by Marion Nestle, PhD, professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University
I was a member of the FDA Food Advisory Committee when the agency approved production of genetically modified foods in the early 1990s.
At the time, critics repeatedly warned that widespread planting of GM crops modified to resist Monsanto’s weed-killer, Roundup, were highly likely to select for “superweeds” that could withstand treatment with Roundup. Continue reading
Posted in Food Politics, Pesticides & GMOs
Tagged GMOs, industrial food system, pesticides
by Marcia Ishii-Eiteman, PhD, senior scientist at Pesticide Action Network
Spring has sprung, and farmers across the country are preparing for planting season. One of their biggest headaches will be dealing with the millions of acres of cropland that have been infested with superweeds and with new generations of superbugs. These superpests have evolved as the direct — and inevitable — consequence of Monsanto’s aggressive promotion of its genetically engineered “RoundUp-Ready” and insecticidal seed packages over the past 15 years. Continue reading
Posted in Children's Health, Men's Health, Pesticides & GMOs, Women's Health
Tagged GMOs, industrial farming, pesticides
By Marcia Ishii-Eiteman, PhD, senior scientist at Pesticide Action Network
As if the disaster of RoundUp resistant superweeds sweeping our farmland weren’t enough, Monsanto is now preparing to launch an even greater disaster: a new soybean engineered to be resistant to the older, more toxic weedkiller, dicamba. The seed — which Monsanto plans to market in 2014 if approved — will also come stacked with the company’s RoundUp Ready gene, and is designed to be used with Monsanto’s proprietary herbicide “premix” of dicamba and glyphosate. Continue reading
Posted in Children's Health, Men's Health, Pesticides & GMOs, Women's Health
Tagged GMOs, industrial farming, pesticides
By Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch
‘Tis the season to reflect on the past year and hold high expectations for the blank slate that awaits in January. Here’s one resolution for all you consumers hoping to improve your health and the environment: Starting in 2012, avoid genetically engineered foods [also known as GMOs].
It won’t be easy. By some estimates, 70 percent of processed food contains engineered ingredients. That’s why we need lawmakers and grocery retailers to turn over a new leaf in the coming year and support our right to know what we’re eating. Continue reading
By Margaret Reeves, PhD, senior scientist at Pesticide Action Network
A new study supports earlier findings that Monsanto’s biggest selling weedkiller may actually be harming crop production by increasing the incidence of fungal root disease. This could be why the “RoundUp-ready” corn and soybeans that Monsanto has engineered to be used with the herbicide have failed to deliver promised yields. Continue reading
by Tyler Smith, Senior Research & Policy Assistant, Farming for the Future, Center for a Livable FutureMany public health hazards are too small to see. This is especially true of engineered nano-materials, or ENMs. As their name implies, these materials are small—no more than a few hundred nanometers in diameter. (For perspective, one nanometer is one billionth of a meter, or one human hair split lengthwise 80,000 times!) Sounds cool, right? But consider this: ENMs’ small size could increase the health risk they pose for humans exposed to them.
by Erin McCarthy, program associate at the GRACE Communications Foundation.
Goodbye concrete jungle, hello sun sand and soil.
Back in January, I fled the Big Apple in favor of the Ridge to Reef Farmer Residency at the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute in St. Croix. My fingertips itched to similarly abandon the keyboard in favor of warm soil and I knew it was time to enrich my knowledge of organic agriculture by actually farming. (Escaping one of New York’s worst winters ever turned out to be an added perk.) Personally, I have long felt connected to St. Croix — nearly forty years ago, my mother spent a stint working there as an elementary school teacher. I know she looks fondly upon these years, and when I was finally off to see St. Croix for myself, I had no doubt a similar experience was in store. Soon I would be creating lifelong friendships from sunup to sunset, and enjoying the simple pleasures of life on the farm.
by Mae Wu, program attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council
This just in from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration: “Keep waiting.”
I was on the FDA website the other day, and it seems the FDA has quietly made a small change to a webpage that has big implications for all of us. In a 37-year history of delays, FDA is again delaying protecting us from potentially unsafe chemicals in antibacterial soaps. Continue reading
Posted in Children's Health, Healthy Home & Garden, Men's Health, Women's Health
Tagged personal care, pesticides
by Deirdre Imus, founder and president of The Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center at Hackensack University Medical Center
For millions of kids, the warmer weather means only one thing…the start of spring and summer sport programs. Soon baseball diamonds, golf courses, and soccer fields across the country will be filled with energetic, competitive kids.
Keeping those playing fields in good condition and free of pests, however, requires regular maintenance that includes spraying the grass with a toxic cocktail of chemical fungicides, herbicides and insecticides. Although we have become accustomed to their use, make no mistake these chemicals are poisons and are meant to kill living organisms; weeds, fungus and a variety of insects. Continue reading
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