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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GMO papaya saved an $11 million industry in Hawaii—and set off a political storm
It started with rotting flesh. ... It was a sign of trouble for hundreds of Hawaiian papaya farmers who, for the next several ...
Infographic: Vermont’s twisted GMO labeling logic
Although the prospect for on-product labeling of genetically engineered foods in the United States have dimmed, critics of biotechnology continue ...
How GMOs help farmers achieve more sustainable ‘conservation agriculture’
[Editor's note:Â Michelle Miller, the Farm Babe, is an Iowa-based farmer, public speaker and writer, who grows row crops, and raises ...
Why one scientist refuses to buy organic foods
Many consumers opt for organic food thinking it is healthier and is grown more sustainably. One plant scientist challenges the ...
Foodie Michael Pollan and 45 researchers dismiss Food Evolution doc as ‘a piece of propaganda’
[Editor's note: The following is part of a letter signed by 45 academics including University of California-Berkeley professor Michael Pollan, ...
Opinion: Food patents immoral? Anti-GMO argument isn’t based on logic or science
[Editor's note: "Fallacy Man" is the pseudonym for a PhD biology student who blogs at The Logic of Science.] ["It’s morally wrong ...
Infographic: Twisted GMO labeling logic
Although the prospect for on-product labeling of genetically engineered foods in the United States have dimmed, critics of biotechnology continue ...
NY Times on Food Evolution movie: ‘In a world desperate for safe, sustainable food, GMOs may well be a force for good’
The scientific method is under siege, and not just from naysayers who dismiss climate change or fear vaccines. G.M.O.s — ...
Honey bees could be shielded by probiotics from toxic effects of pesticide exposure, study finds
In a new study from Lawson Health Research Institute and Western University, researchers have shown that probiotics can potentially protect ...
Marion Nestle: ‘GMO propaganda’ film Food Evolution quoted me ‘out of context’
[Editor's note:Â Marion Nestle is a professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University. She is featured ...
Opinion: Activists—not biotech companies—responsible for public backlash against GMOs
Biotech companies like Monsanto are often blamed for not doing enough to combat consumer skepticism of GM foods. But anti-GMO ...
Open-source seeds: Breeders release tomato, wheat strains that aren’t allowed to be patented
There's open-source software, open-source pharma research, and open-source beer. Now, there are open-source seeds, too. Breeders from Göttingen University in ...
Sustainable farming debate: Food choice has greater impact on environment than how it’s grown
[Editor's note: Michael Clark is a PhD student in natural resources science and management at the University of Minnesota. David Tilman ...
Do GM crop regulatory delays, trade disputes threaten global food security?
[Editor's note:Â Stuart Smyth is a professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Saskatchewan.] Genetically ...
Brazil’s approval of GM sugarcane sets off debate over country’s biodiversity
A genetically modified (GM) cane variety that can kill the sugarcane borer (Diatraea saccharalis) has been approved in Brazil, Â to ...
Talking Biotech: Anti-GMO activists say Food Evolution is an ‘agrichemical conspiracy’—Who’s behind the documentary?
Scott Hamilton Kennedy, director of Food Evolution, addresses baseless claims that new GMO documentary is "Monsanto propaganda" ...
Report: Australia’s GM canola, cotton have been boon for farmers, environment
Genetically Modified (GM) crops have generated significant environmental improvements over the past 20 years in Australia and 25 other countries ...
Environmental Defense Fund: Sustainable farming, feeding growing population require biotechnology
It is critical that humanity meet the food needs of a growing population and relieve the increasing pressures on natural ...
CRISPR-edited algae with high biofuel yield created by ExxonMobil, Craig Venter’s Synthetic Genomics
La Jolla [California’s] Synthetic Genomics and oil giant ExxonMobil say they have created an oil-rich strain of algae that represents ...
US will fight ‘non-science-based’ overseas regulations that restrict GMO exports, says trade representative
The Trump administration will attack overseas regulations that restrict the export of GMO crops and other products resulting from American technological ...
Proposed US rules on gene-edited crops, animals could hamper technology’s potential
US regulatory agencies have proposed guidelines and draft regulations that suggest they may subject gene-edited crops and livestock to the ...
‘Billion-dollar pest’: EPA approves first ‘gene-silenced’ insect-resistant RNAi crops
EPA recently registered four products containing a new and innovative plant-incorporated protectant (PIP) called SMARTSTAX PRO that will help U.S ...
Pro-GMO vegans? Online community champions biotechnology, science literacy
[Andrea]Â Palmieri, who now leads the March Against Myths, is a bit of a contradiction. In fact, she was once told ...
‘Food Evolution’ movie could mark turning point in public GMO discussion
Food Evolution, a documentary about the GMO debate, brings pro-science perspectives into the mainstream and casts a harsh light on ...
Opinion: Celebrities, environmental activist groups should stop shaming parents into avoiding GMOs
The Environmental Media Association has teamed up with the organic dairy farm Clover Sonoma to celebrate Dairy Month in an ...
Better tasting cantaloupe: Wal-Mart teams with Bayer to breed hardier fruit
Wal-Mart says it typically sells 10 times more cantaloupes in June, when it can buy from U.S. farms, than it ...
Organic industry-funded anti-GMO group US Right to Know calls Food Evolution film ‘chemical industry propaganda’
[Editor's note: Stacy Malkan is co-director of USÂ Right to Know. Read the GLP's profile of USRTK here.] Some industry messaging ...
