Stuart Smyth
25+ years into the crop biotechnology revolution, ‘Canadian prairie farmers are among the most sustainable on the planet’. Europe? Not so much
Canadian agriculture has embraced innovative technologies and products. Canadian farmers rapidly adopted genetically modified crops following their approvals in the ...
Social justice environmental activists move to block gene editing to control invasive species and promote biodiversity. Here’s why they’re misguided
Hawaii has emerged as ground zero for efforts to raise the awareness of the dangers of invasive species. Just last ...
Global food production has increased 390 percent since 1960. Here’s how farmers have done it.
The use of modern seed genetics (which includes genetically modified (GM) crops, chemical and fertilizer use) greatly contributes to improved ...
Viewpoint: The difference between the science cited by academic researchers and activists? Peer reviewed, consensus evidence
In the 1660s, Robert Boyle advocated that the use of repeated experiments and written summary of the process, method and results, is ...
Viewpoint: How agricultural biotechnology can help North American farmers cope with climate change
The use of modern seed genetics, which includes genetically modified crops, chemical and fertilizer use, greatly contributes to improved agricultural ...
Viewpoint: Use of modern seed genetics greatly contributes to improved agricultural sustainability and climate change mitigation
The use of modern seed genetics (which includes genetically modified (GM) crops, chemical and fertilizer use) greatly contributes to improved ...
Viewpoint: Do we need to curtail economic expectations to ensure that we have enough food to feed the planet?
A little over 200 years ago, one of the noted economists and philosophers of the day, Thomas Malthus published an essay ...
Viewpoint: ‘Only 60 harvests remaining on Earth’? Environmentalist exaggerations obscure dramatic advances in biotechnology-boosted agriculture
A little over 200 years ago, one of the noted economists and philosophers of the day, Thomas Malthus published an essay ...
Using cost-benefit analysis: Crop biotechnology offers sizable yield and sustainability benefits when compared to non-GM farming
What are the costs of not adopting the best food producing technologies? The ability to quantify a choice that is ...
‘Mania of zero risk’: How environmentalists inflame concerns about farm chemicals, increasing anti-GM food rejectionism and the degradation of waterways
Food Watch warns, wrongly, that trace amounts of mineral oil can get into our food and seriously endanger consumers, calling ...
Video: ‘Media bashing of pesticides is hysteria wrapped around a kernel of truth’: Rethinking essential crop protection tools
Headlines about agriculture chemical use aren’t always the most kind to the industry. And while these headlines may be flashy ...
Viewpoint: ‘Less starvation and less malnutrition are a priceless benefit of GM crops’
Over the past 20 years, academics have analyzed the yield effects following the adoption of GM crops in every market ...
Targeting sustainable farming: Here’s how much money low and middle-income countries are missing out on if they reject genetically-modified crops
GM crops produce higher farm incomes plus reduced land tillage practices and lower insecticide use, bringing substantial environmental benefits. While ...
Viewpoint: Plants are ‘carbon sequestration factories’. It’s time to capitalize on their natural ability to address climate change
Could plants be created that have higher rates of photosynthesis to improve growth and yield? The short answer is yes ...
Viewpoint: ‘Environmentalists are wrong on technological tweaks to agriculture’: How activists undermine their credibility — and society’s need for more climate-adaptive sustainable farming
Public concern about the environment has not always been part of the social conscience in North America. After all, European ...
Environmental activist irony: Anti-chemical campaigners end up promoting higher food prices with few farming or health benefits
ENGOs target chemicals judged safe by independent global regulatory bodies, such as glyphosate, but have no interest in restricting some ...
Viewpoint: Food shortage crisis — There are two ways to address the food shortage crisis: Farm more land or increase yield. Let’s compare their sustainability impacts
As the planet’s population continues its relentless march towards 10 billion, more food is going to need to be produced ...
From the Environmental Working Group to the Pesticide Action Network, food activists claim we face killer risks from chemicals. Here’s why scientists don’t agree
E coli in ready-to-eat salads? Salmonella in seafood? Spoiled ground beef? Listeria in vegetables? Pesticide traces in… everything? Each year ...
Consumer paradox: As media turn less negative on genetically modified crops, Canadian consumers remain ambivalent about innovative food products
Canadians have high trust in Canada’s food safety system, but not new food products Gauging consumer attitudes to genetically modified ...
Viewpoint: Here is why Canada is deregulating gene edited foods — and why consumers will benefit
The importance of, and reliance upon, evidence-based regulations was reaffirmed [recently] in Canada! It was very welcomed news when Health ...
How crop gene editing increases nutrition and sustainability
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were launched in 2015, with the top three goals being poverty eradication, improved food security ...
Meeting UN sustainability goals: Why gene editing is key
Innovations in agriculture productivity between 2005 and 2015, greatly contributed to reductions in the number of people that were food ...
’Neophobia’: Consumers like what gene editing has to offer, but are still afraid of new technologies. Survey suggests why we need more biotech education
This article uses a consumer survey to gather perceptions regarding food safety, gene editing and willingness to consume for three ...
Viewpoint: What drives agricultural sustainability? Not what many ‘environmental organizations’ promote
Anyone who has flown over the Canadian prairies in any of the previous summers will notice the tremendous number of ...
Viewpoint: Why gene editing is so much like ‘nature’ — and therefore should not be tightly regulated
At what point do regulatory experts possess sufficient knowledge on innovative technologies and their potential impacts, both beneficial and adverse, ...
Glyphosate herbicide helps reduce carbon emissions in agriculture, academic study finds
In the early 1990s, tillage was the leading form of weed control, with minimum/zero-tillage management practices incapable of long-term continuation ...
Going GMO-free? Why rejecting biotechnology leads to environmental and financial losses
Challenges associated with supplying society with food have evolved from additional innovation and continual innovation will be required to meet ...
Global food security has been lagging since 2015. Here’s how renewed public-private partnerships could turn around the decline
Global food security is at a tipping point. After decades of both absolute and relative improvement in food security worldwide, ...