April 25th, 2013

The fight to label GMO foods has arrived in Washington D.C. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) introduced a bill Wednesday that would mandate labeling for foods that have been genetically engineered. If passed, the U.S. would join 64 other countries around the world that require labeling.

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April 9th, 2013

Genetically modified foods are everywhere, having crept into processed foods as key components, such as corn oil, corn flour, high fructose corn syrup, soybean oil, soy isolate, invert sugar and on down the food label. How can a consumer cope? Until GE foods are labeled, shoppers have to ferret out the non-GMO foods and ingredients.

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September 20th, 2012

Research by French scientists showing that rats fed GMO corn developed tumors and died prematurely has prompted the French government to continue its ban on genetically engineered crops.

But the study came in for criticism from scientists in other countries shortly after it was published Wednesday in Food and Chemical Toxicology.

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June 6th, 2012

As Congress considers the latest Farm Bill, which will surely contain gobs of money for the row crops that support livestock, but perhaps more than before to prop up fruit and vegetable farmers, this is a 2010 graphic that brings it all into perspective:

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November 14th, 2011

With water scarcity emerging as a major global issue in the 21st century, a drought in the southern U.S. state of Texas highlights the need for farmers to get more out of limited water supplies. Some are using new irrigation methods which give them more crop per drop.

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February 1st, 2011

Organic farmers, food companies and advocacy groups have united to oppose the federal government’s de-regulation of Monsanto’s genetically engineered alfalfa.

A new 20-group coalition announced Tuesday that it also would be opposing the regulatory release of other types of GE (also known as GM or genetically modified) crops expected in the coming months if the USDA approves the unrestricted planting of GE sugar beets, corn and soy crops.

These crops have been engineered predominantly by Monsanto to resist specific Monsanto-created pesticides, including the “Roundup Ready” alfalfa, which was approved for unrestricted planting by the USDA last week.

Organic farmers fear the spread of GE crops because they’re dependent on pesticides, which harm the soil and waterways, and because they can contaminate non=GE crops via cross-pollination. When GE crops invade organically raised fields, they destroy the purity of organic row crops and produce and can cost a farmer his organic certification.

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January 5th, 2011

Wait! Don’t squash that baby bumblebee. You could be hurting a struggling species. Several varieties of bumblebees, which help pollinate major fruit and veggie crops, are in serious decline in the U.S., according to a report in Science magazine online.

The report focuses on a survey of bumblebees undertaken by University of Illinois/Urban-Champaign entomologist Sydney Cameron who says the United States has simply “lost a lot of bees” in recent decades.

“There are whole regions where we can’t find them any more,” he told Science.

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July 12th, 2010

A decline in planting and an increase in demand have led to a predictable conclusion from the U.S. Department of Agriculture: Exporters, livestock feeders and ethanol makers are exhausting the corn stockpile faster than farmers can produce supply. Despite record crops in each of the past three years and potential for a third this year, the USDA expects corn carryover to shrink to the lowest level since 2006-07.

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March 26th, 2010

Green Right Now Reports

Coca-Cola company announced it will be observing Earth Hour tomorrow by turning out some iconic lighted signs in cities around the world, including those in Times Square in New York, Piccadilly Circus in London, San Pedro Sula in Honduras and Kings Cross in Sydney.

The global soft drink maker also will darken corporate offices in Atlanta to observe Earth Hour on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. local time. Hundreds of countries, thousands of cities and many other corporate entities will be turning out the lights for one hour, supporting of the symbolic show of unity against climate change.

Unintentionally, Coca-Cola also took another Earth-friendly step this month, issuing a kosher version of Coke for Passover that is made with sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.

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August 13th, 2009

By Shermakaye Bass
Green Right Now

California is experiencing its third year of drought, statewide, and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which provides two-thirds of California’s fresh drinking water and yields a giant portion of the nation’s food supply, is dangerously close to running dry, water conservationists and water managers say.

Yesterday, federal officials vowed to act. During a visit to Sacramento, Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Hayes met with local interests – farmers, fisheries, families and municipalities in the region – and promised to free up more water for their use. He acknowledged that the drought has compounded a pre-existing condition – the overall degradation of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

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November 10th, 2008

By Barbara Kessler

Biomass technology promises what few other alternative fuel schemes can: energy from waste. Given the controversial use of corn (and other food crops) for biofuel, which is turning out to be less of a greenhouse gas saver than once thought, waste is looking pretty attractive.

A new plant in Central Texas, dedicated last week, promises to take sewage waste, organic garbage, grass clippings and manure, and convert them into gasoline.

Initially the plant, designed as a large-scale demonstration project, will use forage sorghum as its base material. Forage sorghum, unlike other varieties grown to produce sorghum seed for food products, does not steal directly from the human food chain. It is used as feed for cattle, but even so, it’s more renewable than corn because about twice as much (5-7 tons) can be grown per acre.

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October 16th, 2008

By Barbara Kessler

Apparently conventional farming techniques aren’t too grape for vineyard keepers in the Midwest. Their tender fruit withers when it comes into contact with a commonly used herbicide, called 2, 4-D that is spread on corn and other field crops to control broadleaf weeds.

So researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a new grape that can stand up to 2, 4-D (or R2D2 if you’re playing Star Wars).

This new improved grape – imperially named “Improved Chancellor” — does not die when confronted with 2, 4-D (the D stands for Dicholorophenoxyacetic) because it has been genetically altered with an added bacterium that breaks down the herbicide, according to an Environmental News Service release.

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