Crops & 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.
Restoring tomato flavor: More complicated than finding that perfect taste
Tomatoes are the #1-selling fruit or vegetable in the world today. Yet consumers complain about blandness of supermarket tomatoes and ...
Hypocrisy in the GM debate: What about untested medical supplements?
Why are so many people afraid of 'unregulated' GMOs when 'organic' grocery stores sell medical supplements that aren't regulated at ...
Is it anti-science to be anti-GMOs?
“The science is quite clear: crop improvement by the modern molecular techniques of biotechnology is safe.” So asserts the consensus statement on ...
Grist vs. GM Watch: Is there a middle in the GMO debate?
GM Watch's scathing critique of Nathanael Johnson's efforts to find the middle ground in the GMO debate has not deterred ...
Prominent scientists and journalists in agreement: Golden Rice research should continue
Andrew Revkin weaves together narratives from journalists Amy Harmon and Mark Lynas about the critical need for Golden Rice trials ...
GLP Infographic: International science organizations on crop biotech safety
The web is overflowing with misleading infographics. Here's our own, more accurate list of 10 international science organizations that have ...
Real threat to food security is ginned-up panic over GMOs
There has been a lot of commotion about GMO crops in the press this summer. It amazes me that there ...
Tomatoes ripe for improvement
Science is trying to build a better supermarket tomato. At a laboratory here at the University of Florida’s Institute for Plant ...
Mark Lynas on Philippines travesty: True story about who destroyed Golden Rice GM rice crop
Did you hear that a group of 400 angry farmers attacked and destroyed a field trial of genetically modified rice in the ...
Journal article claiming GMOs might pass “genetic benefits” to weeds challenged
It is well accepted observation that when the pseudoscience or anti-science crowd runs out of supporting evidence (usually when it’s ...
Time to stop fighting GMO labeling?
Familiarity will be a powerful dampener of Unreasoning Fear of GMOs; Perhaps we can nudge familiarity along with a out-and-proud ...
Would Golden Rice save lives in developing countries?
Following the recent destruction of Golden Rice field trials in the Philippines, the New York Times' Amy Harmon narrates the ...
Can GM crops really pass their benefits to weeds?
The ecological dangers of GM crops are a subject of contention, and this article examines recent headlines claiming GM crops ...
EU group claiming “hidden GMO” sunflowers killing bees
New alert in Italy, were bees are dying on sunflower crops. Multiple cases of honeybee colony decline and neurological symptoms ...
U.S. farm, food groups want better oversight of GMO field trials
More than 150 U.S. farm and food businesses and organizations on Wednesday called for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ...
Greater Spokane Inc. comes out against Washington’s GMO labeling initiative
Later this year, Washington will vote on whether to label genetically modified foods, or GMOs, and the debate is starting to ...
More critics up against Kenya’s GMO imports ban
A senior US trade specialist has called on Kenya to lift its import ban on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) imports, saying it ...
Regulation gaps a double-edged sword for GM foods
Scientists and entrepreneurs have found some gaps in regulatory pathways that allow them to get their GM products to market ...
Believe it or not, GM was once considered Green tech
Until the German Green Party's politics got involved, GM was seen as a revolutionary success among of the "Green" movement ...
Scientific American: Labels for GMO foods are a bad idea
In response to pending GMO-label legislation around the country, Scientific American has denounced the mandatory labeling of GM food ...
Unscrambling the genetics of the chicken’s ‘blue’ egg
They are the latest foodie fashion and look set to become big business in the baking aisles of all the ...
GMOs and the “reverse halo effect”: Trust is key to dispelling consumer fear
The “reverse halo effect”: once something is labeled GM, it will be perceived as unnatural, therefore bad ...
Using the tools of biotechnology to advance Dr. Norman Borlaug’s legacy
Three weeks ago I was travelling in central Kenya, meeting smallholder farmers who were growing improved bananas using the tools ...
Study finds no more genetically modified wheat in Oregon supply
A study by Washington State University has found no additional sign of the genetically modified wheat discovered at one Oregon ...
Scientists help deliver genetic one-two blow to deadly wheat disease
A new gene that will equip wheat plants to resist the deadly stem rust disease has been discovered by an ...
New biotech alfalfas aim to improve feeding efficiency
The petition to deregulate the second biotech alfalfa drew sparse public comment. Not unexpectedly, it drew far more anti-biotech responses ...
Grist: Extremism in defense of GMOs is holding back science
Setting phasers to "utter destruction" is not the best approach to constructive criticism in GMO science ...
