Food & Ag Features
The GLP explores the role of genetic engineering in food production and the polarized debate surrounding it. We highlight the work of our own writers, as well as that of contributors from around the Web. The GLP does not take a position on genetics-related issues; any opinions expressed belong to the authors.
Categories include:
- Chemicals and pesticides
- Organics
- Conventional crops
- New breeding technologies
- Animal biotechnology
- Food systems
- Sustainability
- Regulations
- Politics
- Ideology
Confessions of Boulder, Colorado liberal: Why I opposed GMO ‘right to know’ bill
One Colorado resident reviews the evidence and changed her mind on various proposals for the mandatory labeling of GMOs ...
Sorry Dr. Oz and Jenny McCarthy: More scientific proof vaccines, GMOs don’t cause autism
Despite the loud voices of disinformation, the scientific community has overwhelmingly agreed that there is no causal link between vaccines ...
GLP Infographic: All GMO research is industry funded? Biofortified analysis sets record straight
One of the most common criticisms of GMOs is that 'almost all the research is industry funded' and therefore cannot ...
Food scientist Bruce Chassy: Although some GMO sympathizers embrace labeling, it’s a disaster in waiting
A number of prominent journalists, who report fairly and objectively about GMO foods, are urging food and seed companies to ...
Could Congress finally end the GMO labeling war?
Is the tide shifting on the state-by-state approach by anti-GMO activists to impose the labeling of genetically modified foods? ...
Vandana Shiva: ‘Ambassador of famine’?
Vandana Shiva, the globally known Indian anti-GMO activist, positions herself as a seer guiding us away from the evils of ...
Do you buy ‘gluten free’ products? Real chance they have gluten in it
New research suggests that that most people who claim a gluten sensitivity are being swept up in what amounts to ...
Spray-on DNA bar codes help trace food-borne illnesses
If farms sprayed their unique DNA signature on foods, the source of contamination in food born outbreaks could be identified ...
Why don’t more farmers adopt organic methods? Ethics.
Organic food has quietly become a Big Ag juggernaut. Everyone talks aboutvideo games and the film industry, for example, but ...
Ben & Jerry’s dilemma: Should the concern be GMOs or artery clogging treats?
Ben & Jerry's has taken the lead among self-proclaimed 'socially responsible' firms in criticizing GMOs and attempting to remove any ...
After Kevin Folta challenge, South Florida Science Center invites real scientist to GMO debate
The chair of the University of Florida Horticultural Studies Department publicly called out the South Florida Science Center for sponsoring ...
Kevin Folta takes on South Florida Science Centers’ promotion of anti-science GMO ‘nonsense’
Over the past few weeks, the South Florida Science Center and Aquarium of West Palm Beach has been eagerly promoting a Thursday, ...
McDonald’s mulling embrace of Simplot’s bruise-reducing Innate GMO potato
A healthier, ecologically advanced GMO potato has been cleared, touching off theatrics of opposition by advocacy groups. The success of ...
Frankenfood: A metaphor that has cursed GMOs
In this radio interview, Australian Broadcasting Radio National asks Mark Lynas and the GLP’s Jon Entine about whether science is ...
Center for Science in the Public Interest: If you eat these 10 things, you are a bad person
Given its track record of embracing fads and promoting questionable health solutions, it's often better to do exactly the opposite ...
Understanding the war against GMOs
I recently finished Robert Greene's marvelous book, The 33 Strategies of War--a 33 stage journey in destroying your enemies. As ...
Which tastes better: Conventional or organic foods? A tale of two apples
Many studies (e.g., here) have broached the topic of the taste and ‘quality’ of organic food versus conventional. Robustly, The ...
Is Nassim Taleb a “dangerous imbecile” or on the pay of anti-GMO activists?
Even Nassim Taleb's friends call him a "vulgar, bombastic windbag". Now he's becoming one of the new faces of the ...
Science as profane: What superstition of 1752 and 2014 share in common
Today, the Frankenstein story is invoked in exactly the opposite way that Shelley wrote it - it is invoked as ...
What’s so “natural” about “natural crop breeding”?
One of the most popular arguments of critics of crop biotechnology is the claim that conventional breeding is more "natural" ...
Not all science created equal: The genetically engineered crops story
In 1987 the US National Academy of Sciences stated there were no new risks from plants created using recombinant DNA ...
Greenpeace claims GM technology eclipsed by ‘safer’ genetic techniques, renews Golden Rice attack
Greenpeace is launching another offensive against Golden Rice, promoting organic-based agriculture as an alternative model and promoting alternative forms of ...
Gluten-free fad food choice, rarely medically dictated
Millions of people have lately adopted a gluten-free diet by self-diagnosing with gluten sensitivities in spite of the fact there ...
National Wildlife Refuge System bans on GMOs and neonics lack transparency, scientific rationale
While not identifying any specific evidence that pesticides or genetically modified crops might cause environmental or human damage, the NWRS ...
Seed patent primer: Is the use of GMOs preventing farmers from reusing their seeds?
The claim that farmers would be able to save their seeds if only the patent rights of seed companies were ...
Women carry fetal DNA long after children’s birth
Women and their offspring exchange small amounts of DNA during pregnancy. Those fetal DNA signatures can last a lifetime in ...
Closer examination of risk factors for Latinos underscores cultural diversity
Investigations into the genetics of disease in Latino populations are yielding interesting patterns of risk and protection from disease. The ...
