In an edgy January 5, 2017 piece, Sean Pratt and the Western Producer Magazine have upped the rhetorical ante circulating over the October 17, 2016 letter from five major farm groups and the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) to Dannon-USA CEO, Mariano Lozano. The letter criticizes Dannon-USA for its pledge to source non-GMO ingredients and […]
Read More, References, Comment »
The State of Arkansas is not known as a hot bed of aggressive action to limit pesticide use and risks. But last season illegal spraying of dicamba on Monsanto’s new genetically engineered Xtend soybeans in this and neighboring states led to lawsuits, EPA warrants being served and even the fatal shooting of an Arkansas farmer. This […]
Read More, References, Comment »
On 10/16/16 The Wall Street Journal posted an interesting interview with Jim Purdue, chariman of the mega poultry agribusiness Purdue Farms, Inc., discusses why Purdue eliminated routine use of antibiotics for growth promotion and disease prevention, and what happened as a result. Purdue discusses how consumers are looking at their food the way they look […]
Read More, References, Comment »
This great, long essay on soil health has unusually blunt discussion of the implications of declining soil health. Molly Jahn, a professor of Agronomy at my alma mater UW-Madison, seamlessly merges insights from a helicopter ride outside Des Moines during planting season, to the early crusade to expose and end slavery among sugar plantation workers […]
Read More, References, Comment »
Tamar Haspel is a talented food writer for the Washington Post. She often delves into food quality and health issues. In this “Unearthed” piece she uses dollars per calorie as the basic metric of the cost of “healthy” food, and compares basics like flour and vegetable oils to processed foods like Doritos and hot dogs. […]
Read More, References, Comment »
Undercurrent News, a fish-industry journal, recently reported that Cargill, in partnership with the German chemical company BASF, is developing GE canola that expresses much higher levels of two long-chain omega 3 fatty acids –EPA and DPA (but not DHA). Omega-3s are found naturally only in fish, some fungi, and microalgae. This new biotech would transcribe […]
Read More, References, Comment »
Cudos to the BBC and Nature magazine for highlighting the critical role of poor food choices in driving poor health and sustainability of our food systems. This BBC piece summarizes the chilling statements in a commentary in Nature, the #1 general science journal in the world. In the commentary, leading scientists make the point that […]
Read More, References, Comment »
A recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Survey polled Americans about GMO and organic foods and the importance of healthy eating. This NPR report highlights key findings of this survey, including: Many Americans don’t believe that GMOs are safe for consumption and don’t think there is scientific consensus on this issue; Food issues are […]
Read More, References, Comment »
