Each week news articles are selected from the news that pertain to agriculture, food, biotechnology and related issues.

JUL 1, 2009 - 'Organic' label doesn't guarantee quality or taste - Los Angeles Times
I don't believe in organic. There, I've said it and I feel better. It's something that's been on my mind for years. Now, don't get me wrong: I've got nothing against organic farmers. In fact, some of my favorite farmers are organic. I really admire them: Growing delicious food and doing it according to organic standards is adding a degree of difficulty that I wouldn't wish on anyone. MORE

JUN 26, 2009 - Successful initial safety tests for genetically-modified rice that fights allergy - American Chemical Society
In a first-of-its-kind advance toward the next generation of genetically modified foods -- intended to improve consumers’ health -- researchers in Japan are reporting that a new transgenic rice designed to fight a common pollen allergy appears safe in animal studies. Their report is in the current issue of ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. MORE

JUN 25, 2009 - Indian scientists dish up GM fish - Livemint.com
Even as genetically modified brinjal—the first transgenic food crop to be available in India—has reached the final stage of field trials, scientists at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), a prominent Hyderabad-based research institution, have taken the first steps to steer genetically modified (GM) fish—now confined to their labs—to Indian plates. MORE

JUN 24, 2009 - EU ministers leave open possibility of clone food - AFP
EU farm ministers revived the row over 'Frankenfoods' Monday by retaining the possibility of cloned animal products being sold in Europe, despite scientific uncertainty and Green opposition. MORE

JUN 22, 2009 - EU ministers approve sale of food from cloned animals' offspring - Deutsche Welle
Milk and meat from the progeny of cloned animals could soon be hitting the shelves of European supermarkets. Some groups have been critical of such products, which are already on sale in the United States. MORE

JUN 19, 2009 - Q&A: Food Inc. Director Robert Kenner on Monsanto, Obama, and Breakfast - Vanity Fair
If we are what we eat, Robert Kenner’s new documentary Food Inc. tells us we should be scared. Teaming up with Eric Schlosser, the author of Fast Food Nation and sometime Vanity Fair contributor, and Michael Pollan, who wrote The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Robert Kenner’s Food Inc. travels from farm to fork trying to answer the simple question: “Where does our food come from?” After screening at the Toronto Film Festival this September and opening in New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco this past week, Food Inc. opens today in 45 theaters nationwide. Before the nationwide premiere, Kenner spoke with VF Daily about the movie’s success, the Obama administration’s food policy, and what he had for breakfast. MORE

JUN 15, 2009 - "Super cassava" to enter field trials in Nigeria - Monitor Online
An ambitious attempt to bioengineer cassava into a “complete meal” took a step forward with the approval of field trials for the plant by Nigeria’s National Biosafety Committee. The genetically modified cassava contains 30 times as much beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A, as its normal counterpart. MORE

JUN 12, 2009 - Ethiopian scientist named 2009 World Food Prize Laureate - World Food Prize
Dr. Gebisa Ejeta of Ethiopia has been named winner of the $250,000 World Food Prize for his monumental contributions in the production of sorghum, one of the world’s five principal cereal grains, which have dramatically enhanced the food supply of hundreds of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa. MORE

JUN 12, 2009 - AAEM calls for moratorium on genetically modified foods - American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM)
The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) today released its position paper on Genetically Modified foods stating that "GM foods pose a serious health risk" and calling for a moratorium on GM foods. Citing several animal studies, the AAEM concludes "there is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects" and that "GM foods pose a serious health risk in the areas of toxicology, allergy and immune function, reproductive health, and metabolic, physiologic and genetic health." MORE

JUN 4, 2009 - Update on county GMO situation - Lake County Record-Bee
The Lake County Genetically Modified Organisms advisory committee met Monday, May 18 in the supervisors' chambers with input from citizens and Anita Grant, Lake County Counsel. MORE

JUN 3, 2009 - Segregation needed for gene crops in Europe: scientists - AFP
Genetically-engineered crops and conventional crops would have to be grown in segregated areas to meet environmental concerns about transgenic farming in Europe, agricultural scientists said on Tuesday. MORE

