The tremendous drought in Texas and the Southwest that I wrote about in early April continues on (almost 50% of Texas is experience “exceptional” drought now, the highest level of drought — “unprecedented” according to experts). Furthermore, it has expanded and is affecting even more important U.S. farming areas.
Greenwashing Genetically Modified Crops
One of the biggest weapons in GMO companies’ arsenal is the claim they make repeatedly that genetically modified (GM) crops are needed to help feed to world in the face of global climate change. There’s one problem with this claim, though — it’s total greenwashing and untrue.
F***ed Up: USDA Lets GMO Companies (e.g. Monsanto) Perform Own Environmental Impact Studies
The USDA continues to ignore the message and ruling of the court and makes it easier for GM crops (like Monsanto’s GM sugar beets) to be approved and planted without true government oversight.
Texas’ Worst Drought in 44 Years Driving Food Prices Up
In January, February, and March, I discussed the link between climate change and rising food prices. Well, there was big news out of Texas recently bringing us back to that topic yet again. Texas is experiencing its worst drought in 44 years and it is damaging the state’s wheat crop. This is driving up the price of wheat and meat (ranchers have had to reduce the size of their herds).
European Countries May Soon Not Be Able to Ban GMOs
I felt tremendously disheartened and somewhat shocked last year when I reported on the European Commission’s approval of BASF’s GM Amflora potato (aka the ‘Frankentstein potato’), the first authorization of a GM crop in 12 years and the second overall.
Food Prices Rising Fast in U.S., More to Come?
I wrote last week that we should probably cover the link between food and broader issues a little more here on Eat Drink Better. With a nudge from our site director, Becky Striepe, and network founder/publisher, David Anderson, I’ve decided to cover the complicated but important topic of rising food prices today.
The LA Times had a decent piece on this topic recently that included a number of interesting food statistics. What of the following did you know?
Teenage Farmworker Death Requires Justice & Change
I’ve covered the horrendous topic of child labor on farms in the U.S. in the past, as well as Stephen Colbert’s testimony to Congress on immigrant farmworkers in which he almost broke into tears. Now, I’m bringing to you the…
Monsanto GM Sugar Beets (and Alfalfa) Approval: Why This is Bad News
We have a great post going up tomorrow morning on the USDA’s recent approval of Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) — “genetically engineered” (“GE”) if you live in Europe — sugar beets and GM alfalfa from Ken Roseboro, editor of The Organic & Non-GMO Report. It will cover health concerns (based on scientific studies), environmental concerns, legal concerns, considerable threats to organic farmers and consumers, and the USDA’s decision to ignore public concerns and comments from hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens. But I wanted to chime in on this with a few comments of my own.
Global Food Supply Issues & Chance of Food Riots
These days, living in a global village of sorts, we can easily take for granted the wide variety of foods we have access to and relatively low food prices. However, as the United States Agricultural & Food Law and Policy Blog (USAFLPB) notes, global food supply may be approaching its limit, we are currently seeing considerable price increases, and we could see much more in the future.
Help the Bees: Tell EPA to Ban Killer Pesticide
Bees are an essential part of our food system, as they pollinate many of the flowering plants we grow food on. “Pollination by honey bees is key in cultivating the crops that produce a full one-third of our food,” Credo Action writes. But if you haven’t heard, you should know that bees have been seeing major colony collapse in recent years. Colony Collapse Disease has decimated bees across the U.S. since 2006, killing off approximately 30% of the population each year.