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.
Dr. Oz set to respond as more physicians, scientists, journalists call for Columbia to drop “quack” promoter
Dr. Oz plans to strike back at the doctors who wrote a letter (see below) to the Dean of Health Sciences and ...
Biotech activists caught plagiarizing web polemic in journal article challenging GMO safety consensus
Did you ever read something and swear you have read it somewhere else before? It happens to me now and ...
Bill Nye explains switch from ‘Anti-GMO Guy’ back to ‘Science Guy’
Bill Nye caused a bit of drama over his stance on GMOs with the publication of his recent book, Undeniable: ...
Center for Public Integrity says key food industry safety scientists tied to Big Tobacco
A Center for Public Integrity analysis of publicly available data found that Joseph Borzelleca is the most active of a small group of ...
‘Melt’ chocolate gene discovery could lead to medical advances
Scientists have discovered a gene involved in determining the melting point of cocoa butter, a critical attribute of the substance ...
GMO skeptic leery of organic-GMO ‘coexistence’
When Robert Frost first coined his oft-quoted wisdom that “good fences make good neighbors,” he clearly failed to anticipate the ...
Growing demand for organic corn forces US to import
A growing demand for organics, and the near-total reliance by U.S. farmers on genetically modified corn and soybeans, is driving ...
Breeding tastier tomatoes: Are there better options?
Not long ago, I read about a scientist named Harry Klee, who is trying to make the world a better ...
Leaked EU report suggests countries’ right to ban GM animal feed upsetting trading partners in US, Canada
The Genetically Modified (GM) feed debate rumbles on in the EU with a leaked report suggesting that individual countries will ...
Arsenic in your food? Scared? Shouldn’t be, but if so there’s a GMO fix
Arsenic levels are high in rice and rice products, since the rice plants take it up from groundwater. New research ...
FDA uses genome sequencing to combat food-borne illnesses
Last week, two companies issued national recalls of their products due to listeria contamination. For Sabra Dipping Company, which is recalling ...
Monsanto helped cover legal costs of Australian GM lawsuit
Global agribusiness Monsanto contributed to a West Australian farmer's legal costs in a battle over alleged contamination of his neighbour's ...
Proponents, critics of GMOs agree on how to mediate co-existence conflicts in Oregon farming
Disputes over genetically modified crops would be mediated by Oregon farm regulators under legislation that has won support from biotech ...
Have preconceived opinions about big farms? Meet Iowa farmers
Iowa commodity growers are often demonized for what and how they grow, and monocultures and ethanol aren’t exactly healthy for the ...
What do breast milk and narwhal milk have in common? Possible basis for vegan cheese?
Counter Culture Labs takes its name pretty literally. It is a bio lab, for sure, complete with pipettes, carboys, microscopes, and ...
What’s behind knee jerk concerns about glyphosate, GMOs?
The world’s most commonly sprayed herbicide—glyphosate—is currently trapped in a familiar media cycle. The cycle goes something like this: 1) ...
Chinese citizens sue government over its Roundup approval process 27 years ago
Three Chinese citizens are taking China's Ministry of Agriculture to court in a bid to make public a toxicology report ...
Monsanto haters take note: How it plans to protect environment
Monsanto has been called one of the US’s most hated companies (see this, which is credible, and this, which is ...
Gardener alert: Burpee and Buzzy seed companies cashing in on anti-Big Ag hysteria
It's planting season and gardeners are taking to the soil. Alas, two of the country's largest home seed companies are ...
Weighing risks of glyphosate should lead to mindful use not elimination
Late last month, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, an arm of the World Health Organization, issued a report ...
Plant breeding deathmatch: Mutagensis vs transgenesis
Mutations happen at a fairly constant rate and can occur every time a cell divides. Although we tend to think ...
Exposing ‘charlatans’: Why Vani Hari’s days of popularity are waning
I am a friend of Yvette d’Entremont, A.K.A. Science Babe, and I am proud of her. She’s done a great ...
Ag industry fears foreign countries hold ‘veto’ over US-approved GMOs
The barrage of farmer lawsuits against a biotech developer could give foreign buyers more influence over genetically modified crops grown ...
Who’s real shill: Food Babe or #Science14?
I hear it almost every single day. Because I talk or write about science, and promote ideas consistent with the ...
Cultural brokers—environmental groups, prominent journalists—shape public discourse on GMOs
A Zurich-based think tank asks: “Who is influencing the way we think today? Whose ideas are determining ours?” To answer that ...
GMOs could save banana industry but could consumers accept it?
The international banana industry only has itself to blame for its vulnerability to panama disease, and faces annihilation if the ...
GMO distributors can be jailed in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan can jail any person - importers or salespersons – engaged in sale of genetically modified products in the country ...
