Genetically modified food and agricultural biotechnology have generated a lot of interest and controversy worldwide. Some like the technology's benefits while others raise questions about environmental and food safety issues. Crop varieties developed by genetic engineering were first introduced for commercial production in 1996. Today, these crops are planted on more than 167 million acres worldwide. U.S. farmers are by far the largest producers of genetically modified (GM) crops (6)(8).
Genetically Modified Crops are foods that have had a gene extracted from a living thing, which has been placed into a different food by a scientist. This technology can be used to produce new varieties of plants or animals more quickly than conventional breeding methods. Also to introduce traits not possible through traditional techniques. There are two main types of GM crops that are in commercial use around the world. These are either crops that have been developed to be resistant to certain crop pests, or crops that have been developed to be resistant to a particular herbicide (weed killer)(5).
Genetically Modified Crops are made for many different purposes, the main purpose being to create a food able to survive being sprayed with harmful chemicals like pesticides and herbicides. Other purposes are to make food stay fresher for longer, to kill pests, to produce more of the crop and to experiment with taste and quality. The most common foods are maize, cotton, tomatoes, potatoes, corn, canola, soybean and sugar beet(6).
Gene Technology is one of the types of modern Biotechnology. It is the use of living things to make or change products, such as the foods we eat (Melcer2). The first genetically modified crops to be sold in the USA were tomatoes, which were modified so they wouldn't go soft so quickly, then soy beans and oilseed rape, which gives margarine and oils. They were modified to survive certain herbicides and weed-killers, then maize and cotton were modified to carry a poison that kills pests and protects crops against damage. Potatoes were also some of the earliest vegetables to be modified (7).
Genetic modification is an issue which arises every day, although people are not always aware of it. At the moment there is a lot of debate whether GM foods are good or bad. GM Crops are affecting society in many of the foods that we buy (5).
Some of the disadvantages of Genetic modification are that most food manufacturers are unable or unwilling to provide information on whether or not their products contain GM ingredients.
“Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart” was an intriguing and plot-twisting documentary of the Pamela Smart case. The documentary covered every aspect of the case and explored all of the different decisions and actions that took place within the case. It was the first the first trial to be covered on national television, and the national media coverage made the case even more popular. Greggory and Pamela Smart resided in New Hampshire, and the couple had been married approximately a little over a year when Greggory was murdered. Greggory Smart had an affair in December of 1989, and it had a negative impact on Pamela. Pamela was the Director of Media Services for the New Hampshire school district. One of the many schools she covered was Winnacunnet
Older gentrification is issued onto poor black communities to increase white supremacy in the area and improve living conditions in the so called “hood.” After Older proposed his thoughts on Gentrification being an issue in colored low-income neighborhoods, he then turns to criticizing another writer with a different point of view on the issue. The author of “Is Gentrification All Bad?” in an article in the New York Times explains his views on gentrification. Older places emphasis on one of Davidson’s claim on “sweet spots” in the community saying “Davidson talks of a “sweet spot”: some mythical moment of racial, economic harmony where the neighborhood stays perfectly diverse and balanced.” (Older 358) The author does not support this claim as to being logical in his sense. Older’s views represents an opposite approach on the same issue of gentrification. In another quote “The gears are all already in place, the mechanisms of white supremacy and capitalism poised to make their moves.” (Older 358) the author speaks on how white people are over taking the poor colored communities to improve their lives, but not thinking about the consequences of the affected
“The Deeper Problems We Miss When We Attack ‘Gentrification’”exhibit their opinion on the positives of gentrification and the potential of “revitalization” in low-income urban communities. Badger argues that gentrification brings nothing more than further opportunities for urban communities while integrating citizens of different social classes.Furthermore , she continues to question if gentrification is in fact the monster that brings the prior expressions against gentrification where she says “If poor neighborhoods have historically suffered from dire disinvestment, how can the remedy to that evil — outside money finally flowing in — be the problem, too?”(Badger) Stating that the funds generated from sources external that are brought into these communities can’t be problematic. This concept is further elaborated in the article “Does Gentrification Harm the Poor” where Vigdoor list the potential positive enhancements gentrification can have on an urban area in America ,stating that gentrification can
There has been a tremendous change in East Harlem between class warfare and gentrification. East Harlem is one more economic factor to the city’s wealth per capita since the attack of September 11, 2000. It is Manhattan’s last remaining development and it is on the agenda of the tax revenue of our government. East Harlem has become a profit driven capitalism. Gentrification enforces capitalism, it does not separate people, it does not go against race, poor and the working class, it wages war on the poor and the working-class.
