information deficits and costly learning curves. The two trajectories face very different challenges of sustainability.
Glenn Davis Stone
Anthropology Department Colloquia
For more information, contact:
Therese Perin-Deville
603-646-3256

Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.