Reuters — A food safety advocacy group sued an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday, saying it illegally withheld public information on genetically engineered crops. The lawsuit, brought by the Center for Food Safety (CFS) against USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), claims the regulator has routinely failed to respond […] Read more
U.S. regulator sued for withholding information on GMOs
No need seen for new EU rules to protect butterflies from GM crops
Brussels | Reuters — European food safety officials found there was no need to widen buffer zones around genetically modified (GM) crops even though research shows pollen from GM maize can travel kilometres further than previously thought. The buffer zones to protect vulnerable species, such as butterflies, have been part of heated debate in Europe […] Read more
White House directs U.S. GMO regulators to update oversight
Reuters — The White House on Thursday directed the three U.S. agencies that oversee biotech crop products to improve and modernize their regulatory “framework” to boost public confidence in a system that critics call a failure. The order, announced in a statement by President Barack Obama’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, followed demands by […] Read more
Consumers driving changes in the food sector
Transparency in food labelling and no GMOs are among the top consumer food trends
Reading Time: 2 minutes The relationship between consumers and their food is no longer ‘from field to fork,’ says the former VP of innovation for Loblaws. “It’s actually from fork to field,” said Paul Uys, who spoke at the Conference on Food Innovation in late May. “Consumers are increasingly driving the food supply chain. It’s all about connecting with […] Read more
Groups urge tighter controls as U.S. considers GM crop regulation
Reuters — Dozens of consumer and food groups and businesses asked the U.S. government on Monday for tighter regulation of genetically engineered crops, calling the current system a “failure.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said it was considering changes to the way it regulates biotech crops and set a public comment period that expired […] Read more
Things have changed in the boardroom of big corporations
Consumers are voting with their wallets, and big companies understand they need to move quickly when issues arise
Reading Time: 3 minutes There are farm, environmental and consumer groups that advocate the elimination of the corporate agenda. They say corporations drive the family farm to ruin, destroy the air that we breathe, and force consumerism at the expense of human rights. In Canada, 98 per cent of farms are family farms and of the 200,000 farms in […] Read more
EU approves first new genetically modified crops since 2013
Brussels | Reuters –– The European Union cleared the import of 10 new types of genetically modified crops and two more kinds of cut flowers on Friday, its first authorizations in more than a year after a review of its blocked approval process. The European Commission said it had authorized 10 new types of maize, […] Read more
Green group targets Super Bowl’s official hummus
If you’re a chickpea grower and you didn’t already know it, you’ll be pleased to hear Americans watching the Super Bowl this weekend might not only be chowing down on chicken wings. Thanks to its designation as the National Football League’s (NFL) official dip sponsor, they could also be dipping into Sabra brand hummus, of […] Read more
Scientists create ‘genetic firewall’ for new forms of life
New York | Reuters — A year after creating organisms that use a genetic code different from every other living thing, two teams of scientists have achieved another “synthetic biology” milestone: They created bacteria that cannot survive without a specific manmade chemical, potentially overcoming a major obstacle to wider use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). […] Read more
Germany to press EU for national right to ban GMOs before 2015 harvest
Berlin | Reuters — Germany is pressing the European Commission to allow individual EU countries to ban cultivation of crops with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) before the 2015 harvest. German farm minister minister Christian Schmidt said “social-economic reasons” should be taken into account to allow a European Union country to ban GMO crops even when […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
