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.
‘We now have tabloid science’: Activists use journals to push anti-GMO agenda
Recently a number of academics and activists sworn against biotech crops published an opinion that was accepted as fact. A ...
Will next generation of herbicide-resistant crops cause more problems?
The latest in a new generation of genetically engineered crops is poised to enter widespread use—and critics think they'll cause ...
India needs GMOs to be sustainable and resilient to climate change
The popular backlash to genetically modified crops ignores the fact that the ability to add value to agricultural produce is ...
Anti-GMO group Earthjustice offers to represent Hawaii County in suit despite conflict of interest
Attorneys representing groups suing Hawaii County over its restrictions on genetically modified crops want the county to defend itself without ...
Consumers should consider GMOs on case-by-case basis
Public awareness about bio-engineering is creating concern, confusion and fear, when such technology produces higher crop yields and helps the ...
Toxic warning alert: Food Babe’s new book full of chemicals
Vani Hari, aka the Food Babe Babe, is launching her new book The Food Babe Way, in just a few short ...
India stalls trials of genetically modified mustard
The pull of a technology that boosts mustard yield by between a fifth and a third should have been as ...
Money talks: Some farmers go non-GMO because of price premiums, not rejection of biotech
A small but growing number of Midwestern farmers in the United States are moving away from biotech seeds, drawn by the premium price non-GMO crops ...
Korea expands GMO labeling requirements
In the future, companies that use genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, as ingredients in their products will have to label ...
EU to consider new channels for scientific advice
There have been hesitant celebrations from scientists following the announcement that the European Commission has kick-started the process of establishing ...
Modern genetics (not necessarily GMOs) can help spur next Green Revolution
The green revolution transformed global agriculture. Through selective breeding, Norman Borlaug, an American biologist, created a dwarf variety of wheat ...
Greenpeace, activist groups call on tight regulation of new genetic engineering methods
In a joint open letter to the European Commission, eight farmers', environmental and food safety organisations demand that products derived ...
DNA sequencing of 100 melon varieties could lead to improved taste, shelf life
Smart new combinations of state-of-the-art molecular techniques mean that breeding programmes can be accelerated dramatically: it may soon take only ...
Food Babe gets science lesson from University of Florida’s Kevin Folta
In January, a group of food science graduate students wrote an open letter to Vani Hari, aka Food Babe, on ...
Harvard’s George Church: ‘Gene leakage research will blunt anti-GMO activist scares’
Since the 1970s we've been ushering in the next era of breeding by physically lifting individual genes from one species ...
How activists, sloppy reporters turned genetic firewall story into hysteria-gram on GMO dangers
In the hands of activists and sloppy reporters, breakthrough research on setting genetic 'kill switches' to prevent synthetic genes from ...
India introducing new GM crops
The pro-technology Modi government is desperate to introduce genetically modified (GM) crops. It is now holding closed-door meetings with the ...
“No consensus on GMO safety”? University of Florida’s Kevin Folta claims activist scientists spin facts
The world's esteemed scientific organizations have made bold statements regarding the scientific consensus on transgenic crops. The National Academies of ...
India surpasses China in GMO hectacres grown
Are genetically-modified crops on course to being the future of food despite the opposition? Evidence suggests they may well be, ...
Does Monsanto deserve reputation as an “evil” company?
Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, have caused increasing controversy in recent years with various experts and non-experts alike weighing in ...
Public skepticism on GMOs, climate change reflect misunderstandings of risk
The Pew Research Center released their annual Science and Society report (PDF), where they asked over 2,000 members of the ...
Former Greenpeace UK bucks NGOs opposition to GM crops, endorses some GMOs
One month after taking office, the Juncker Commission reached an agreement with the European Council and the European Parliament on ...
Pew fumbles survey on science literacy, overstates public opposition to GMOs
So here’s a follow-up on “grading of Pew's public attitudes toward science report”--& why I awarded it a “C-” in promoting ...
Call for action: It’s time to March Against the March Against Monsanto
March Against Monsanto has evolved into a cultural event symbolizing the most strident and scientifically questionable side of the anti-technology ...
New York Times’ writer addresses GMO labeling issue, leaves out the science
There are few industry debates as heated these days as the one about labeling foods that contain genetically modified ingredients ...
IBM, Mars collaborate to figure out what makes food safe
Is your food safe? Protecting the global food supply is a monumental public health challenge. In the U.S. alone, one ...
China’s GM crop production drops in 2014 amid safety concerns
China's genetically modified (GM) crop planting areas declined in 2014 amid heated discussions over safety concerns, a study revealed on ...
