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.
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Food Fight: Anti-GMO Friends of the Earth attacks study on deceptively marketed organic foods
This article was written by Kari Hamerschlag, a former Latin studies major, who now works for the anti-GMO advocacy organization Friends ...
Crops deliver less nutrition with more carbon dioxide in air, biofortification in GE crops can help
Feeding everybody in the world has always been a challenge. Feeding them well just got even tougher. Some of the ...
Big Food needs to get behind GMO labeling standard to prevent ‘hodgepodge’ of state bills
Tiny Vermont is on the verge of giving Big Food a huge headache. Late last month, the Vermont legislature passed ...
Why the love for new technology in gadgets but not new technology in farming?
Thinking about the March Against Monsanto, what do people do to vent their frustrations at corporations like this one? They ...
Do Michael Pollan’s criticisms of GMOs make science sense? (Answer: No)
Michael Pollan, a UC-Berkeley journalism professor, activist, author, and journalist, is often portrayed as a civil debater who can fairly argue ...
GMO critic NY Times foodie Mark Bittman says dangers of crop biotechnology “overrated”
In a reversal, New York Times food writer, Mark Bittman--a frequent critic--says the dangers of GMOs is exaggerated. He contends ...
Nigeria needs to adopt latest technology in farming to achieve food sufficiency by 2015
The advice was that Nigerian should learn to key into world best practices by adopting the latest technology if they ...
Video: Inside Vermont’s GMO labeling controversy
Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin is expected to sign a bill on Thursday mandating the labeling of genetically modified foods. That ...
Renewed push to suspend agreement prohibiting GM crop production in Nicoya, Costa Rica
The Federation of Guanacaste Municipalities (FEMUGA – Federación de Municipalidades de Guanacaste) has requested that Nicoya’s Municipal Council suspend the ...
Vermont’s GMO labeling bill is a “mess”
Before most legislatures built in their own capacity for doing deep analyses of bills before they’re passed, we used to ...
Video: Ohio tenth grader’s anti-GMO mini-doc wins C-Span award
Most people looking for answers about genetically modified organisms will simply take to the Internet. Andrew Demeter, a 10th grade student at Notre ...
Food industry should support and help guide GM labeling law to diffuse debate
Food production is a complicated, messy system. Labeling is easy to call for, but hard to actually work out. But the ...
Indian farmer suicides: Compelling media narrative with no basis
In his Collide-a-Scape column, Keith Kloor quotes from The Economist’s Demography and Development blog, several months ago: Facts can be stubborn – and ...
Consumers Union claims ideology not issue, cites “safety and economic concerns” for proposed GMO ban in Jackson, Oregon
The Mail Tribune urges readers, in their April 27 editorial, to "Believe science, not ideology, in GMO debate." Consumers Union, ...
African farmers need to be involved in biotechnology debate
African agricultural biotechnology experts say involving farmers in the biotechnology debate will encourage them to make informed choices and give ...
Can Vermont’s GMO labeling bill stand up to legal challenge?
Vermont’s GMO labeling bill is expected to be challenged in the courts soon after it is signed by the Governor. The two biggest ...
Breeding heat-resistant livestock for a post-warming world: A worthy endeavor?
Evan Halper at the LA Times chronicles efforts to breed livestock that can endure a warming world ... but should ...
Black Swan author’s paper on precautionary GM food risks indulges in “fear mongering”
Recently, a paper on the precautionary principle in relation to genetically modified foods has been making rounds in the anti-GMO social media ...
Mass General pediatrics chief says glyphosate, used with some GM crops, no danger in breast milk
Contributor Dr. Ron Kleinman, physician in chief from MassGeneral Hospital for Children, opines on the safety of Glyphosate in human ...
Union of Concerned Scientists blames GMOs for ‘superweeds’ but issue more complex
Genetically modified crops have been blamed for the superweeds problem, but in truth, the use of herbicides in monocultural practices ...
Milestone reached: 4 billionth acre of biotech crops planted globally
It’s no small number - four billion acres of biotech crops have now been planted globally. The impressive mark was met and ...
Los Angeles Times editorial: California GMO labeling bill promotes “scare campaign”
The scientific evidence on genetically engineered food, which has been around for two decades, indicates that it is as safe ...
eBook Lowdown on GMOs: What it’s like not to know anything about GMOs
This article is adapted from the chapter “On What It’s Like Not To Know Squat about GMOs” from the ebook ...
No right to deprive someone of safety tested, life-saving, vitamin-enhanced Golden Rice
The blind girl lurched toward me across the parking lot at Tirta Empul temple, mewling. A whitish haze coated her eyes, ...
Monsanto using biotech methods to speed up traditional breeding
Say the term “genetically modified organism,” or GMO, and you’re bound to get some strong opinions. But what is it? And should ...
GMO labeling would jack prices and costs with farmers and food producers hit worst
Even though labeling food with genetically modified ingredients is creating a distinction without a difference, the costs would be real ...
Plant geneticist Paul Gepts says polarized GM discussion endangers innovation
Whether you call them transgenic, genetically engineered or GMO crops, the fever-pitched debate about Monsanto misses the bigger picture by ...
