Two new types of genetically modified (GM) potatoes were approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on October 28. The GM potatoes are designed to resist the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine.
Source: PotatoPro.com
The approval covers Idaho-based J.R. Simplot Co.’s Ranger Russet and Atlantic varieties of the company’s 2nd generation of Innate potatoes.
Agrochemical company Monsanto will be the subject of a ‘moral tribunal’ at The HagueThe post The people v Monsanto: corporation to face ‘moral tribunal’ appeared first on Positive News.
Rather than turning to toxic chemicals to rid farm fields of destructive insects and noxious weeds, some farmers in Missouri are recruiting chickens and bugs to do the job for them.
The 40 acres of land purchased by Gary Wenig and his wife to grow organic crops were initially overrun by weeds and insects. In order to grow truly organic plants, the couple had to eschew products like Roundup and atrazine. Synthetic pesticides are permitted for organic growing, but they’re expensive and can still be toxic.
Monsanto announced last week that it licensed the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing tool from the Broad Institute in Boston for use in seed development. The technology will allow the agritech giant to edit crops’ DNA by “snipping” away undesirable traits – or adding in more desirable ones – of the plants’ genetic codes. Frankenfood? [1]
Source: Business Insider
It took years of begging and pleading, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finally agreed in February to start testing for glyphosate in food. The agency announced just a few days ago that U.S. honey samples tested positive for the chemical, which is an ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide. [1]
The agritech world got a lot bigger this week when German chemical giant Bayer inked an agreement to acquire Monsanto for $66 billion in cash. The 2 companies had been bickering for months, and this was the 3rd refurbished offer. In the end, Bayer agreed to pay $128 per share, up from the company’s previous offer of $127.50. [1]
The agreement makes it the largest all-cash deal on record.
Markus Manns of Union Investment, one of Bayer’s top 12 investors, said:
What is humanely raised meat? It can be incredibly difficult to tell where exactly your meat or eggs have come from when shopping at the grocery store, as unfortunately, no standard of labels exists. Thus, those who want to inject a bit of humanity in their diet have a difficult task ahead of them when picking out food to purchase.
Gatorade has a new organic line of its energy drinks, and if you have no idea what it means, let me explain: the array of sugar-laden sports drinks are still loaded with sugar, but that sugar is organic now. It’s not made with organic fruit or anything like that, sorry. [1]
Top Pepsi Co. executives have been talking about introducing an organic line of Gatorade for almost a year, and are now ready to roll out what is called “G Organic.”
The Cornucopia Institute, a public interest group of thousands of organic farmers and consumers, and two of its members have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, alleging unqualified individuals have been put in place to determine what is “organic.”
Studies show that at least 3,000 farms are transitioning to organic.
The post Thousands of US Farms Switch to Organic as Demand Continues to Boom appeared first on The Anti-Media.
