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.
Mark Lynas on his “conversion” and his dedication to helping poor farmers
Mohammed Rahman doesn’t know it yet, but his small farm in central Bangladesh is globally significant. Mr. Rahman’s pest-resistant eggplant ...
Daily Show Jeffrey Smith smackdown: “I purposefully play dumb” on GMOs
Any doubt that the liberal intelligentsia's former monolithic rejection of GMO foods is cracking, and fast, were dispelled this week ...
Advocacy group sells glyphosate test for water, urine or breast milk
An advocacy group seeking a ban on the world's most widely used herbicide said Wednesday it is launching a U.S ...
Fracking boom opens door to breed biotech bacteria for fish feed
Something called Methylococcus capsulatus might not sound an appetising ingredient for a meal. Methylococcus is a methanotroph, a bacterium that metabolises ...
Bees may become ‘addicted’ to neonics
Bees may become addicted to nicotine-like pesticides in the same way humans get hooked on cigarettes, according to a new ...
Global trade deals could pry open EU market for GM crops
President Obama and his Senate GOP critics are locked in a long-simmering feud, but there's one topic that has them ...
Chemophobia cast shadow over Earth Day
This year was the 45th anniversary of the first Earth Day. Founded by then-U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-Wisconsin), it was held in ...
Discovery of naturally transgenic sweet potato poses conundrum: Will it be labelled or banned?
The discovery of transfer DNA (T-DNA) in sweet potato indicates horizontal transfer of genetic material from bacterium to plant. The ...
“Dr. Oz stands up for First Amendment right to promote false health claims”
In case you haven't been keeping up with Dr. Mehmet Oz since he won a spot in America's heart by ...
Neil Young really, really hates Monsanto
Neil Young really, really hates Monsanto. Last fall, the legendary musician called on fans to boycott Starbucks because it sided ...
DuPont acquires microbiome company, plans release of ‘natural’ pest solutions
DuPont is buying a California-based microbiome discovery company, Taxon Biosciences Inc., for development of biological crop products, a move that the ...
Despite concerns about neonic pesticides, farmers still prefer them
Neonicotinoid insecticide seed treatments, which cost extra and have come under attack on multiple fronts in the past year, might ...
Coffee: Guilty pleasure or life saving elixir?
Coffee is ubiquitous, grown in more than 70 countries. But it's also a drug, with caffeine as the primary psychoactive ...
Fear of ‘foreign’ genes in GMOs? Turns out Nature produces transgenic sweet potatoes
One of the most frequently mentioned issues with GMO foods is a vague concern about bringing genes from distantly related ...
With organic sales booming, proponents aim to recruit more farmers to reduce reliance on foreign imports
While consumer demand for organic is booming, the supply of organic ingredients and agricultural products, particularly grains and animal feed, ...
EU to approve import of 17 GM foods as part of trade deal
Seventeen new genetically modified food products will be authorised for import to Europe before the end of May in a ...
Despite safety record, glyphosate fears may prompt EPA to test for residue
U.S. regulators may start testing food products for residues of the world's most widely used herbicide, the Environmental Protection Agency ...
‘Integrative medicine’ doctor defends Dr. Oz, claims Monsanto orchestrating protests
It has been a tempestuous week in the land of Dr. Oz. On close inspection, though, the source of these ...
Synthetic biology threatens to displace African vanilla, stevia in global market
An ongoing expansion of an extreme form of genetic engineering threatens to deny Africa its share of the global market ...
“The Triumph of Seeds” tells how seeds and farming shaped human history
That spark of dormant life may be hidden and hard to measure, but mother plants will do almost anything to protect ...
Let’s not exaggerate concerns about organic farming
Many people in my ‘tribe’ (people who support appropriate use of GMOs and pesticides in agriculture), get really upset when ...
More trouble in Oz: Wikileaks reveal beleaguered doc promotes products based on ‘business synergy’
Last week, WikiLeaks released a series of emails sent between Dr. Oz, his staff, and executives at Sony (one of ...
Food safety shouldn’t be defined by activists; GMOs are proven safe
There is little doubt consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about provenance issues regarding the food they consume and whether that ...
Video: What are GMOs and are they safe?
In a recent Pew poll, 88 percent of AAAS scientists said that genetically engineered crops were safe to eat. In contrast, only ...
Why farmers buy (OMG!) GMO seeds from (WTF) ‘evil’ corporations
Each spring, farmers get to choose which seeds to buy. No, they are not trapped into buying genetically modified seeds ...
Dr. Oz complaint letter may backfire, undermining efforts to expose his ‘fear mongering’
Recently I wrote about a letter sent to Lee Goldman, MD, the Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine ...
Worried about eating a bacon burger? That’s orthorexia–Misplaced obsessions of the affluent
It’s become very fashionable to get overly focused and concerned over the food choices we have. Guess what: That's as ...
