A former DowAgrosciences employee has been arrested for economical espionage for allegedly passing along to the Chinese government secrets needed to replicate the organically-approved bioinsecticide spinosad (according to the July 26 issue of Chemical and Engineering News). So, I get why this is "economical espionage" and how divulging trade secrets to competitors can hurt your chances in the global marketplace, yadda yadda yadda. What I don't like is that we can't think bigger than that. Sure our chances are better on a playing field tipped in our favor, but in this case a level playing field makes organic food production more feasible and accessible to one of the world's largest and most populated countries. Human society may recognize political borders, but biology doesn't, and encouraging organic agricultural methods seems a surefire way to make positive environmental impacts in a nation with the most mouths to feed.
I understand the illegality of the situation, but lament that it has to be so.
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