Archive for the 'Food' Category
Demand for Water Outstrips Supply
August 9th, 2012Via: Nature: Almost one-quarter of the world’s population lives in regions where groundwater is being used up faster than it can be replenished, concludes a comprehensive global analysis of groundwater depletion, published this week in Nature1. Across the world, human civilizations depend largely on tapping vast reservoirs of water that have been stored for up […]
$9 Corn Could Be a Big Problem for Economy
August 9th, 2012Via: CNBC: Corn prices – which have already surged about 50 percent in the past two months – could go significantly higher if current trends hold up, and the effects might be felt throughout the economy. Price momentum indicates corn could rise at least 21 percent over the next six months, putting $9.50 a bushel […]
Toxic Clenbuterol in Chinese and Mexican Meat
July 29th, 2012Via: CBC: Fearing tainted meat, China’s women’s volleyball team has stuck to a strict vegetarian diet for the last three weeks — which the team’s coach is now blaming for his athletes’ abysmal performance. The Chinese team lost four of five matches at a world tournament that ended Sunday in Ningbo, China, falling to the […]
USDA Prepares To Greenlight Gnarliest GMO Soy Yet
July 18th, 2012Via: Mother Jones: In early July, on the sleepy Friday after Independence Day, the USDA quietly signaled its intention to greenlight a new genetically engineered soybean seed from Dow AgroSciences. The product is designed to produce soy plants that withstand 2,4-D, a highly toxic herbicide (and, famously, the less toxic component in the notorious Vietnam […]
U.S. Declares Drought-Stricken States Largest Natural Disaster Area Ever
July 14th, 2012Via: The Lookout: The United States Department of Agriculture has declared natural disaster areas in more than 1,000 counties and 26 drought-stricken states, making it the largest natural disaster in America ever. The declaration—which covers roughly half of the country—gives farmers and ranchers devastated by drought access to federal aid, including low-interest emergency loans. “Agriculture […]
Drought Hits 56 Percent of Continental U.S.; ‘Significant Toll’ on Crops
July 6th, 2012Via: MSNBC: The prolonged heat across the Midwest has not only set temperature records, it is also expanding and intensifying drought conditions — and relief isn’t on the horizon for most areas, the National Weather Service reported Thursday. Drought conditions are present in 56 percent of the continental U.S., according to the weekly Drought Monitor. […]
Mutated Pests Are Quickly Adapting to Biotech Crops
June 28th, 2012Via: io9: Genetically modified crops are often designed to repel hungry insects. By having toxins built into the plant itself, farmers can reduce their use of environmentally unfriendly insecticide sprays. But as any first-year evolutionary biology student can tell you, insects are like the Borg in Star Trek: they quickly adapt. And this is precisely […]
Hybrid Grass Produces Cyanide Gas, Kills Herd of Cattle
June 24th, 2012The article states that Tifton 85 is a genetically modified grass, but it’s actually a hybrid: Tifton 85 is the best of many F1 hybrids between PI 290884 from South Africa and Tifton 68, a highly digestible but cold susceptible hybrid that was released in 1983. Via: KEYE TV: A mysterious mass death of a […]
From Milk to Peas, a Chinese Food-Safety Mess
June 23rd, 2012Via: New York Times: There’s mercury in the baby formula. Cabbages are sprayed with formaldehyde. Gelatin capsules for pills, tens of millions of them, are laced with chromium. Used cooking oil is scooped out of gutters for recycling, right along with the sewage. Accounts of dubious or unsafe food in China are as mesmerizing as […]
France Bans Syngenta Pesticide Linked to Bee Decline
June 16th, 2012Via: Farmers Weekly: The French government has banned a pesticide linked to the decline of bees that is widely used to treat oilseed rape. Cruiser OSR, which contains the neonicotinoid insecticide thiamethoxam, was banned for use on oilseed rape by the French Ministry of Agriculture. Made by the Swiss agrichemical company Syngenta, Cruiser OSR is […]
