Brinjals commit suicide for Greenpeace cause
Thousand brinjals were found hanging from electricity poles, street lamp posts and trees across Mumbai with suicide notes attached — attracting curious onlookers.
The stunt was a part of Greenpeace's unique protest against genetically modified vegetables that could soon find their way into your neighbourhood vegetable market.
Greenpeace Campaigns Manager, Rajesh Krishnan says, "We selected brinjal because it will be the first genetically modified vegetable to be introduced in the Indian market in early 2009."
U.S. farmers up the ante on Japan's struggle against modified corn
Japan, the last major importer in Asia still holding out against genetically modified corn for human food use, could soon be forced into a corner by record corn prices in the United States.
The world's largest corn importer has long had animal feed that uses genetically modified organisms, or GMO, but buys only a small amount of such corn for human food use.
But food makers are caught between U.S. farmers demanding a higher premium for GMO-free corn and Japanese grocers and consumers, who are the last in Asia still resisting modified crops.
Anti-GM activists keep tabs on 21 SA field trials
Almost two- dozen experimental field trials of genetically engineered potatoes, maize, cotton, groundnuts and sugar cane were held in SA last year, according to the African Centre for Biosafety (ACB).
Although details of the experiments were published in advance in regional newspapers, the ACB's report is the first attempt to consolidate the information . The report shows that field trials were conducted in all provinces except Eastern Cape by state-funded bodies, such as the Agricultural Research Council, and by seed companies such as Monsanto and Syngenta .
The ACB, which campaigns against genetically modified (GM) crops, said it had published a “biohazard update” to raise awareness about the extent of experiments into the technology.
Australia Will Promote Drought-Resistant Crops
Agricultural minister Tony Burke has announced Australia will promote the development of drought-resistant genetically modified (GM) wheat.
Burke said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd supports the idea of improving the drought tolerance of crops as an alternative to continuing the current system of insurance and financial disaster relief for Australian farmers. Such relief has cost the Australian government more than $3 billion since 2001.
Carrots get even healthier
Moms may soon have even more reason to tell their children to eat their veggies. Specially developed carrots have been produced to help people absorb more calcium, a mineral necessary in building strong bones. Milk, yogurt, and cheese, major contributors of calcium in the typical diet, have a new friend. Studies conducted by the Texas A&M AgriLife's Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center, in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine, finds that the genetically modified carrots, called sCAX1, can help prevent such diseases as osteoporosis.
Genetically altered mice are "superathletes"
The altered mice can run at 20 meters per minute (0.75 miles per hour or 1.2 kilometers per hour) for up to six kilometers (nearly four miles) without stopping. The average treadmill time for strenuous exercise on a 25-degree incline is 31.9 minutes, well in excess of the 19 minute average of unmodified mice. Females can breed at two and a half years of age, whereas most female mice cannot breed after the first year.
Leading supermarket labels GMO products
Even as Qatar is working overtime to bring in a labelling system for the Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) products available in the retail outlets in Qatar, a supermarket has already introduced the system at its Doha outlet.
An expert displayed a GMO-labeled food product bought from the local market at a workshop hosted by the Supreme Council for Environment and Natural Reserves (SCENR) here yesterday.
Displaying a specific brand of labelled yogurt, Benedikt Haerlin, Head, Foundation on Future Farming, Berlin, said the retail major has introduced the labelling system across the world.
Ethical Image Hard Sell For Chemical Companies
In the end of 2007, BASF shows the best EthicalQuote score out of 18 Chemical companies, closely followed by DuPont, while Syngenta and Monsanto occupy the last positions. From January to December 2007, DuPont, BASF and Bayer show the best progression. Results expressing the Reported Performance (positive news only) place DuPont in first position, followed by Dow Chemicals, Bayer and BASF.
Why is it so difficult for Chemical companies to be perceived as ethical? Because of their products, Covalence says. GMO is the biggest issue within negative news. It is a focal point of criticisms geared towards the Chemical industry. Other product-related issues that have made the ethical reputation of chemical companies suffer in 2007 are: Agent Orange, Biofuel production, DBCP pesticide in Central America, patent abuse / evergreening, Atrazine (PFO, Tauccamarca 1999), crop protection (Atrazine, Paraquat), and Aspartame/Nutrasweet risk. Pollution appears as the second most important issue within negative news.
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