Tag: Genetic engineering

  • Organizations Urge USDA to Improve Oversight of GM Trials

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    The Environmental Leader reports on efforts by more than 150 organizations to urge the US Department of Agriculture to improve its oversight of experimental trials of gentically engineerd crops: Organic food manufacturer Amy’s Kitchen, Farm Aid, Clif Bar & Company, The Urban Farm, Organic Seed Alliance and the Center for Food Safety are among more…

  • Golden Rice: Spending Millions to Reinvent the Wheel

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    Daniela
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    Beth Hoffman’s article in Forbes mirrors my sentiments exactly.  In response to a commenter, she asks: The question is – after 30 years of research, how much has actually been spent creating a product like Golden Rice? How many billions of vitamin A supplements could have been purchased and passed out already – saving the…

  • Is extremism in defense of GM food a vice?

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    By Nathanael Johnson: Grist When a study came out in 2012 associating gruesomely lumpy rats with genetically modified food, critics trashed it so thoroughly that a group of researchers and advocates called foul. This went beyond legitimate scientific critique, they wrote. It was evidence that “those with a vested interest attempt to sow unreasonable doubt around inconvenient results.”More recently, a…

  • Agrochemical Companies and their stockholders the only ones who need genetically engineered crops

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    In the opinion section of Pambazuka News, Ali Masmadi Jehu Appiah, a Chairperson for Food Sovereignty Ghana, asserts, “The only people who need genetically engineered crops are the foreign seed and agrochemical companies and their stockholders.”  He provides a compelling argument for why Ghana should reject genetically engineered Bt cotton: After several years of apparent short-term success in…

  • List of Common GMO Products

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    Daniela
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    Many of us would like to have a list of GMO foods in order to make better informed choices at the supermarket. Rayshell Clapper at redOrbit.com compiled a list of some of the most common GMO foods to help discerning shoppers: 1. Corn Corn is perhaps the most controversial on the list of GMO foods because…

  • How GMO foods alter organ function and pose a very real health threat to humans

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    The Health Ranger, Mike Adams, explains how studies in cell research have demonstrated the mechanism by which micro RNA from genetically engineered foods may alter organ function in humans.  I thought the information was salient enough to post.  However, I caution that some of Adam’s Monsanto quotes are taken out of context.  For a more…

  • Food Sovereignty Ghana Tells US Embassy to Be Transparent

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    Food Sovereignty Ghana, a civil society group, has asked the US Embassy in Accra to join its call for openness and transparency on the issue of genetically modified (GM) foods and crops in Ghana. In a statement signed by the Chairperson of FSG, Ali-Masmadi Jehu-Appiah, the group said it was ready to “critically examine every…

  • GMO Crops Mean More Herbicide, Not Less

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    By Beth Hoffman: Forbes Over the past 15 years, farmers around the world have planted ever larger tracts of genetically engineered crops. According to the USDA, in 2012 more than 93 percent of soy planted was “herbicide tolerant,” engineered to withstand herbicides (sold by the same companies who patent and sell the seeds).  Likewise, 73 percent of all corn…

  • New study finds nothing impressive about GM crop yields

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    By Laura Rance in the Winnipeg Free Press: The debate over genetically modified crops has often generated more heat than light. Some opponents claim the stuff is hazardous to our health, which seems unlikely, given that just about anything with vegetable oil or corn in it (and that’s just about everything these days) comes from…

  • Food with GMOs banned in UK Parliament, but it’s OK for you to eat

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      Genetically modified foods are banned from all restaurants in the U.K.’s Houses of Parliament, which is probably making things a bit awkward for the country’s food and farming secretary, Owen Paterson. Last week, the senior British official made a public declaration that genetically modified foods are perfectly safe, and he encouraged families and the food industry…