I’ve been following the FDA’s hearings about the approval of genetically modified salmon for human consumption. And I’m excited to tell you that it was NOT approved. However, it was also NOT not approved. (Tricky double negative there.) The FDA “failed to reach a conclusion” on the matter (and has declined to set a timetable …
Sep
11
ACT NOW: Help Stop Genetically Modified Salmon
Not long ago, I posted about Frankenfish – genetically modified salmon that grow twice as fast as natural salmon. On September 19th, the FDA is meeting to discuss the approval of these GE (genetically engineered) salmon for human consumption. If approved, this would no doubt open the flood gates to allow all types of genetic …
Jun
30
Frankenfish
The FDA is eerily close to approving genetically modified salmon for human consumption. These “AquAdvantage” fish, as the company that created them calls them, are Atlantic salmon that are genetically altered to contain a growth hormone gene from a Chinook salmon as well as a genetic “on-switch” from the ocean pout, a distant relative of the …
May
28
Movie Review: The Future Of Food
This documentary about genetically engineered food is really eye-opening. Eye opener #1: Much of the US public probably does not even know that we’re eating genetically modified food. Lots of it. Genetically modified corn, soybeans, canola, and cotton (which were non-existent in the 1980s) are now so commonplace that approximately 95% of American soybeans are …
Apr
29
A Brief History Lesson
At the end of WWII, our munitions plants were morphed into plowshare factories and began turning our ammonium nitrate surplus into chemical fertilizers (if you follow that link, start reading about half-way down, at the paragraph that starts with “Unfortunately…”). But fertilizers and machinery are not the only things linked to war. Most chemical warfare …
Jan
28
Movie Review: Food, Inc.
Food, Inc. is a fantastic summary of all the food-related issues in the US today. Marketing The way we eat has changed more in the past 50 years than in the previous 200. But we still use the same images of agarian America to sell food. Hillshire Farms, owned by Sarah Lee, a $12.8 billion …
Jan
05
Intro To GMOs
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are living organisms whose DNA has been altered by genetic engineering. Foreign genes have been inserted into the genome of these organisms. GMOs have widespread applications, such as biological and medical research, production of pharmaceutical drugs, experimental medicine, and (yep) food. Today the broadest, and most controversial, use of GMOs is …
