Thread by @ProfSecchi

Some thoughts on the persistence of US ag tropes clearly debunked by the science and the evidence - specifically the push for "carbon farming", "feeding the world", "corn ethanol". Many ppl w/ good honest intentions about improving our ag policies still buy into them. Why? 🧵1/

The answer is b/c there's a kernel of truth in the ideas, and they generically appeal to the ppl w/ good intentions. However, in our ag system, given our political economy & our production characteristics, the science is pretty clear there are MUCH better alternatives. 2/

Well where are they? They are hard to find, be informed of & push for b/c there are powerful industrial interests for which the tropes work just too well, so those are the ones they sell to the press & the public, w/ the help of academic capture. 3/

So IMO our job as scientists is to push back against these false tropes that benefit the few to the expense of the many. Resist academic capture, speak to the press & the public about the science (which btw includes social science, often remarkably silent on these issues) 4/

Anyway, @iahuntress, I've been thinking about your earlier thread all day & that's what I got. Especially in Iowa, the industry is rarely challenged on the falseness of these tropes so when you see the lies they shine big. Thanks for not being blinded!

https://twitter.com/iahuntress/status/1353042356870803458?s=20

BTW if you are a biophysical scientist and do not understand or equivocate the implications of large scale implementation of your work sit the policy debates out. You are very much not helping anyone except your career. That’s the very definition of academic capture.

And if you are a social scientist - particularly an economist - and uncritically opine on policies centering the industry’s interests w/o considering the costs to taxpayers, others across the planet & often the state residents who pay your land grant uni salary, you’re gross.

I have a quarter of a century of receipts on academic capture and how these tropes are being perpetuated to the expense of the many and the benefit of the few.