The isolated genetically engineered wheat plantings found in an eastern Oregon field have caused Asia to suspend new shipments of Western White wheat, spurred at least one federal lawsuit against St. Louis-based Monsanto, and brought on multiple investigations in a mystery that may never be solved. The mystery that needs solving involves how Roundup Ready…
A Call to Industry: Educate the Media to Educate the Consumer
Pink Slime vs. lean, finely textured beef. Photos of rats with tumors vs. scientists disputing study methods. Conventionally grown produce vs. local and/or organically grown. Each has been the subject of media “attention.” And as the inaccuracies in the statements reveal, articles on each have too often been published without true understanding, knowledge or representation…
French GM Corn Study Not Scientifically Valid
Last month’s study out of France that said genetically modified corn and a related herbicide caused organ damage, tumors, and early death among rats broke too many rules and should be dismissed as “of insufficient scientific quality,” the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) says. When it was published in Food and Chemical Toxicology in September,…
Study: Herbicide and GM Corn May Cause Tumors, Early Death
New research out of France has linked both an herbicide and a genetically modified corn to organ damage, tumors and early death among rats, prompting a call for greater regulation of GM foods among sustainable agriculture advocates. The study – published Wednesday in Food and Chemical Toxicology – found that rats who were exposed to…
USDA Fully Deregulates Roundup Ready Alfalfa
In an unexpected move, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Thursday that USDA will allow genetically engineered (GE) Roundup Ready alfalfa to be planted without restriction.
The announcement bucked expectations that the deparment’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) would likely introduce a partial deregulation of the crop, which is engineered to withstand Monsanto’s Roundup …
USDA Completes Impact Statement on GM Alfalfa
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Thursday that it has two preferred options regarding alfalfa genetically modified to resist Monsanto’s weed killer Roundup–that it should either be allowed without restrictions, or allowed with certain geographic and isolation restrictions on seeds and, in some places, on hay.
In analyzing the potential impacts of three proposed alternatives, …
USDA Sticks a Hoe into the Sugar Beet Issue
Caught since Aug. 13 between a federal judge and some inept inaction by the Agriculture Department, sugar beet growers with about one million acres in a dozen states have been wondering what’s going to be the next thing to happen to them.
Against predictions that sugar prices will be going up next year, raising …
Beet Growers Ask: ‘What About Next Year?’
With imports cut off and sugar available for purchase only with the right ration coupon, the federal government during World War II put out a poster that said: “Plant More Sugar Beets!”
Now sugar beet growers are wondering if the federal government policy for the 2011 crop year will be “Plant No Sugar Beets!”
They …
GM Sugar Beets Put Back Under USDA Regulation
If you’ve been feeling out of sync from trying to follow the ball on genetically modified (GM) sugar beets, the ten-page order last Friday from U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey S. White probably is not going to set your world right.
It is like GM sugar beets hit a home run, but if they want …
56 Lawmakers Ask USDA to Deny GMO Alfalfa
Fifty-six lawmakers, including 50 representatives and six senators, sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack yesterday asking that the agency retain the regulated status of genetically modified (GMO) alfalfa.
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT.) and Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) led the effort, which comes just days after the U.S. Supreme Court rescinded …