Sustainability/Climate Change
Food production needs are expected to roughly double over the next 35 years as the world population grows and people in under developed countries become more affluent and demand more calories. Healthy ecosystems are vital to the survival of all organisms. How can we grow crops without harming the environment? How can we balance technology and global food security? What is the right balance of organic and conventional farming? What role can genetics and biotechnology play without compromising the needs of tomorrow?
Below is the complete archive of related articles sorted by date.
Organic water? Asarasi exploits loophole to get USDA-certified label on bottles
Much like asparagus water and water sommeliers, organic water is giving us pause. Though the concept isn’t new, it’s surprising to see it making ...
Indian agricultural scientist: ‘Gene revolution’ needed to feed growing population
[Editor's note: The following is a Q&A with Vasanth Kumar Thimakapura, an internationally-recognised agriculture scientist and social entrepreneur who runs Green ...
Milk without cows, eggs without chickens? Synthetic biology could lead to more sustainable food
[Editor's note: The following is a Q&A with Swedish bio-hacker Hannes Sjoblad.] Bio-hacking applies technology in innovative ways to modify biological systems ...
Sen. Pat Roberts: ‘Uncertainty and dysfunction have overtaken’ USDA organic program
The far-reaching difficulty that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has in determining whether imported “organic” food meets standards or is ...
How ‘pollinator entrepreneurs’ helped stave off ‘beepocalypse’
[Editor's note: Shawn Regan is a research fellow at the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) in Bozeman, Montana.] Despite ...
Garbage? Study challenges claim that Americans waste $165 billion of food each year
Say you’re a journalist, and you’ve been assigned a story about food waste. You’re on a deadline, and you need ...
Scientists skeptical EU neonicotinoid ban would help bees
As the EU prepares to rule on extending a ban on neonicotinoid pesticides, a large-scale study opened the door for industry to argue ...
CRISPR food is coming: How gene editing will change agriculture
In the near future, scientists will engineer food that grows faster and does not spoil. This is the promise of ...
Opinion: Think twice before purchasing products with the ‘fake news’-spreading Non-GMO Project label
[Editor's note: Randy Krotz is CEO of the US Farmers & Ranchers Alliance.] I am increasingly finding items that are labeled ...
Uganda’s ag minister: Opposition to GMOs means ‘telling people to remain poor’
The Uganda government says it is determined to ensure that the Biotech Bill is passed into law to facilitate safe development ...
Black Death: Was the plague actually good for the environment?
From 1347 to 1351, a nightmare disease ravaged Europe, afflicting victims with putrid black boils, fevers, vomiting, and in short order, ...
Lesson from debate over Food Evolution movie? ‘Doesn’t make sense to judge GMOs as a monolithic entity’
[Marion] Nestle told The Outline that her comments in the film were taken “out of context” because its narrow focus on the ...
Biotech industry urges USDA to overhaul ‘outdated’ crop biotechnology regulations
[The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)] is proposing a regulatory program in which ...
USDA approves first release of GE diamondback moths, in New York cabbage fields
A proposal to release genetically engineered diamondback moths in cabbage fields in upstate New York has received a green light ...
Fully sequenced rice genome could accelerate biofuel research
Rice is a staple food for over half of the world's population and a model for studies of candidate bioenergy ...
Activists attack humanitarian ‘GMO’ corn shipment to Haiti — but seeds aren’t genetically engineered
The Non-GMO Project attacked the government of Haiti for approving a humanitarian shipment of high-yield conventional corn, claiming the seeds ...
Talking Biotech: Benefits and unanticipated consequences of neonicotinoid insecticide use
Penn State entomologist John Tooker: Neonic coated seeds are not a silver bullet for pest control in all situations ...
Transgenic fish are ready for us. Are we ready for them?
After overcoming two decades of regulatory and legal challenges, AquaBounty now faces the ultimate tests as it prepares for the ...
Hawaiian GMO farmer on Food Evolution doc: Saving papaya from extinction is not ‘propaganada’
[Editor's note: Joni Kamiya is a family farmer growing GMO papaya on Hawaii's North Shore.] The [GMO] papaya works, it ...
Lead author of controversial bee study: ‘Don’t give up on neonics’ although they may have ‘subtle’, mitigable effects
[Editor's note: Ben Woodcock is an ecological entomologist at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in the UK. He is the ...
Glyphosate herbicide may alter ecosystem by increasing tadpole population
[A] common herbicide has turned out to be a boon for tadpoles making them more toxic to predators, researchers said.... Common ...
Swedish court: Coop grocery chain ‘misled’ consumers by claiming organic food safer, healthier
The makers of the viral 2015 “Organic Effect” video, which claimed that switching to an all organic diet can eliminate ...
Less toxic cigarettes? ‘Genetic road map’ of tobacco could lead to reduced carcinogen levels
A new genetic road map of tobacco has been used to successfully identify and clone two mutated genes associated with ...
Opinion: ‘Fear-based’ food labels—like Dannon’s GMO-free claims—undermine confidence in safe food system
[Editor's note: Kent Messer is a professor at the University of Delaware.] As a behavioral economist, I analyze what motivates ...
Is pink bollworm pest developing resistance to GMO Bt corn in India?
Genetically modified or Bt cotton is no longer resistant to pink bollworm - a major pest in Mahahrashtra, prompting the state government to write ...
Consumer opposition stalls GM feed crops that could revolutionize Australia’s dairy industry
The [Australian] dairy industry’s greatest innovations in a generation — genetically modified high-energy ryegrass and virus-resistant clover — have still ...
Talking Biotech: Domesticating wild plants to seed new crops and foods
Brazilian plant physiologist Lazaro Peres: Using genetic technology to identify desirable traits in wild plants and create new crops ...