JUN 3, 2009 - Apple trees destroyed - GMO Safety
On 1 June 2009, 270 apple trees on a trial site owned by the Institute for Breeding Research on Horticultural and Fruit Crops of the Julius Kühn Institute (JKI) in Dresden-Pillnitz were destroyed by unknown intruders. Most of the trees were genetically modified plants being grown in tubs in a special safety tent under field-like conditions. It is the first time that protesters have destroyed plants that were not being grown in the field. MORE

JUN 3, 2009 - Eat, Drink, Think, Change - New York Times
Into this world comes “Food, Inc.,” a documentary on the state of the nation’s food system that opens in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco on Friday.. MORE

MAY 29, 2009 - Poland wins battle with EC to limit GMOs - Warsaw Business Journal
In one of the most difficult negotiated issues with the European Commission, government representatives managed to convince officials in Brussels to limit the cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMO). MORE

MAY 28, 2009 - County may let modified beets grow on its land - Checkbiotech.org
Boulder County may allow six farmers to grow genetically modified sugar beets on 960 acres of leased open space, a move that could cause plenty of environmental problems, including the rise of "super weeds," the head of an organic farming group said. MORE

MAY 22, 2009 - Food Web, Meet Interweb: The Networked Future of Farms - Wired
Silicon Valley thinks the internet can transform anything from car sales to anonymous sex, but the way Americans grow and buy food is rooted in ancient, offline systems. Now, a Bay Area startup has launched a service to make it easier and cheaper for restaurants to buy food from small, local farms. With a suite of mobile apps for use in restaurants and on farms, FarmsReach wants to create an online food marketplace that would directly connect farms with restaurants. MORE

MAY 15, 2009 - Agriculture in Ghana: Few signs of concern as GM crops advance - Checkbiotech.org
Ghanaians are daily consuming genetically modified (GM) products imported by various traders without much care. However, as the government prepares to allow the planting of GM crops locally in a bid to boost food production, one non-governmental organisation, Friends of the Earth (FoE) Ghana is sounding the alarm. MORE

MAY 13, 2009 - Nobel Laureate Nüsslein-Volhard: "The ban on cultivating Bt maize sends an alarming signal" - GMO Safety
In a joint memorandum, the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) and German Agricultural Society (Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft, DLG) are demanding reliable conditions for research and development in the area of genetically modified plants. At a press conference in Berlin the presidents of the two organisations complained of a hostile climate to plant biotechnology and argued emphatically in favour of freedom of research and field trials. MORE

MAY 13, 2009 - Golden rice an effective source of vitamin A - Baylor College of Medicine Press Release
The beta-carotene in so-called "Golden Rice" converts to vitamin A in humans, according to researchers at Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu) and Tufts University in an article that appears in the current issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. MORE

MAY 7, 2009 - Seed Biotechnology Symposium to mark 10th anniversary - UC Davis Press Release
The Seed Biotechnology Center at the University of California, Davis, will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a May 11-12 symposium titled “Seed Biotechnologies: Filling the Gap between the Public and Private Sector.” MORE

MAY 4, 2009 - 81 unusual projects get $100K in Gates grants - Business Week
Can tomatoes be taught to make antiviral drugs for people who eat them? Would zapping your skin with a laser make your vaccination work better? Could malaria-carrying mosquitoes be given a teensy head cold that would prevent them from sniffing out a human snack bar? These are among 81 projects awarded $100,000 grants Monday by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in a bid to support innovative, unconventional global health research. MORE

MAY 1, 2009 - German spud go-ahead inflames GM row - Checkbiotech.org
Germany's agriculture minister Ilse Aigner has approved cultivation of BASF's genetically-modified potato Amflora just two weeks after banning a strain of genetically modified maize. MORE

APR 28, 2009 - Engineered corn's vitamin boost - BBC News
A genetically modified (GM) corn fortified with three vitamins has been created by European researchers. The modifications make the growing corn, or maize, produce large amounts of beta carotene and precursors of vitamin C and folic acid. MORE

APR 17 2009 - This petunia carries this artist's DNA - Star-Tribune (Minneapolis-St Paul)
The ever-accelerating March of Science has brought us cloned sheep, cows and most recently a camel. Are we ready now for a "plantimal"? That is, a creature combining genetic material from a plant and an animal? Specifically a petunia infused with human DNA? MORE

