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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Addressing belief that organic farming uses fewer/less harmful ‘natural’ pesticides
Go shopping in any large supermarket in a Western country and you are likely to find yourself bombarded with enticements ...
Social benefits of biotech crops
Ask any sugarbeet grower in the US how their lives have changed since the commercialization of Roundup Ready beets. Really ...
Ex FDA official analyzes industry draft GMO labeling and ‘natural’ proposal
It might have enraged those in favor of mandatory GMO labeling, but a leaked document outlining the Grocery Manufacturers Association’s ...
Weighing the plusses and minuses of GMO labeling
The most visible and contentious debate in our food supply is undoubtedly over labeling of genetically modified organisms. In the ...
Kenya to lift ban, commercialize GMOs
Kenyan Education, Science and Technology Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi has revealed plans by the government to lift a ban on Genetically ...
Are consumer perceptions of biotech crops changing?
A new report from researchers at the University of Florida suggests that the public's perception of biotech crops could be ...
State of the planet: GMOs not just about crops
While much attention is focused on genetically modified foods and the debate over their safety, fewer people are aware that many ...
China cloning on an ‘industrial scale’
Fast-growing Chinese company BGI is not only the world's largest center for gene sequencing, it's also the world's largest center for cloning ...
Biotech crop opponents slowing federal approval
The opposition to biotech crops is slowing the approval by U.S. regulators of new genetically modified products that is hurting ...
Hostility to GM putting EU in ‘global slow lane’
The growing influence of green lobbyists and anti-capitalists on European policymaking is condemning the EU the ‘global slow lane’ when ...
Nathanael Johnson lets the anti-GMO movement off the hook
Grist columnist Nathanael Johnson recently completed a 26 part series on GMOs by seemingly letting the anti-GMO movement off the ...
Ethics debate intensifies over retraction of flawed Séralini GMO rat study
While the mainstream science community has backed the decision by a prominent journal to withdraw and expunge from the records ...
Pro and Anti GMO forces spar in Hawaii
State Senator Russell Ruderman used his own company’s letterhead when he submitted anti-GMO testimony recently to the Hawaii County Council ...
Deadly bacteria could put an end to Florida orange juice
For years, Florida orange farmers have been fighting an incurable bacterial infection that threatens the very existence of the state's ...
The GMO ‘Population and Prosperity Paradox’: Can biotechnology help meet the growing global food challenge?
Using the innovative tools of biotechnology, scientists are able to genetically engineer crops with traits that can address the challenges ...
FDA rebuffs activist pressure to define ‘natural’ label
For years, activists have been pressuring the FDA to define exactly which foods it considers to be "natural," but a ...
Organic farmer deconstructs ‘the scientist’ vs. ‘the activist’ in Don Huber’s talks
Who is Don Huber and why is he making claims about 'dangerous pathogens' linked to GMOs and glyphosate--without any hard ...
China’s ‘father’ of conventional hybrid rice says ‘GM is the future’
China's "father of hybrid rice," Yuan Longping, says he is working with researchers on rice that has been genetically modified ...
New technique to trace GMOs in food but not ready for prime time
As more governments across the globe start requiring food producers to label products containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or even ...
Crucifying Amy Harmon: What happens when good journalists challenge anti-GMO orthodoxy
Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist Amy Harmon recently wrote another excellent, nuanced piece of science journalism when she explored one ...
Are farmers forced to adopt GM seeds?
In the ever-growing debate about genetically modified seeds and the crops that come from them, misinformation too often distorts the ...
SCOTUS rejects activist appeal to restrict Monsanto’s biotech seed patents
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal from a coalition of 73 organic and conventional farmers, small seed companies and ...
Kaua’i to use pro-bono attorneys to fight industry GMO suit
Kauai County will be taking law firms up on their offers for free legal help defending an ordinance regulating the ...
Syngenta awaits China’s approval for gene-modified corn
Syngenta is waiting for China to approve a strain of gene-modified corn present in several U.S. cargoes turned away from Chinese ports in ...
GMO labeling: bad for business, bad for consumers
When you go to the grocery store, you look for foods your family needs and likes, and, if you’re like ...
Seed companies sue to invalidate Kauai Bill 2491
Pioneer, Syngenta and Agrigenetics (DOW) are asking a federal judge to invalidate Kauai County's pesticide-GMO disclosure law and prevent its ...
Expanded research puts global food security on horizon
Scientists and food experts have high hopes in achieving global food security as the Cinsultatvie Group on Internnational Agricultural Research ...
