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China says 'no' to genetically engineered rice

31/01/2012

It took seven years, teams of young campaigners and hordes of devoted supporters, but September 2011 the Chinese government finally said it was suspending the commercialisation of genetically-engineered (GE) rice. The origins of rice cultivation can be traced to the valleys of China's Yangtze River, with some estimates putting it at over 7,000 years ago. In that time, rice has become an integral part of Chinese life and culture. It dictates the lives of millions of farmers in the Chinese countryside, feeds over a billion Chinese citizens each year and is synonymous with Chinese cuisine and culture.

12 Reasons To Avoid GMOs

31/01/2012

I love talking to people about food. And these days at my restaurant, I inevitably end up talking about GMOs. Often, people ask me the reasons why I do not allow any GMO foods at GustOrganics. In fact, this happens so often that I started creating a list in my head of all the reasons I choose not to offer them to my customers. The list started to get so big that I decided to write it down and I thought I'd share it with you, dear readers.

EU Commission plans new Regulation for risk assessment of genetically engineered plants

25/01/2012

The European Commission has presented a new draft Regulation for the risk assessment of food and feed. For the first time, it would mean that the European Food Safety Authority EFSA would have to work to legally binding standards. However, as a first Testbiotech analysis shows, the proposed standards are not sufficient to exclude risks for human health and the environment.

UK needs scientific research into agroecology not GM

25/01/2012

The greatest challenge facing agricultural scientists is how to work with farmers producing more ecological and healthier food - not GM, argues Patrick Mulvany, chair of the UK Food Group and advisor to Practical Action. At the start of 2012 we should be energised by the news that BASF, the German chemical and seeds giant, has decided to pull out of genetically modified plant development in Europe. This is testament to the effectiveness of public pressure and 'another nail in the coffin for genetically modified foods in Europe,' as Adrian Bebb of Friends of the Earth said.

Monsanto says won't sell GMO maize in France in 2012

24/01/2012

U.S. biotech firm Monsanto said on Tuesday it does not plan to sell its genetically modified maize MON810 in France this year, nor after, even though the country's highest court overturned a 3-year ban in November. "Monsanto considers that favorable conditions for the sale of the MON810 in France in 2012 and beyond are not in place," the company said in a statement, adding that it had told the French authorities about its intentions.

USDA Greenlights Monsanto's Utterly Useless New GMO Corn

23/01/2012

The drought-tolerant corn decision, which came down on Dec. 21, was momentous occasion, because it marked the first deregulation of a GMO crop with a "complex" trait. What I mean by that is, the other GMOs on the market have simple, one-gene traits: a gene that confers resistance to a particular herbicide, like Monsanto's Roundup Ready seed or a gene that expresses the toxic-to-bugs properties of the bacteria Bt, as in Monsanto's Bt seed. But a plant's use of water is a complex process involving several genes; there's no single "drought tolerant" gene. Generating such traits in plants that succeed in field conditions has been considerably more tricky for the agrichemical giants than than simple traits.

South Africa Exporting Corn Risks Depleting Domestic Supplies: Commodities

18/01/2012

A government-backed plan to export a record corn surplus may leave South African silos drained of the country’s staple food by the end of April. The price of white corn, used to make the corn meal eaten by many South Africans, has risen to a record in Johannesburg and the nation is importing the yellow variety of the grain for the first time in two years. Millers, chicken producers and cattle breeders are facing a surge in costs and food inflation may quicken to as much as 15 percent from 11.1 percent in November, said Gina Schoeman, an economist at Absa Group Ltd.

BASF moves GM division out of Europe

16/01/2012

BASF, the German chemical giant, is to pull out of genetically modified plant development in Europe and relocate it to the US, where political and consumer resistance to GM crops is not so entrenched. The headquarters of BASF Plant Science will move from Limburgerhof in south-west Germany to Raleigh, North Carolina, and two smaller sites in Germany and Sweden will close. The company will transfer some GM crop development to the US but stop work on crops targeted at the European market – four varieties of potato and one of wheat.

France upholds ban on Monsanto GM maize

13/01/2012

The French government said on Friday it would uphold its ban on a strain of genetically modified maize developed by U.S. biotech firm Monsanto in 2012, even though France's highest court overturned the moratorium last year. The ecology and agriculture ministers said in a statement they would maintain the ban on MON810, an insect-resistant strain of maize which is sold in several European countries, after meeting with farming groups.

Beekeepers occupy Monsanto France

07/01/2012

Starting from a standing meeting Léojac they signed yesterday a coup by penetrating so cunning in the administrative buildings of the Monsanto-Monbéqui installed near the Garonne. An advance guard of about twenty of them acted as the Trojan horse posing as deliverymen and then opening the gates to the main body. The surprise was total. When the police arrived the occupants were on the premises with hives, smoker and realise what a picnic invigorating.

Latvia on the brink of complete ban of GMO products

06/01/2012

More than 100 of the 110 municipalities (novads) of Latvia have decided that their land will be GMO-free by the end of 2012. Cultivation of GM crops will be prohibited on municipal land, according to Eric Leitis, senior consultant of the protection of species and habitats at the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of Latvia.