APR 15, 2009 - Germany bars genetically modified corn - Checkbiotech.org
Germany announced plans on Tuesday to ban the only genetically modified strain of corn grown in the European Union, dealing a new blow to the American manufacturer, Monsanto, and raising the specter of trade tensions with the United States. MORE

APR 8, 2009 - Chocolate eggs under growing threat from witches' broom - New Scientist
It's chocolate egg season again, and sales of the pagan and Christian symbols of rebirth are as strong as ever. But the hunt for Easter eggs may truly be on next year, because chocolate trees are in increasing trouble. MORE

APR 7, 2009 - Swenson committed to building bright future for wheat growers - Agri News
Biotechnology is critical for wheat's future, says Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers president Scott Swenson. He's not the only one calling for biotech wheat seed development. Wheat grower groups from around the world have signed a letter calling for biotech wheat development. MORE

MAR 27, 2009 - Norman Borlaug, Happy 95th Birthday! - Reason Magazine
One of the true giants of our time, plant breeder and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Norman Borlaug turns 95 today. Borlaug is the person who has saved more human lives than anyone in history. How? He was the father of the "Green Revolution" that more than doubled crop productivity in the 1960s and 1970s thus averting the massive global famines predicted by many doomsayers.norman borlaug I had the honor of interviewing Borlaug nine years ago for Reason. MORE

MAR 25, 2009 - Agricultural technology could feed rising population, but who will own crops? - Checkbiotech.org
The genetic revolution has come to food, as debates over how to deal with future pressures of population and climate change look to agricultural technology in hope of answers. But questions still remain over who owns the technology, who will do the research, and what forms of - and even whether - biotechnology is appropriate to human needs and the needs of smallholding farmers. MORE

MAR 20, 2009 - Biotech under Barack - Nature Biotechnology
The Obama administration looks to be a welcome shot in the arm for the scientific endeavor, but the current economic crisis is likely to keep several issues of key interest to biotech firmly on the back burner. MORE

MAR 19, 2009 - Mexico-ban lifted on GM maize - Checkbiotech.org
Mexico has lifted the ban on experimental cultivation of transgenic maize imposed in 1999 in this country where the crop was first domesticated and shaped human culture. Biotech giants have put forward two dozen projects for approval and have announced investments of 382 million dollars up to 2012. MORE

MAR 13, 2009 - Survey says growers do like biotech - Capital Press (subscription needed)
Wheat producers across the U.S. favor pursuit of genetically modified wheat, according to a survey. The National Association of Wheat Growers mailed surveys in January and February to about 21,000 producers with more than 500 acres of wheat and 1,000 acres in total production. MORE

MAR 13, 2009 - Flood-resistant rice aids farmers in South Asia - Voice of America News
Most rice grows in wet environments, but too much water can be disastrous for rice crops. Plant biologist Pamela Ronald helped create a type of flood-resistant rice that is being introduced to India and Bangladesh. In Davis, California, we spoke with Ronald about her new rice and its promise for small farmers in South Asia. MORE

MAR 12, 2009 - Collectively facing Ug99, a new stem rust to which most of the wheat and barley grown in the world has no resistance - Checkbiotech.org
When the threat to a food staple like wheat is worldwide, the best way to counter it is to enlist the world’s experts in a research coalition. That’s just what has been done to answer the very real threat of Ug99, a new stem rust to which most of the wheat and barley grown in the United States and the rest of the world has no resistance. MORE

MAR 5, 2009 - Grad student campaigns for White House farmer - Capital Press (subscription needed)
Having finished strongly in a national contest to pick a White House farmer, Davis graduate student Margaret Lloyd has become a national campaigner for local food. The effort to convince the President to install a garden on the White House Lawn and appoint an overseeing farmer has become a high-profile symbol of the local-food movement. MORE

MAR 3, 2009 - Europe ban on modified maize upheld - Financial Times (UK)
Efforts by Monsanto to introduce genetically modified maize into the European Union hit a fresh roadblock on Monday when member states upheld bans imposed by Austria and Hungary. MORE

MAR 2, 2009 - Ghana to undertake field trials on GM crops - Checkbiotech.org
Ghana will soon begin field trials with Genetically Modified crops, which, when successful, will help enhance agricultural modernization and productivity. This follows the coming into force of a legislative instrument in May 2008 allowing research into GM crops pending the passage of the Biosafety Bill. MORE

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