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.
Below is the complete archive of related articles sorted by date.
Kevin Folta: When science literacy threatens anti-GMO activist beliefs, they attack teachers
You'd swear by the hate-filled rhetoric that I just threw a pillowcase of kittens into a wood chipper. Activists everywhere delight ...
Neil Young embraces GMOs to prolong his life, but tries to block benefits for others
Neil Young: Grammy-award winning musician and GMO-hater? That’s the clear message from Young’s latest album, released earlier this summer. “The Monsanto Years,” ...
Surveys show scientifically literate less likely to fear GMOs
The debate over GMO safety has come to Congress. Americans’ concerns about GM foods are providing the backdrop: A majority of ...
Beemageddon? Honeybee numbers at 20 year high
You've heard the news about honeybees. "Beepocalypse," they've called it. Beemageddon. America's honeybees are dying, putting honey production and $15 billion worth ...
Anti-GMO activists’ attacks on scientists echo Soviet persecution of geneticists
After the "Ask Me Anything" discussion on August 8, 2015, it's clear the recent actions by US Right to Know and activist groups ...
Opponents of Bt brinjal in Bangladesh employ false media reports and scare tactics
Media reports are claiming that Bt brinjal (eggplant) has failed in the field and that farmers in Bangladesh are regretting growing it ...
Scotland banning GMOs over objections of Scottish farmers
Scotland is to ban the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) produce, the country's rural ministry has announced. Rural affairs secretary Richard ...
Industry-University GMO relationship: Complicated reality exploited by activists
Concern over ties between academia and industry is legitimate, but often overblown, and can be used to justify witch hunts. There is the ...
Kevin Folta discusses “ties” to GMO industry, challenges of biotech literacy communication
Independent agricultural scientist Kevin Folta responded to questions raised about his relationship to the biotechnology industry, as the first wave ...
Most people want government experts, not public opinion, to decide GMO labeling
I wanted to draw your attention to an aspect of the GMO labeling debate that you don't hear a lot about ...
Generic GMO soy opens lower cost market and could be boon for academic researchers
Monsanto's Roundup Ready seeds increased farmer's yields, but came with a caveat. Because their pesticide resistance genes were patented, farmers had ...
GMO white sea cucumbers could make costly Chinese delicacy affordable
Sea cucumbers, sluglike creatures that hug the seafloor, have long been a prized delicacy at Chinese banquets, the mark of ...
Anti-GMO critics could use lesson in critical thinking
The debate over GMOs is a case study in critical thinking. By exploring the errors in fact and thinking circulated by ...
Can “lab-grown” meat end animal cruelty and promote sustainability?
If we know too much about that juicy steak we might not want to eat it anymore. A lot of ...
Kevin Folta responds to questions about funding of his biotech outreach efforts
In addition to my job as a researcher and a department chair, I run the Talking Biotech science communication program designed to help ...
Strawberries, threatened by disease, look to pesticide-avoiding genetic solution
Delectable strawberries are highly sought after — and not just by humans. Rodents, insects, fungi and bacteria all like to pig ...
How does synthetic biology, including genetic engineering, work?
Nature has always been the world's best engineer. That’s because there’s always been a divide between technology — the inanimate stuff ...
GMO chicken could solve avian flu crisis, saving millions of birds, if only if….
The solution to avian flu, the virus responsible for the devastating eradication of chicken and turkey flocks across much of ...
GMOs are a touchy subject at the dinner table. Is thoughtful debate possible?
The subject of GMOs can whip pleasant dinner conversation into an ugly froth. It’s a complicated issue, produced with complicated science. Worse, many ...
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow lectures Congress on science and safety of GMOs
Gwyneth Paltrow lent a touch of Hollywood glamor Wednesday to a campaign against legislation that would prevent the labelling of ...
Celebrity GMO critic Food Babe pitches products with ingredient she demonizes
While “Food Babe” Vani Hari’s pseudoscience has been widely debunked by qualified doctors and scientists, a more sobering fact seems ...
Boston Globe Editorial: GMO state labeling bills misguided, exaggerates illogical fears of food and Big Ag
Congress created mandatory nationwide food labels, and it is Congress that has a responsibility to ensure they don't stray from ...
3 ways GMO rice could improve world but tech hurdles and anti-GMO protests block way
New GMO varieties of rice could improve nutrition, cut potentially dangerous arsenic levels and help combat climate change, but activist ...
Golden rice paper retracted over ethical concerns, not quality of science
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article from the Retraction Watch website: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition is retracting a paper that ...
Farmers need better communication with public on GMO issues
Farmers and ranchers are honest men and women who have been known to seal a deal just with a handshake ...
Opinions on GMO labeling cross partisan divide—for now
Unlike issues such as gun control or universal healthcare that fall neatly into "Red" and "Blue" territories, divisions over GMO ...
