By Carey Gillam When microbiologist Bruce Hemming was hired two years ago to test breast milk samples for residues of the key ingredient in the popular weed-killer Roundup, Hemming at first scoffed at the possibility. Hemming, the founder of St. Louis-based Microbe Inotech Laboratories, knew that the herbicidal ingredient called glyphosate was not supposed to […]
Kenya is on the verge of reversing its ban on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The East African country—which has banned the import and planting of GMOs since 2012 due to health concerns—may soon allow the cultivation of GMO maize and cotton after being pushed for approval by pro-GMO organizations including Monsanto, the agribusiness giant and world’s largest seed company. https://twitter.com/NationFMKe/status/684449350236258306 If it does so, […]
By Carey Gillam, U.S. Right to Know I just don’t get it. Over the more than 20 years I have worked as a business journalist, I’ve always been motivated by a simple premise: Knowledge is power and that power belongs with the public. The spread of information that people can use to make decisions—what to […]
A Greenpeace East Asia investigation into corn production in Liaoning Province, one of China’s major breadbaskets, has found that 93 percent of random field samples and 20 of 21 samples from grain markets and supermarkets in the area tested positive for illegal genetically engineered (GE) contamination. The commercial production of GE staple crops in China […]
Venezuela approved a new law on Dec. 23, 2015, that imposes one of the world’s toughest regulations on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The anti-GMO and anti-patenting seed law was approved by the National Assembly of Venezuela in its final session. Today, the new opposition coalition—the Roundtable of Democratic Unity—will take over. https://twitter.com/FightAgainstGMO/status/682955968909578240 The Seed Law seeks […]
I’m fascinated by reports of Chipotle’s ongoing problems with foodborne illness. The main interest of the press in these episodes is their effect on Chipotle’s stock prices. The outbreaks have been linked to a bunch of different pathogens: E. coli O157:H7, E. coli STEC 026, Salmonella, norovirus, and, possibly, hepatitis A. This means they are due […]
Dave Matthews, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young are speaking out against the controversial Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act (H.R. 1599), also known as the Deny Americans the Right to Know, or DARK Act. The legislation would require the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate the distribution and labeling of genetically modified […]
France, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the U.K., Germany and Mexico are among the more than two dozen countries that have so far signed on to what one day will likely be recognized as the most significant climate initiative in history. France’s 4/1000 Initiative: Soils for Food Security and Climate puts regenerative food and farming front […]
Boyalife, the first stem cell bank in China, is now underway in cloning cows to meet the country’s skyrocketing demand for beef, according to the company. The company hopes to initially produce 100,000 cow embryos annually (“more than 6 times the size of the largest American cattle farms,” Popular Science points out) and eventually increasing that number […]