Troubling and significant declines in monarch butterfly populations in Florida have occured over the last 30+years, according to a research team from the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, part of the Florida Museum of Natural History. A paper by the FLA team was published this summer in the Journal of Natural History, and reports […]
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The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization with over 30 member countries that was founded in 1961, has released a new report on antibiotic resistance. In “Stemming the Superbug Tide: Just a Few Dollars More,” OECD reports that “superbug” infections are expected to cause 2.4 million deaths in Europe, North America, […]
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A consortium of consumer, animal, and food policy groups has released the latest edition of their Chain Reaction report analyzing antibiotic use on the livestock farms producing meat for the country’s largest restaurant chains. This year’s edition report focuses on the iconic American hamburger, surveying antibiotic policies at popular national burger chains and grading each on […]
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In the latest study revealing the extent of declines in global insect populations, researchers working in Puerto Rico’s Luquillo rainforest have documented a “bottom-up trophic cascade” triggered by large declines in the biomass and abundance of arthropods, the family of animals that include insects and spiders. Populations of insectivorous predators like lizards, frogs, and birds […]
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By: Rachel Benbrook and Dr. Charles Benbrook Are bees finally going to catch a break? Amidst lots of bad news about the decline of managed honeybees and other wild pollinators, the Seattle Times reports this week on an innovative new approach to boost pollinator health. It involves some out-of-the-box science from Paul Stamets, a mycologist from […]
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By: Rachel Benbrook The Pacific Northwest’s “mushroom man” Paul Stamets partnered with research scientists from Washington State University and USDA to conduct a potentially groundbreaking experiment showing that mushroom extracts can help bees fight off viruses. The research, published in Scientific Reports, was triggered by Stamets, a mycologist, author, and entrepreneur based in the Puget Sound. […]
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The US and Canada closed the deal on an updated NAFTA trade agreement last week. One of the key concessions by Canada is opening their dairy sector to more imports of U.S. milk and dairy products, including some from cows given the genetically-engineered hormone rBST. Canadian dairy farmers and some consumers are less than thrilled. […]
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New research by a team at the University of Washington evaluates the environmental costs of our food choices, specifically livestock, farmed seafood, and wild-caught fish. The study, which will be published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment is believed to be “most comprehensive look at the environmental impacts of different types of animal protein production,” […]
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In an announcement that appeared to take the USDA by surprise, FDA Comissioner Scott Gottlieb issued a statement on Friday claiming that the agency has jurisdiction over the development and marketing of lab-grown meat, and announcing plans to hold a public meeting on the subject in July 2018. Lab-grown meat is a hot topic in […]
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The seductive, but corrosive impact of mythology will be a recurrent theme as historians explain the rise and fall of first-generation genetically engineered (GE) crop technology in the U.S. Here are just a few of the myths that arose along with the new crops: GE corn will affix its own nitrogen. Herbicide-tolerant crops will reduce […]
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