Brian Ford-Lloyd is moved swiftly to action by Slow Food:
Hold on! Whoever thought those involved in food production could undertake effective conservation of genetic diversity? Slow food enthusiasts are not the only ones to discard the ‘not-so-good’ – the whole of domestication must have been based on it. Hunter gatherers rejected the more spiny/hairy/thick seed coated/bitter tasting/alkoloid containing in favour of those plants with less of those no-so-good features. Plant breeders have traditionally done the same, but who said plant breeders made the best conservationists?
Leaving aside the alkaloids, obviously, one would have to agree. Agriculture grows by selection, and selection requires rejection. But where does Slow Food fit into all this?