So Mediocre it Hurts

nybg:

This is one of those stories that I see somewhere and think “wow, this would be great on the Tumblr!” and then I read it and I want to run home and hide and never eat anything but food I have grown myself ever again. Aspergillus flavus is a mold that thrives in hot, dry weather, just like last year’s epic drought in the U.S. It has rendered huge portions of corn crops unsaleable; just the equivalent of 100 kernels per truckload of corn turns the whole lot into garbage. This is a very real and very scary threat. Read at your own risk. ~AR

Haha. Scary indeed. I wonder what kind of solutions will arise from this. Surely, you can’t control the weather. Is this going to lead to breeding for lines that are resistant? Or special greenhouses or closed conditions for raising corn where you can adjust the temperature? And I worry about the repercussions of such developments for poorer corn farmers who can’t afford such adjustments. 

Today’s dose of “we’re all fucked”. TA-DAAAAA!!!