Crops & Food
We eat to live. Humans use approximately 11% of Earth’s land for the cultivation of crops for food, but also for clothing, medicine and biofuels. Globally, major crops include sugarcane, pumpkin, maize (corn), wheat, rice, cassava, soybeans, hay, potatoes and cotton.
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Scientific articles counter common misconceptions on Internet condemning GMOs
A member of Skepti-Forum, Ethan Kessler, provides links to several scientific studies countering many of the common misconceptions we often ...
Madagascar student prank shows March Against Monsanto has heartless agenda
Just how detached from reality are mainstream anti-GMO protestors such as March Against Monsanto, a global group that claims millions ...
‘Organic’ label does not guarantee healthier or more sustainable food
Buying organic food is an exercise in personal virtue: You pay more to consume food that's healthier for you and ...
Can Bt cotton be a solution for Zimbabwean cotton growers?
The manipulation of liberalized cotton trade meant poor prices, poverty and dependency for cotton farmers in Zimbabwe. Could the use ...
Vermont’s law requiring GMO labels could trigger nationwide rules
Under a law signed this month, the tiny New England state, population 626,000, will soon require that food companies tell ...
Indian scientists form high tech group to educate politicians on GM crops
Stung by adverse political reactions on genetically modified crops, agriculture scientists have formed a 12-member pressure group comprising top scientists ...
GMO fears in needy Zambia result in destruction of 1,000 lbs of safe corn flakes
A combined team of Luanshya Municipal Council Health Inspectors and Court officials swung into action and destroyed more than 700 Bokomo Corn Flakes ...
Trade politics, not health concerns, driving Russia’s anti-GMO stance
The Russian government’s most public reason for banning GMOs—its citizens’ health—may not be its primary reason. During President Putin’s recent meeting with ...
Widespread confusion among Canadians over what foods are genetically modified
Genetic modification has been a polarizing issue since genetically modified seeds were first approved and planted in Canada in the ...
Monarch butterfly decline linked loss of milkweed: Are GMO crops to blame?
The main cause of the monarch butterfly's decline is the loss of milkweed — its food — in its U.S ...
Bt eggplant farmers in Bangladesh target of anti-GMO “green” groups
Farmers growing a landmark genetically modified food crop in Bangladesh – Bt brinjal, or aubergine – have found themselves at the centre of a ...
GM crops safe but ecological concerns need to be examined, regulated
Scientists have demonstrated that genetically modified organisms have no measurable negative impacts on human health. Indeed, they may hold the key ...
‘Homemade herbicide’ of salt, vinegar and soap more expensive and toxic than glyphosate in Roundup
The question I get most often about this homemade herbicide mixture is “how does it compare to commercial herbicides?” In particular, how ...
Whirlwind tour of career of Bruce Ames, inventor of test to determine chemical toxicity
On an otherwise ordinary day in 1964, Bruce Ames picked up a box of potato chips and read the list of ingredients ...
Plant scientist Pamela Ronald developing GMO bananas that could save millions of lives
Bananas are delicious. But bananas aren’t just some tasty delicacy, they’re actually a staple crop for millions of people, just ...
There is no ‘bee armageddon’: Misguided neonics ban threatens honeybees and farming
European Union instituted a precautionary ban on neonicotinoid pesticides before actually examining beehives. European farmers, faced with the ban, are ...
GM not just about commodity farming: How it can rescue threatened coffee, chocolate, wine, bananas and OJ
Many anti-GM campaigners lambast crop biotechnology because the first generation of genetic modification focused on commodity crops such as corn, ...
Arguments against GM crops riddled with problems including vested interests and romanticizing hunger
The year 2013 marked the 18th consecutive year of commercial cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or now commonly referred to as ...
Lack of funding in Nigeria hindering biotechnology research efforts
A professor, Olufunmilayo Adebambo, has said that the country is missing in the development and utilisation of its biotechnological potential. Adebambo, ...
Poorly written GM ban in Oregon opens door to lawsuits against non-GMO farmers
An ordinance that prohibits biotech crops in Oregon's Jackson County is vague enough to encompass some conventionally bred crops, according ...
Kenyans face danger from aflatoxin contamination in crops, biotechnology can mitigate problem
Most Kenyans are at high risk of aflatoxin contamination due to lack of monitoring and evaluation on the harvested and ...
Anti-GMO journalist, Maharishi Institute follower calls anti-GMO journalist, Reuters’ Carey Gillam, “balanced”
Reuters' journalist Carey Gillam has covered issues surrounding genetically modified foods for the past 16 years, no easy task with ...
‘Debate over GMO safety over’, as liberal publications, pundits distance from anti-GMO rhetoric
Despite the apparent gridlock in the GMO debate, there are hints that it may be easing as more and more ...
Have a taste for liver? Food preferences might be hard wired
Geneticists have found 17 new genes that help determine what foods people enjoy most. But these genes aren't related to ...
Fear of GMOs prevent GM barley resistant to ‘vomitoxin’-producing fungi from reaching beers
This past summer, exceptionally hot and humid for many, was brutal for the small-scale barley farmers who have been cropping ...
AUDIO: Yale neurologist Steven Novella challenges fears of GMOs, industrial agriculture
For Medium's Inquiring Minds, Indre Viskontas spoke with Dr. Steven Novella, a neurologist at Yale University. Novella is a prominent voice ...
‘Significant majority’ of consumers support status quo on GMO labeling, new survey reports
Despite contentious debate in some states regarding mandatory labeling of foods produced with biotechnology or genetically modified organisms (GMO) crops, ...
