Several days ago when I wrote about the imminent approval of genetically-engineered salmon, I also said something else: this will pave the way for genetically-engineered animals and cloned animals.

Well, the USDA recently announced that it would be giving $500,000 to Recombinetics, a Minnesota-based company for “TALEN-mediated chromosome targeting for monosexing and genetic containment in livestock.”

Translation: money for the company to help introduce genetically-engineered animals (pigs) into the food and biomedical marketplace.

Make no mistake about it. The USDA is very, very pro-biotech.

The grant that Recombinetics received came from the USDA’s Biotechnology Risk Assessment Grants (BRAG) program, which was established in 1992. Read more »

Let’s put this under the You Just Can’t Make This Stuff Up category.

Under a new USDA fast-track process, a Canadian company is asking the USDA to approve a genetically-engineered (GE) apple that will not turn brown when sliced.

Now for some questions……

What happens when an apple is sliced open and exposed to oxygen? It turns brown.

Does it lose any of its flavor or nutritional value? No. Read more »

Yesterday, I responded to a blog post that the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute put up on its site called “Are Organic Foods Better for You?“, and I heard back from them this morning.

Dana-Farber’s post (which has since been modified – see picture of the original post below) said that “there is no scientific evidence that eating organic foods increases health benefits”.

Not only is this a false statement, but it insinuated that eating conventionally-grown, pesticide-laden foods is just the same as eating organic food. Furthermore, it goes against what the President’s Cancer Panel (PDF File) says – that we should eat foods that have been grown without the use of pesticides.

I lashed out at Dana-Farber and called the post “factually incorrect and morally reprehensible.”

A few hours ago, I got an email from Michael Buller, the Director of Creative & Editorial Services at Dana-Farber, who said the following: Read more »

(PLEASE NOTE: DANA-FARBER HAS SINCE REVISED THE BLOG POST THAT I DISCUSS HERE – TO SEE A PICTURE OF THE ORIGINAL POST, GO TO MY POST WRITTEN ON 7/17/12)

A close friend of mine sent me a link to a post on the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute blog the other day, and reading it made me incredibly angry.

Having grown up in Boston and aware that Dana-Farber is one of the leading cancer hospitals in the world, I am fully aware that criticizing this renowned institution is pretty much heresy.

But I feel obligated to do it anyway because the blog post is factually incorrect and morally reprehensible.

The post is titled “Are Organic Foods Better For You?” and goes on to say that “there is no scientific evidence that eating organic foods increases health benefits.” This is completely and utterly false.

Here are a just a few examples:

– Research done at Washington State University found that organic strawberries had significantly higher antioxidant activity and concentrations of ascorbic acid and phenolic compounds.
Read more »

Sorry to give you GMO-related stories two days in a row (I do my best to space them out), but there is important news that I needed to share with you as soon as possible.

As you probably know, Congress is now debating, drafting and cutting backroom deals regarding the Farm Bill. Since this massive policy initiative and spending bill is only passed once every four years, the stakes are enormous.

Through their massive lobbying efforts, chemical companies have inserted dangerous riders into the House version of the Farm Bill that would hijack the federal regulatory process for new genetically-engineered crops.

If the provisions pass, new GE-crops could be fast-tracked to the marketplace without evaluation by federal agencies. It is essential that federal agencies thoroughly assess the safety of GE-crops before they’re introduced to store shelves and our homes.

The proposed riders in the Farm Bill include: Read more »

There is a lot of debate about whether soy products are healthy or not to eat.

Some people think they are fine, while others believe that their high levels of phyto-estrogens cause hormonal and reproductive problems.

My take on it is that soy products are okay to consume but they need to be fermented – tofu and miso, being two examples – and I only eat small amounts of them.  Soy milk is not fermented and is something that I completely avoid, even if it is organic.

One issue that is indisputable is that genetically-modified soy presents very, very serious health risks.

And given that 91% of the soy produced in the U.S. is genetically-modified, it is something that everyone needs to be aware of.

Here are the frightening facts about genetically-modified soy. Read more »

On my Facebook page the other day, I posted a link to The New York Times story about the incredible growth of organic baby/kids food in squeezable pouches and how these convenient products have impacted the family dynamic. This article generated some questions from a few of you, and I thought that I would address them here.

First off, the article is not an indictment against organic. (Many parents know that organic is much, much healthier than conventional food, and that is one reason why organic pouches are booming in popularity.)

Rather, the NYT article discusses how our lives have become so busy, so scheduled, and so hectic that organic food in a pouch is slowly becoming the de facto way to feed our kids.

As a result, the family ritual of dinnertime is going by the wayside, a very sad commentary.

Even though parents may be buying these organic food pouches for themselves or for their children because of time constraints, there is something very important to keep in mind here. Read more »