Environmental News Network

Is A Bioeconomy fueled by Biorenewables, Sustainable?
This spring farmers responded to the ethanol industry's demand for grain by increasing their corn acreage by 19 percent over last year, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates. What if that happens again next year? What if farmers decide against crop rotations and plant corn on the same fields, year after year? Or, what if farmers begin growing biomass crops such as switchgrass for the production of ethanol from plant fiber? >> Read the Full Article
Dole Food Takes New Steps to Head Off More E.coli
Dole Food Company, a top U.S. food and fruit producer, has stepped up testing and tracking of produce to prevent outbreaks of E.coli like the one that sickened hundreds last fall, the firm said on Thursday. Eric Schwartz, Dole's president for worldwide vegetables, told Reuters in an interview the company is testing samples from every acre of spinach and other vegetables that will be marketed under the Dole label. >> Read the Full Article
Green Africa Conference Seeks to Help Continent Feed Itself
Africa's drive to feed itself by boosting agricultural production through funding, market access and improved technology must be balanced against the risk of environmental damage and market collapse, delegates at an Oslo conference said Thursday. >> Read the Full Article
Food Demand and Climate Straining Soils
World food demand will surge this century with a leap in population, highlighting a need to protect soils under strain from climate change, experts said on Thursday. About 150 scientists and government experts will meet in Iceland from August 31-September 4 to try to work out how to safeguard soils from over-use and desertification when more food is needed and some farmers are shifting land to biofuels. >> Read the Full Article
New U.S. Test: CO2 Could Make Grasslands 'Unusable'
Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels could change the nature of grasslands and decrease their usefulness as grazing pastures, say researchers. The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week (27 August). If carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere continue to rise, important grazing areas in parts of Africa, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Mongolia, and southern and South East Asia could be under threat, according to lead author Jack Morgan, a plant physiologist from the US Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service. >> Read the Full Article
Boston Seeing Green This Fall
BOSTON - This fall, green is the color of the season. It's time to make small, green changes that give back to the earth just in time for Organic Harvest Month in September. To help Bostonians go green, Seeds of Change, a producer of premium organic food products and seeds, is inspiring people to take a bike or the train to reduce toxic emissions and select certified organic foods to promote sustainable growing practices. To plant the seeds of green living, the company will also be infusing the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line with inspirational quotes and thoughts for ways to make changes in Boston. >> Read the Full Article
Demand For Organic Food Creating New Organic Farmers
U.S. Agriculture Department data shows the average age of U.S. farmers has been increasing for decades and is currently 55 to 56, while the overall percentage of young farmers continues to fall. But people within the movement say the numbers can be misleading. "Are there young people who are going into farming? Yes, more and more," said Dennis Hall of the Center for Farm Transitions, a Pennsylvania Agriculture Department office providing technical assistance to new and established farmers. He said the landscape started to change about 3 1/2 years ago. >> Read the Full Article
GMO Contamination Sometimes Not So Obvious
IOWA - In spring 2000, Greg Matteson was preparing documents for the annual inspection of his organic farm in Shelby, Montana, when he noticed something disturbing. The label on a seed inoculant called â€œDormal PLUSâ€ that he had used on yellow blossom sweet clover said â€œgenetically modified.â€ >> Read the Full Article
Zambia Rejects GMO Crops
The Zambian government has rejected calls to use GM crops in the fight against poverty and hunger in the southern African nation. >> Read the Full Article
Spilled GM Canola Takes Root, Spreads In Japan
A recent survey of spilled canola (oilseed rape) shows that genetically modified canola contamination is much wider than expected throughout Japan. NO!GMO Campaign published its findings in July after surveying 43 of Japanâ€™s 47 prefectures from March 2007 onwards. The citizen survey produced 1617 samples, of which 37 showed up GMO positive. Samples were not restricted to obvious industrial locations (ports, factories, transportation routes), but were taken on farmland and some urban locations as well. >> Read the Full Article