The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved commercial planting of a potato that is genetically modified to resist bruising and to produce less of a chemical that has caused cancer in animals. The USDA this month gave the Boise, Idaho-based company, J.R. Simplot Co. permission to begin commercial planting of its new spud, called the […]
food saftey
6 reason why my kind of Food Day is healthy & sustainable
Today is Food Day. Not office “food day” or post-birthday leftover food day (which is what I’m really celebrating). But food day that is being celebrated differently than most people in agriculture might think. Food Day was founded by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Their goal is to help inspire Americans to […]
Are GMOs untested?
A recent report came out by Consumer Reports that contains several factual errors and promotes misinformation about GMOs in food products. So let’s just get the facts out there. GMO products undergo extensive, rigorous testing prior to approval. Here in the U.S., there are two mandated steps to GMO approval, by the U.S. Department of […]
Making food biotech easier to understand
A new website was launched today – gmoanswers.com – to simply help provide answers to your questions about GMO’s (genetically modified organisms) otherwise known as biotechnology. Its goal is to make information about biotechnology in food and agriculture easier to access and understand. Some questions include: How can you be sure that GMO foods won’t […]
Local meat
“Locally produced” is one of the hottest terms in the food business today, according to an article posted recently on CattleNetwork. I’ve discussed “local” before with expanding our definitions of local, food trends and even “big beef”. But I guess I’ve never really defined (on the blog) my own definition of “local”. Local to Me: […]
Things moms get wrong at the grocery store
Moms aren’t always right when it comes to the grocery store, according to the new Gate to Plate survey of more than 1,000 moms. The survey found that moms are often misinformed, especially when buying “all-natural” and “hormone-free” products. (Click on the graphic to the right to see entire results.) Findings of the survey include: […]
What is Whole Foods’ non-GMO risk?
The cyclical interest in GMO foods being labeled or not even included in some retail stores is uncanny. Recently, an interested article arose on SuperMarketGuru.com regarding the decision by Whole Foods Market to push for full GMO transparency. A question was asked, “What if suppliers shrugged and said something like, ‘They’re just 340 stores. We […]
Three rights of our safe, affordable and abundant food supply
This is Part 2 of 3 of “Making safe, affordable and abundant food a global reality”, Jeff Simmons and Dr. Chris Ashworth from Elanco. Read more at PlentyToThinkAbout.org. In the Part 1 blog post, Simmons summed up that the role of technology in developing safe, affordable and abundant food enables three rights: food, choice, sustainability. […]
The farm effect.
More than ever, I have heard more people say they, or their kids, are allergic to unusual things. Peanuts. Tomatoes. Fish. Odors of food. Plants and animals. Room temperature food. And heaven forbid – Chocolate. An NPR article posted today shows the research that the issues with more and more kids becoming allergic to food […]
Healthy animals = safer food = happy people
A task force for the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) have looked at the pressures to change livestock rearing methods, evidence to support the direct public health impact on human illness days, and food safety and inspection service regulations. They (and you and I) know that many groups in society, including politicians, activists, […]
