Agriculture & 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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Opinion: Why the National Organic Program’s funding should be eliminated, not just cut
[Editor's note: Henry Miller is a physician and molecular biologist, and a Fellow in Scientific Philosophy and Public Policy at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. He ...
Will genetically modified pink pineapples encourage millennials to eat more fruit?
If you were one to eschew your mom's plate of fruit back in the day, we've discovered a treat that'll make ...
Judge dismisses lawsuit claiming ‘natural’ label misleads due to parts per million glyphosate herbicide
A federal judge has dismissed a class-action lawsuit against General Mills over the company's use of "natural" to describe the ...
Pamela Ronald: Sustainable farming should focus on impact of crops, not on how seeds developed
[Editor's note: Pamela Ronald is a rice geneticist at the University of California Davis.] Many worthy people objected to the production ...
Berkeley professor Zilberman: No, Michael Pollan, Food Evolution movie is not ‘propaganda’
[Editor's note: David Zilberman is a professor of agriculture and resource economics at the University of California Berkeley.] Food Evolution is a ...
Green Line: Why plant scientists need to talk about climate change impacts on farming
[Editor’s note: Kevin Folta is a molecular biologist and chair of the horticultural sciences department at the University of Florida.] As a molecular ...
EU Health and Food Safety Commissioner: Glyphosate safe but herbicide’s reapproval unsure
The European Union will only extend its approval for the herbicide glyphosate if there is sufficient support from the bloc's ...
Alaskan Sen Murkowski introduces bill to label GMO ‘frankenfish’ salmon that could ‘wreak havoc’
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has introduced new legislation mandating that genetically engineered salmon be so labeled. The Genetically Engineered Salmon ...
China approves import of Syngenta, Monsanto GMO corn but leaves four crop varieties in hiatus
China has approved two more genetically modified (GMO) crops for import, the Ministry of Agriculture said, the second such move ...
Monsanto’s hidden influence? Glyphosate’s future in hands of EPA and the courts
Roundup has revolutionized farming. Now, human health and Bayer’s $66 billion deal for Monsanto depend on an honest appraisal of ...
Opinion: Bloomberg journalists botch another anti-Monsanto article
[Editor's note: Hank Campbell is president of the American Council on Science and Health.] Bloomberg Businessweek has written another anti-Monsanto article.... It's ...
Video: Plant defenses turn caterpillar pests into cannibals
If you’re a hungry caterpillar and you’ve got a choice between eating a plant or another caterpillar, which do you ...
New York organic farm group opposes release of genetically engineered moths to rescue brassica crops
A local farming association is criticizing the U.S. Department of Agriculture for issuing a permit for the world’s first open-air ...
How Berkeley-led academics conspired with anti-GMO groups to attack Food Evolution movie
Emails show the Pesticide Action Network, Center for Food Safety, and Friends of the Earth helped write and promote a ...
Kevin Folta: ‘Berkeley 45’ has opportunity to rethink ‘activist aided’ attack on Food Evolution movie
[Editor’s note: Kevin Folta is a molecular biologist and chair of the horticultural sciences department at the University of Florida.] The release of ...
5 ways the food industry can earn consumer trust for gene-edited foods
[Editor's note: Charlie Arnot is CEO of the Center for Food Integrity.] Trust research from The Center for Food Integrity ...
‘Ebola of plants’: Can gene sequencing save tropical food staple cassava from whitefly-borne virus?
Almost a billion people around the world rely on cassava as a staple food. The root vegetable is a versatile ...
Podcast: Nobel laureates mobilize against Greenpeace to reverse campaign to block vitamin-enhanced Golden Rice
Sir Richard Roberts: Nobel laureates must speak out activists like Greenpeace falsely claim GMOs pose unique health or ecological dangers ...
Viewpoint: Organic industry faces credibility crisis as USDA investigates ‘phony’ imports
Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods, the grocer that brought pricey organic food to the masses, comes during a time of ...
Organic water? Asarasi exploits loophole to get USDA-certified label on bottles
Much like asparagus water and water sommeliers, organic water is giving us pause. Though the concept isn’t new, it’s surprising to see it making ...
Indian agricultural scientist: ‘Gene revolution’ needed to feed growing population
[Editor's note: The following is a Q&A with Vasanth Kumar Thimakapura, an internationally-recognised agriculture scientist and social entrepreneur who runs Green ...
Add Tennessee to list of states restricting dicamba herbicide after drift complaints
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture, facing some 70 suspected dicamba-drift complaints largely in western Tennessee, has issued new rules on ...
Monoculture: Do intensive farming and GMOs really threaten biodiversity?
Many critics claim GMOs increase the practice of monoculture cropping, but is this accurate? Does intensive farming damage our land ...
Milk without cows, eggs without chickens? Synthetic biology could lead to more sustainable food
[Editor's note: The following is a Q&A with Swedish bio-hacker Hannes Sjoblad.] Bio-hacking applies technology in innovative ways to modify biological systems ...
Sen. Pat Roberts: ‘Uncertainty and dysfunction have overtaken’ USDA organic program
The far-reaching difficulty that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has in determining whether imported “organic” food meets standards or is ...
Are your food choices killing you?
Scientists, the media and policymakers often make glib connections between certain foods, nutrition and disease. The links are a lot ...
How ‘pollinator entrepreneurs’ helped stave off ‘beepocalypse’
[Editor's note: Shawn Regan is a research fellow at the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) in Bozeman, Montana.] Despite ...
