By Gina Munsey •
June 3, 2009
Last month, Canada, the United States, and Australia announced unprecedented plans to join forces and commercialize genetically-engineered wheat, saying that biotechnology was crucial to the future of the wheat industry. The National Farmers Union of Canada, however, immediately refuted the tri-country claim, pointing out “the overwhelming majority of farmers in Canada are still opposed to the introduction of genetically-modified wheat.”
On June 1, fifteen organizations across Canada, the United States and Australia publicly confirmed that opposition with the release of “A Definitive Global Rejection of Genetically Engineered Wheat“, a powerful document speaking out against biotech wheat.
But the battle against GM wheat is not a simple one, nor is it restrained to select countries.
By Gina Munsey •
May 29, 2009
The chemical giant Bayer — the same Bayer which brought you aspirin, heroin and mustard gas, and currently manufactures a wide variety of pesticides, herbicides, polyurethanes and other questionable chemicals — has wrapped their toxic fingers around our rice.
This is nothing new. The company’s glufosinate-resistant LL62 genetically modified rice isn’t commercially grown, but that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t already entered the global food supply.
By Kay Sexton •
May 21, 2009
In much of Europe, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are not used in food production and are not grown as crops. In pretty well the rest of the world, they are both widely grown and widely utilised. Why is there such a division?
By Kay Sexton •
May 19, 2009
Forget the disaster movie scenarios of tsunamis, changes in the Earth’s magnetic core, the arrival of aliens or the mutation of some native species to giant size—our biggest risk is that we lose those small, aerodynamically impossible, stripy creatures so famous for their eccentric flight and delicious honey as well as their wax.
By Kay Sexton •
May 14, 2009
Five farmers will appear in five advertisements, shown in five different states, each saying that they grow potatoes that Frito-Lay then turns into ‘local’ chips. Of course, each state gets to see only its own local advert, not the other four, which could rather spoil the impression …
By Kay Sexton •
May 7, 2009
Jatropha, despite the hype, will not be a contributor to fuel security on the planet in the near, or even the middle future.
By Kay Sexton •
April 30, 2009
Without an additional £100m a year being spent on crop research in Britain, there could be food riots in developing countries as the growing world population fails to find enough affordable food.
By Kay Sexton •
April 28, 2009
Around Matabeleland elephants have broken into the crop fields and eaten the crops being grown by villagers. As well as elephant, wild pigs and baboons from Hwange National Park have begun to roam into agricultural land, causing havoc wherever crops are grown.
By Kay Sexton •
April 21, 2009
Most of us are familiar with the idea of carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial development leaching into the atmosphere, causing global warming. The effect of CO2 on ocean temperatures and acidification is much less well publicised, but just as worrying. In fact, it’s a potential cause of famine.
By Kay Sexton •
April 3, 2009
We’ve got used to roller-coaster oil prices, although it doesn’t stop panic buying at the pumps when gas prices are projected to rise, but roller-coaster food prices are something that hasn’t been seen in most of the developed world for many decades.
By Kay Sexton •
April 1, 2009
The general idea is fantastic, 1,000 plots could provide the British population with 2.6 million lettuces per year or 50,000 sacks of potatoes, as well as reducing food miles, improving land use, and giving individuals healthful exercise in the fresh air.
