The point is simply that firms that reject technology should not be described as "tech" companies simply because they use the Internet in some way.
I'm not suggesting in any way that companies should not exist if they don't solve planet-scale problems.
Modern society is built on top of the massive productivity improvements in agriculture that occurred before those were introduced, and there is plenty of room to innovate without using those methods.
GMO crops are limited[1] in Europe, yet they continue to be a leader in agricultural innovation.
[1] edited, see dragonwriter's correction
No, they aren't.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_of_genetically_modi...
I conjecture they setup this system because an outright ban, which would be unscientific, would violate international trade treaties, instead they just use this process.
[1] http://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/docs/decision_making_process....
This is not to say they are not providing a worthwhile service. Even my local farmer's market provides a worthwhile service to me, but I don't call it a "tech market" just because some of the vendors have an online presence.
We waste 50% of food, with a big portion of that waste happening at the retail level. Food distribution services like Good Eggs have a pretty good shot at eliminating that waste.
Just to give an idea of the potential, attacking only food waste, without any other improvments to our food system, would comfortably allow earth to have a population of 10 billion.
If you really just want to talk about the "tech" label, then you should just stick to that point.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/05/18/pew-vaccine...
Not being willing to talk about these issues is what allows fearmongers to win the day.
There an oft-repeated lament of "I can't believe people think GMOs are unsafe!", but why not instead start by asking why purchases of organic food increase alongside increased education level?
Not that fuel ethanol is drinkable, but you can get similar amounts of energy with other processes. Anyway, just the US ethanol production is over 2 gallons of per person on the planet. We are talking ~23,000 calories per person on the planet produced in a horribly inefficient process which is then burned.
Ethanol is eminently drinkable, in fact I enjoyed some with tonic water and lime just the other night.
