Genetically Modified Crops

In 1982 entry, corrects reference to Monsanto and Times Beach controversy (Reuters) - Over its 108-year history, Monsanto Co, the world's largest seed company, has evolved from primarily an industrial chemical concern into a pure agricultural products company. Following is a timeline of the St. Louis, Missouri-based company's history. * 1901 - Original Monsanto founded as a maker of saccharine by John F. Queeny and named after his wife, Olga Monsanto Queeny. * 1920s and 1930s - Manufacturers sulfuric acid and other chemicals, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which are later implicated in reproductive, developmental and immune system disorders. * 1940s - Manufactures plastics and ... Read Full Story

‘A total population of 250-300 million people, a 95% decline from present levels, would be ideal.’ – Ted Turner to Audubon Magazine, 1996 In an April 18th 2009 article on the development of GM-Food for the African continent, ‘Strange Fruit: Could genetically modified foods offer a solution to the world’s food crisis? the author mentions that the Rockefeller Foundation has recently set out to fund the process of ‘biofortified rice’ for third world nations, invented by a Swiss scientist named Ingo Potrykus. In 2000 a Swiss scientist named Ingo Potrykus modified rice, adding a bacterial gene and two genes from the daffodil, to add ... Read Full Story

LONDON (Reuters) - The world needs genetically modified crops both to increase food yields and minimize the environmental impact of farming, Britain's top science academy said on Wednesday. The Royal Society said in a report the world faced a "grand challenge" to feed another 2.3 billion people by 2050 and at the same time limit the environmental impact of the farm sector. The world will have to increase food output by 70 percent and invest $83 billion annually in developing countries by mid-century, the U.N.'s Food and Agricultural Organization said earlier this month. "The problem is such an acute one, doing that sustainably without ... Read Full Story

Do you wonder at the safety of genetically modified foods? Do you even know what they are and how they are produced? The information that follows will make your hair stand on end. Be armed with good information so you can protect your health and your family! Expect to be shocked. If rats won't eat it, should you? Read Full Story

The EU Commission stressed Thursday that health and environmental factors were foremost in approving genetically modified foodstuffs, while protesting farmers and environmentalists called for an outright ban. "GMOs (genetically modified organisms) are one of the most sensitive dossiers on my desk," EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said during a meeting with farmers organised by Greenpeace in front of the Brussels headquarters of the commission. "Our priority is to make sure when we authorise (GMOs) that there is no risk for people, animals and environment," she added. Greenpeace's EU agriculture policy director Marco Contiero was unimpressed as he handed over a 180,000-signature petition calling on ... Read Full Story