The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) last week formally listed the beloved migratory monarch butterfly as endangered, citing dire threats to the subspecies posed by the climate crisis, deforestation, pesticide use and logging. Read more.
Get Informed on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
EU Commission’s Secret Policy Scenarios show Full GMO Deregulation on the Cards
The European Commission is secretly considering the full deregulation of certain types of genetically modified (GM) crops – yet it has not admitted as much publicly. Under such policy scenarios, deregulation could mean scrapping safety checks, traceability, and labelling for GMOs that are claimed to be able to arise naturally – and removing GMO labelling for GM products declared “sustainable”. Read more.
Glyphosate: That Whole Story and an Urgent Call to Action
A gluten-free diet (no wheat, barley, or rye) lifted me out of a state of chronic illness several years ago. While gluten sensitivity is becoming more prevalent, impacting up to 13% of the population1, I still regularly experience the joys of explaining my various food sensitivities to well-intentioned, inquisitive friends as well as annoyed, skeptical waiters. It’s a challenging tightrope to walk, sharing my health experience while stopping well short of the fuller more heartbreaking picture…the steady rise in chronic disease over the last two decades. Read more.
Why are we Feeding Crops to our Cars when People are Starving?
There’s nothing complicated about the effects of turning crops into biofuel. If food is used to power cars or generate electricity or heat homes, either it must be snatched from human mouths, or ecosystems must be snatched from the planet’s surface, as arable lands expand to accommodate the extra demand. But governments and the industries that they favour obscure this obvious truth. They distract and confuse us about an evidently false solution to climate breakdown. Read more.
Journalist Commissioned by Agency to Ghostwrite Articles Defending Glyphosate and Attacking IARC
In an article for the French political magazine Fakir, the journalist Julien Fomenta Rosat tells how he was commissioned by a shadowy agency to write numerous articles to influence public opinion. These included articles aimed at discrediting the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) after it classified glyphosate as a probable carcinogen. The agency, iStrat, acted as a middleman for unknown clients whose anonymity was carefully concealed. Read more.
The Latest REALLY Bad Ideas from the Food Industry
While innovation is generally championed in all markets, and problem-solving for vegans, climate change, the environment, etc., is appreciated, there is a line that scientists are crossing in the name of these causes that often goes too far. The point at which one crosses over into the realm of “too much, too far” is when they create a new product while wearing blinders that block out their view of the safety and health implications. Case in point, Israeli scientists have genetically engineered hens that produce a toxin that kills their male offspring. Read more.
Synthetic Biology — The Future of Food?
While we were distracted with Covid-19, lockdowns, mask mandates, and other conundrums, manufacturers of artificial food were busy at work creating the “new food economy.” Since the strategy for getting pesticide-intensive GMO crops onto your plate or your backyard is failing (see Kellogg Commits to Phasing Out Glyphosate by 2025 and Bayer to Remove Glyphosate from Lawn & Garden Roundup Products ) the world of evermore frightening fake foods is moving boldly forward. Read more.
VICTORY! SRAP Helps Iowa Residents Stop a Large Select CAFO
It’s easy to build a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) in Iowa. Weak regulations and a powerful pork industry make Iowa the country’s leading pork producer. While CAFOs aren’t easy to stop in Iowa, local residents from Tama County showed that it can be done with some grit, determination, persistence—and most importantly—public pressure. Read more.
Startups hit back at Non-GMO Project attempt to discredit emerging ‘animal-free dairy’ category
‘Animal-free dairy’ startups have hit back at what they claim are attempts by the Non GMO Project and others to discredit the emerging technology by mischaracterizing it as dangerous, unregulated and bad for the environment. Read more.
The Toxic Mix You Consume in the Name of Clean Water
The use of sewage sludge as fertilizer for your food, renamed “biosolids” by slick industry PR firms, is a growing and under-publicized threat to human health. Sewage sludge is the residue generated during the treatment of domestic waste and contains a cocktail of hazardous substances from industry, hospitals and humans — anything that is discharged into the sewage system. Read more.
