Tag: GMO
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Experts Debate Promise of GM Crops in New York Times
The New York Times invited several agriculture experts and activists to participate in its October 26, 2009, “Room For Debate” column, which addressed the potential of genetically modified (GM) crops to alleviate world hunger and protect the environment. Although essays by both Raj Patel of the Institute for Food and Development Policy and North Carolina…
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U.S. Supreme Court Review Sought in GM Alfalfa Case
Monsanto Co. and farmers who grow genetically modified (GM) alfalfa have reportedly filed a petition seeking U.S. Supreme Court review of a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision barring them from selling or using Roundup Ready® alfalfa seed until the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) completes an environmental impact statement (EIS). Monsanto v. Geertson Seed…
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Paul Voosen, “Ghost of ‘Frankenfood’ Haunts Europe,” Greenwire, October 21, 2009
The second of a five-part series, this article examines in some depth how a number of European countries came to turn their backs on genetically modified (GM) crops. Belgian scientists apparently experimented with GM plants in the 1980s and instituted 50 different field trials, positioning Europe to be a world leader in plant biotechnology. A…
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CSI: Miami Features Foodborne Illness Investigation
A recent episode of CSI: Miami has reportedly drawn criticism from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and other trade groups for the show’s portrayal of a foodborne illness investigation. Titled “Bad Seed,” the October 20, 2009, installment of the popular CBS drama focused on a fictional outbreak that eventually led the crime scene investigators to…
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Britain’s Royal Society Issues Report Advocating GM Crops
The Royal Society has issued an October 2009 report, Reaping the Benefits: Science and the sustainable intensification of global agriculture, that calls for “a £2 billion ‘Grand Challenge’ research program on global food security.” According an October 21 press release, the world must increase food crop production by at least 50 percent by 2050 to meet…
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Ireland Adopts GM-Free Zone, Voluntary GM-Free Food Label
The Irish government reportedly plans to prohibit the cultivation of all genetically modified (GM) crops and will introduce a voluntary GM-free label for meat, poultry, eggs, fish, crustaceans, and dairy products made without the use of GM animal feed. Echoing a similar move by Germany, the policy specifies that the government will “declare the Republic…
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Paul Voosen, “Agriculture: Courts Force U.S. Reckoning with Dominance of GM Crops,” Greenwire, October 8, 2009
In the first of a series of reports, this article discusses the sugar beet growers from Oregon’s Willamette Valley involved in litigation that has, to date, successfully challenged U.S. Department of Agriculture decisions to deregulate genetically modified (GM) sugar beets without conducting appropriate environmental impact assessments. Organic farmers risk the loss of their EU markets…
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Federal Court Finds APHIS Error in Deregulating GE Sugar Beets
A federal court in California has determined that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) erred when it deregulated a genetically engineered (GE) sugar beet without preparing an environmental impact statement. Ctr. for Food Safety v. Vilsack, No. 08-00484 (N.D. Cal., decided September 21, 2009). Thus, the court granted the motion…