“Gentrification refers to trends in the neighborhood development that tend to attract more affluent residents, and in the instances concentrates scale commercial investment.”(Bennet,).This means that gentrification can change how a neighborhood is ran or even how much income the community takes in depending on what businesses come in and what class of people decide to invest into that community. In this paper i will be discussing gentrification and and poverty, pros and cons of gentrification, relationships due to gentrification, conflict due to gentrification, reactions/ feelings or of small business owners about
Overall, The Blind Side is a unique story of one man’s story of success from the slums of Memphis to the NFL. Michael Oher overcame stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination, and had to assimilate himself into an entirely new culture – but he eventually achieved his
Michelle Boyd’s article “Defensive Development The Role of Racial Conflict in Gentrification” also focuses on gentrification addressing the failure to explain the relationship between racial conflict and its effect on gentrification. This article adds a new perspective to gentrification while studying the blacks as gentrifiers.
This investigation is based on the assumption that gentrification with all its troubles can’t be prevented and is an inherent part of every city. What are the negative impacts of gentrification? What are the underlying mechanisms that feed these impacts? What drives these mechanisms? What would be an alternative scenario?
In a person’s life span there are and will be many moments of struggle. And often when people are at their lowest point in their lives they seek to blame the struggle on the first person or thing that is the easiest to point the finger at. Like, In such a case as Gentrification. Individuals that have experienced displacement because of Gentrification commonly turn their anger towards the individuals occupying their neighborhood. This process alone can cause an excessive level of racial tension, typically because the deteriorated areas are populated with African Americans and the people moving into the community are usually White. The obvious objective would be to blame the individuals moving in and occupying
There are people in the neighborhoods that can enjoy the neighborhood enhancements because they know they can survive the inflation of their rent. There are people that are oblivious to the fact that their rent will increase a significant amount, because they are excited that there will be shiny new locations arriving around their area. Once their landlord explains to them that their rent will increase – in New York it could be up to fifty percent – they will be struck with the sad reality of gentrification. Gentrification is similar to other social issues, primarily in the fact that one does not think about the issue until it affects them. To me, it is crucial to approach with Immanuel Kant’s theory in mind. It is important to view the overall morality of an issue. “Is it necessary?” is a question I ask myself when addressing this issue. Kant believes one should not use another for self-benefit, and with gentrification one group of men or women are using a group of families for their own
...r of inequality in America, with so much poverty located within such a close proximity to the White House. That being said, gentrification efforts in DC appear to be focused on removing poor people, or at the very least, the visual image of crime, poverty, and corruption as it relates to the most powerful city in the country. Community activist groups have tried time and time again to stop gentrification from affecting their community, but often times, to no avail. What is truly sad is that while this cycle is continually perpetuated as a matter of “haves versus have nots” the way in which this system seems to always disproportionately marginalize one race of people in favor of another, does raise the question as to whether or not gentrification was orchestrated to operate in such a manner; and if so, what are the affected groups going to do about it.
Gentrification is designed to improve the quality of life for the residents, but the fact is that it pushes out old residents to welcome in young and wealthy citizens. To analyze the demographic even further, gentrified neighborhoods in New York City have seen an increase in white population despite a city wide decrease. As Kate Abbey-Lamertz of the Huffington Post states, “The report notes that change is driven by educated people moving in, rather than by existing residents becoming more educated.” These changes are being driven by a millennial demographic who can afford the changed aesthetic. The influx of millennials are pushing out families whose lifestyle can’t keep up with the changing demographic. Even though these changes have been occurring for almost thirty years, and the city hasn’t made the changes needed for people who need low income housing. New York City’s gentrification must be slowed in order for people in low income housing to catch
...preserved by her children (Laura, Desiree, and Charles Jr.), and that is how historians found out the history of Laura Plantation and the events that happened there. One is able to learn the true story of the plantation and is able to see it through the eyes of Laura Locoul Gore. (1)
Gentrification has been blamed for the displacement of poor communities. However, in a city gentrification has other important characteristics. First, it impacts the demographic of an area in the sense that there is an increase in middle-class income population. Additionally, Randy Shaw notes in his article that demographic shift includes reduction in households’ sizes as well as decline in minorities (Shaw). Most of gentrified areas appear to have whites replacing blacks and other minority
Gentrification does not follow traditional urban growth theory, which predicts ?the decline of inner city areas as monied classes move to the metropolitan fringe.? The traditional economic model of real estate says that wealthy people can choose their housing from the total city market (Schwirian 96). Once these people decide to live in the suburbs, the lower social classes move into the old homes of the upper class, essentially handing housing down the socioeconomic ladder. Gentrification is actually a reversal of this process. For a variety of reasons, many inner city areas are becoming more attractive to the wealthy, and they are selecting their housing in those areas (Schwirian 96). The problem is that now when the wealthy take over poor homes and renovate them, the poor cannot afford the housing that the wealthy have abandoned. Many researchers have argued whether gentrification has truly created problems in cities. I will analyze the arguments for and against gentrification by exploring the subject from both sides.