The Permaculture Research Institute of Australia GMOs, Health & Disease — by Dr. Brian Applicant’s dossiers contained wide-ranging fraudulent research For the first time, a GM multinational has pulled two GM corn varieties from the regulatory and assessment process at the eleventh hour (1), after planning for a future income of several billion dollars per… Read more »

The Idaho agribusiness continues to get blowback over the Innate line of spuds. Idaho Statesman by Zach Kyle Source: Bowen Chin The J.R. Simplot Co.’s freshly approved genetically modified potato is not being welcomed by one of the company’s oldest business partners. McDonald’s, the world’s largest fast-food company and a longtime buyer of Simplot potatoes… Read more »

PR Watch by Jill Richardson A decade and a half after farmers began planting the first genetically engineered (GE) crops, the future is clear. The scientists who pioneered genetic engineering thought of themselves as environmentalists, creating products that could reduce pesticide use. Instead, they have simply perpetuated the same “pesticide treadmill” as their pesticide-peddling counterparts… Read more »

Cornucopia’s Take: In response to the co-option of the word “sustainable” and the increasing threats to the integrity of the organic label, Rodale and a coalition of farmers, ranchers, nonprofits, scientists, and brands are creating an “add-on” certification. The ‘Regenerative Organic Certified’ label will go beyond the current organic standards to ensure that consumers have… Read more »

AgriPulse By Jim Webster WASHINGTON — The drive to require labeling of food with biotech ingredients “is not going to go away,” former Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan said today. “People want to know,” she told the CropLife America 2013 National Food Policy Conference. “I’m not saying it’s a right to know or a… Read more »

Cornucopia’s Take: In the wake of the recent GMO labeling compromise, the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA) has withdrawn its membership from the Organic Trade Association (OTA).  OTA members include many huge conventional companies with smaller organic portfolios who would not like to see GMO labeling applied to their conventional products. The OTA… Read more »

Independent Science News by Jonathan Latham, PhD CRISPR gene editing involves guide RNA and a protein that can cut DNA. Image source: Georgios Karamanis For the benefit of those parts of the world where public acceptance of biotechnology is incomplete, a public relations blitz is at full tilt. It concerns an emerging set of methods… Read more »

Cornucopia’s Take: The FDA has determined that no health claims can be made for Golden Rice, the genetically engineered (GE) rice meant to contain beta-carotene. The amount of the nutrient it contains is so low that it fails to qualify for a nutrient claim – and it rapidly degrades in storage.  Most GE crops currently… Read more »