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Author Archives: GDS
Bt Cotton in Africa: What Happened in Burkina Faso?
As stories about GM crops in developing countries unfold, I continue to be struck by how very different each case is. Despite the desire for simple global narratives of success or failure, the crops differ, the transgenic traits differ, the … Continue reading
Posted in Africa, Agriculture, Biotechnology
Tagged agriculture, biotechnology, cotton, genetically modified, Monsanto
12 Comments
CRISPR and the Monsanto Problem (GMO, be some other name!)
‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy; Thou art thyself, though not a GMO. What’s GMO? it is nor hand, nor foot, Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part Belonging to a man. O, be some other name! … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Biotechnology, CRISPR
17 Comments
Golden Rice: Bringing a Superfood Down to Earth
May 2016: The article “Disembedding grain: Golden Rice, the Green Revolution, and heirloom seeds in the Philippines,” by Dominic Glover and me, has been published in the journal Agriculture & Human Values and is available here. This blog post is … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Biotechnology, Food, Philippines
39 Comments
Unload DDT
What a bloodbath on Wall St — XOM down 5%, UNH down 5%, DIS down 4%. But the biggest loser this week was DDT. DDT featured prominently in the recent blog highlighting the ongoing studies by Berkeley’s Barbara Cohn. Despite … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Industrial Agriculture, Public Health
7 Comments
GM Foods: A Moment of Honesty
As the latest controversy over GMO’s unfolds – this time it’s about a House Bill that would ban labeling laws – it’s time for a moment of honesty about science and safety. Of course safety is hardly the only bone … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Biotechnology, Food, Public Health, Regulation
Tagged agriculture, biotechnology, endocrine disruptors, environmental toxicology
56 Comments
Three stories on the factory farm
Three items crossed my desk this week concerning the factory farm scene, i.e. CAFO’s or Confined Animal Feeding Operations. Two were scientific studies with troubling implications for our health, and one was a dumb piece of clickbait concerning bestiality. Guess … Continue reading
Do Farmers Want GM Crops?
Do small farmers in developing countries want GM crops? That is a truly divisive question, and it seems like anyone with a dog in the hunt gets to speak for the farmers. I want to consider what’s wrong with the … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Biotechnology, India
14 Comments
A century later, we find out…
These two items appeared in separate sections of the NY Times yesterday: There was an obituary for Elizabeth Whelan, who started the American Council on Science and Health back in 1978. This was an industry-supported initiative claiming to represent “Science, … Continue reading
Posted in Biotechnology, Food, Public Health, Regulation
5 Comments
The Right to Farm Right
I’ve got an idea: why don’t we Missourians follow up on passing our ALEC-supported ag-gag law with a full-blown amendment to the state constitution to shield industrial agriculture? That way, even if someone risks being officially listed as a terrorist … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Food, Industrial Agriculture, Regulation
Tagged agriculture, corruption, factory farming, small farms, virginia
7 Comments
Theme Park Farming in Japan
[A different version of this post appeared as the inaugural “Notes From The Field” on the website for Culture and Agriculture.] Those of us interested in farming talk about “indigenous knowledge” a lot, but several years ago Paul Richards suggested … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Food, Industrial Agriculture, Japan
Tagged agriculture, farming projects
3 Comments
fieldquestions 