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.
Friends of the Earth ‘investigation’ of GMO science supporters dismissed as “contrived”
Like a previous report from food activist Michele Simon a few years ago (Best PR Money Can Buy) the Alliance for ...
Upgrading photosynthesis through genetic engineering
The amount of land dedicated to farming is shrinking, the world's crop productivity is stagnating, and the population is still ...
Can a skeptical public be persuaded to embrace GMO foods? Yes, if we want sustainable agriculture
When it comes to the basics of life such as food and energy, eco-romanticism abounds. It has become a mark ...
False alarms raised by groups demanding stricter GMO regulations
There have been calls recently from predictable sources demanding “tougher regulations for genetically engineered (GE) crops under the federal Plant ...
CropLife says IARC “hazard” herbicides classifications confuse regulators and consumers, distort science
In March, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization (WHO), ...
Indian farmer suicide more closely linked to small farm size and rain reliance than GMO cotton
An interesting new paper (Gutierrez 2015 cited below) discusses the way in which rain-fed cotton could be managed in India ...
IARC evaluation of herbicides glyphosate and 2,4-D ‘flawed’ and ‘redundant’
In March I wrote about the travesty of the International Agency on Research in Cancer’s four-day review of glyphosate (the ...
Why are bees hurting? A lineup of suspects
In my last piece I made the case that the rumors of honeybee extinction have been greatly exaggerated, but honeybees ...
Failed GMO wheat trial only fits anti-GMO narrative if you don’t understand science
Back in 2012, a group of clueless protesters tried to disrupt a trial of genetically-modified wheat, which was taking place ...
Genetics and selective breeding create better blueberry
At the Flavors of Florida — a cornucopia of science-enhanced produce, seafood and meat recently held at the University of ...
Ecomodernist Manifesto: Technology based agriculture more sustainable than ‘green’ myths
The Ecomodernist Manifesto, a short but brilliant essay published online recently by 18 prominent greens, gets sustainability right at last. Until ...
Wrong to discredit herbicide-resistant GMOs with C-word
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved for use in 15 states a new product called Enlist Duo, which is ...
Indian scientists avoid GMO regulations through gene editing
With their ambitious plans to undertake genetic modification of crops failing to take off as the debate on the suitability ...
Farmers net more profits growing GMOs globally, particularly in developing world
In the PLOS Biology article "A Meta-Analysis of the Impacts of Genetically Modified Crops," researchers used data from 147 separate ...
Consumer Reports president: GMO labeling ‘makes common sense’
Everyone deserves to know what's in their food so they can make informed decisions about what to feed themselves and ...
IARC’s designates herbicide 2,4-D ‘possibly carcinogenic’ but no data suggesting carcinogenicity
A near kin to the GMO controversies that ITIF deconstructed earlier this year in a comprehensive guide for policymakers is ...
Why the bee crisis isn’t as bad as you think (but still matters)
There’s a note of evangelical glee in some of the predictions of bee extinction. Vanishing bees are a sign of the end ...
Greenpeace Australia’s tax status challenged after unlawful destruction of GM wheat trial
Greenpeace's unlawful protest and destruction of Genetically Modified (GM) crop trials at CSIRO facilities in Canberra in 2011 are a key ...
Media should view GM wheat trial as ‘success,’ not ‘failure’
Back in 2012, the activist group Take the Flour Back was settled on destroying a science experiment. The trial was ...
Talking Biotech: Neal Carter on non-browing Arctic Apple; Jonathan Wendel on DNA of cotton
Arctic Apple: Neal Carter; Genetic origin of cotton: Jonathan Wendel ...
Plant-breeding solutions such as gene editing could aid California drought
As California farmers grapple with the fourth year of the drought, seed tech giants Monsanto and DuPont's Pioneer are focusing ...
GM safflower oil byproduct approved as livestock feed
Arcadia Biosciences Inc. said Tuesday it has won approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell a byproduct ...
How will farmers keep up with growing demand for ‘antibiotic-free’ and ‘cage-free’ animal products?
Though Chipotle Mexican Grill started as a big-as-your-head burrito chain, today its media coverage usually focuses its "morals" rather than ...
Monsanto eyes Bayer’s crop chemical division as option if Syngenta merger fails
More than nine weeks after Monsanto Co. offered to buy Syngenta AG for $45 billion, the U.S. maker of seeds ...
Florida newspaper case story: How anti-GMO politics masquerades as journalism
It is dangerous to scream fire in a crowded theater, when no fire is present. So why would the Naples ...
Unique GM wheat that repels pests naturally by giving off odor worked in lab, failed in tests
A strain of genetically modified wheat developed in the UK has failed to repel pests as intended in field trials. In ...
GMO ‘Right to Know’ movement takes food off of plates of hungry in Africa, Asia
Unsubstantiated fears about the safety of GM crops in developed countries with an over-abundance of food has spread anti-biotech sentiment ...
