this post was submitted on 15 Sep 2023
229 points (84.2% liked)

Showerthoughts

29590 readers
2441 users here now

A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The best ones are thoughts that many people can relate to and they find something funny or interesting in regular stuff.

Rules

  1. All posts must be showerthoughts
  2. The entire showerthought must be in the title
  3. Avoid politics (NEW RULE as of 5 Nov 2024, trying it out)
  4. Posts must be original/unique
  5. Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
229
The idiom of "doesn't grow on trees" as a metaphor for scarcity falls apart when you realize that food does grow on trees yet is still very scarce. (lemmy.ml)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
62 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Extremely not-fun fact: collectively, humanity currently produces more than enough food for every person. But a huge part of it is either wasted or inaccessible by people that need them, which usually results in them not going to anyone and being wasted, which is why we still have food scarcity.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] emergencyfood 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Most crops are very different from the wild plants they evolved from. In general, the domesticated varieties are softer - they need fertilisers and pesticides, sometimes even manual pollination. Without this they would be outcompeted by wild plants.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Its not as general as that, no. Theyre often bred to be more naturally pest and disease resistant. If youve ever tried growing heirloom tomatoes vs hybrids. They dont have higher soil nutrient needs either.

[–] emergencyfood 1 points 1 year ago

There are exceptions, but a general rule is that if you invest more resources in growth your investment in pest defence will go down. So plants bred for yield often have reduced pest tolerance. But yes, they are in many cases interbred with more resistant varieties to (partially) compensate.