engleski

Can we change stereotypes and improve the quality of life?

There are a number of generally accepted stereotypes. People base unsustainable behavior on some of them, thereby endangering their own species and all life on Earth. The most dangerous stereotype is that of the present as 'the century of science'. Actually, despite knowledge which doubles each year, thanks to globalization our generation will be the first in the history of humankind to lose more knowledge than it has gained. Based on a stereotype, human arrogance is endangering our existence on Earth. Mankind's treatment of the soil, water and air are clear examples, and this is discussed in detail. If people were to carefully recognize some stereotypes and discard them, the quality of life would gradually improve, and our striving for sustainability would be more realistic. Out of approximately 250 thousand species of flowering plants, around three thousand are used by man for food. However, by far the largest amount of food for human beings is today supplied by a mere 20 different species. The small numbers of food crops make the human race quite vulnerable to environmental changes. Today, the variety of goods in the supermarket is largely superficial: the 1, 500 articles that may be on display represent variations of only a few basic ingredients. About ten thousand years ago, when people began harvesting the first domesticated plants, the Earth's human population was roughly four million. Today, that many people are born every ten days. If this trend continues after the year 2000, we will have to grow as much food in the first two decades of the new century as was produced over the past ten thousand years. In light of these facts, the possibilities of and prospects for sustainable agriculture as a principal source of food are discussed.

Agriculture; plant domestication; genetic erosion; environment protection; alternative technologies

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