GMO Archives - Sustainable Agricultural Innovations & Food

Holy Healthy Houseplant Batman!

ByStuart SmythFebruary 19, 2019February 19, 20190

Being indoors doesn’t mean you’re safe from air pollution. Canadian’s spending 90% of their time indoor, which means indoor air quality should be a growing concern for us Canadian. Being indoors so much exposes ourselves to volatile organic carcinogens (VOCs) like chloroform and benzene, which can have negative effects on our health. Research has recently genetically modified an ivy plant to help reduce such VOC exposure, yet its a long way from being your future houseplant.

Innovation, New, Sustainable

Still Unsure of Climate Change? Take to the Forest for Proof

ByStuart SmythOctober 2, 2018October 1, 20181

Could insect resistant trees mitigate forest fires? One of the most significant results from climate change in the forestry sector has been the migration of insects, like the spruce wood budworm and mountain pine beetle. Warmer winters have allowed both of these insects to spread into areas where they previously …

Agriculture, Innovation, New

Evolution of Plant Breeding

ByStuart SmythSeptember 19, 2018September 19, 20181

Moving from random, untargeted mutagenesis to specific, targeted mutagenesis Humans have been breeding plants for millennia. Our ancestors began to domesticate plants (and animals) at least 10,000 years ago, allowing nomadic tribes to become stationary and form communities as they no longer had to pursue their food. Only in the …

Agri-vated, Agriculture, New

The Politics of Food Safety

ByStuart SmythJune 21, 2018June 21, 20180

How foreign governments & eNGOs are playing politics over a handful of GM wheat kernels In mid-June 2018, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) reported that a few GM wheat plants had been detected in southern Alberta, amounting to no more than a handful of seeds. Using Canada’s science-based risk …

Agriculture, Innovation, New

The Dawning of a New Era in Plant Breeding

ByStuart SmythMarch 29, 2018March 28, 20181

Gene Editing and Plant Biotechnology Gene editing technologies have emerged from the broader field of agricultural biotechnology, sometimes referred to as the gene revolution of agriculture. Gene editing allows for single gene-specific mutation, while standard mutagenic breeding resulted in tens of thousands of gene mutations. Mutagenesis has been used in …

Agri-vated, Food, New

Organic Label Stonyfield Farms Rejects Science

ByStuart SmythJanuary 30, 2018January 30, 20181

Manipulative marketing campaign cast doubts about government risk assessments Two weeks ago, Stonyfield Farms launched a marketing campaign that champions lies and misperceptions surrounding food, its safety and the experts that determine food safety. If you haven’t seen the ad, kids are provided with scripts loaded with false statements about …

New

Innovating Your Supper Staple: Potatoes

BySavannah GleimNovember 7, 2017November 8, 20170

Will disease devastate spud production? The ease of growing and storing potatoes allowed it to spread around the world and onto our cultural menu. The delicious spud, McDonald’s #1 selling items are their French fries (and Big Mac, together accounted for 75% of worldwide sales in 2007), reached European cuisine …

Agri-vated, Food, New

Sugary, Eerie, Haunting & Spooky

ByStuart SmythOctober 31, 2017October 31, 20170

Is Halloween a front to sell more of a sugary GM plant? What is scarier? The ghosts and goblins that come to your door tonight trick or treating or the candy you’re handing out that likely has sugar in it that comes from a GM plant? Well, some would have …

Food, New

The Truth About GM Food Labels

ByStuart SmythSeptember 12, 2017September 12, 20170

GM salmon available for sale in Canadian grocery stores – is this a GM food label you’re looking for? In August GM salmon started appearing in grocery stores. This is an exciting time for the Canadian food industry as this is the first genetically modified meat product to be available …

Agriculture, New

What Environmental Groups Don’t Want You to Hear!

ByStuart SmythMay 2, 2017May 4, 20170

What do African Farmers Think of GM Crops? In spite of genetically modified (GM) crops being available since 1995, very limited adoption has occurred in any part of Africa. In large part, this is due to the message coming from European governments and environmental organizations. European governments have continually rejected …

Tag: GMO