But as much as people fantasize about native plants completely unaltered from their natural state, the ability to dramatically reduce world hunger is a direct consequence of humans' capacity to improve crop yields such as rice and corn through breeding and engineering.
We now face a similar challenge to stave off disaster, and efforts to create improvements to existing species to accomplish it deserve the same applause as the technical plant wizardry that prevented the starvation of millions of people.
Much as the plant revolution primarily benefited the world's hungry poor, mitigating climate change also primarily benefits the world's poor, much of whom live in hot tropical climates most susceptible to wet bulb temp hazards. So it's bizarre to see so many wealthy people in this forum complain about the use of technology to achieve a goal that will be so important to prevent the deaths of so many: but I suppose it makes sense, because like eating only low yielding native foods, ignoring climate change and making fun of attempts to solve it is a privilege of wealthy folk who are best able to compensate for it with air conditioning and mobility, and whose kids and grandkids will not have to pay the price.
Living Carbon's technical methods should be scrutinized and the business model questioned, but Maddie and her team should be applauded, and the Whole Foods crowd with vague, unspecific negative thoughts should at least recognize how much luxury they have to rag on humans' attempt to use plants to better our world.