Environmental News Network

Arctic vault takes shape for world food crops
In a cavern under a remote Arctic mountain, Norway will soon begin squirreling away the world's crop seeds in case of disaster.
Dynamited out of a mountainside on Spitsbergen island around 1,000 km (600 miles) from the North Pole, the store has been called a doomsday vault or a Noah's Ark of the plant kingdom.
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Agrofuels Favor Business over Farmers
Agrofuel development has arrived on the global stage. Just this year, the number of declarations, dollars, and development plans devoted to agrofuels is unparalleled. An idea that languished for decades has become the darling of politicians, business, financiers, and the media. Agrofuels, also known as biofuels, have been touted as the solution to the most pressing problems facing U.S. society and the planet. Promoters claim they reduce greenhouse gas emissions, stave off the end of industrial growth based on fossil fuels, are sustainable and renewable, increase energy security, and help farmers. >> Read the Full Article
Food Firms Want Binding Rules For Safe Imports

WASHINGTON - Top U.S. food companies, worried recent import scares may turn away customers, launched a plan on Tuesday to add teeth to existing safety guidelines and increase funding for bare-bones federal regulators. The Grocery Manufacturers Association, which includes leading companies like General Mills Inc., Cargill Inc., ConAgra Foods Inc. and Hershey Co., proposed the steps in a bid to ease fears stirred this year by reports of lead-laden toys and chemical-laced seafood and other goods imported into the United States, largely from China.
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Pesticides Pose Risk in Rural and Urban Communities Alike
n a recent study of 60 children of Latino farmworkers in the U.S. state of North Carolina, nearly 90 percent of those tested were found to have pesticide metabolites in their urine, according to a report in Environmental Health Perspectives. On average, the children had four different pesticides present in their urine, posing a potential long-term health risk. “Because children are so much smaller than adults and because they are developing rapidly, the effects of pesticides on their neurological systems can be devastating,” says Danielle Nierenberg, a food and agriculture researcher at the Worldwatch Institute in Washington, D.C. >> Read the Full Article
How "Organic" Is Organic? New Calls For Testing Organic Foods For GMO's
Should organics be tested for GMOs?
A recent disturbing incident of GMO contamination of organic soybeans raises the question of whether organic foods should be tested for genetically modified material. The US National Organic Program (NOP) rules prohibit GMOs in organics but don’t require methods to prohibit GMO contamination or establish thresholds for adventitious GM presence. The Organic & Non-GMO Report asked organic industry experts if organics should be tested for GMOs.

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GM Crops Only Way For India To Feed Itself, Says Government
Their are potentially numerous negative effects of using genetically modified crops to individulas, society and economies, however, it seems that a large scale cultivation of transgenic crops may be the only solution to India’s fast growing food and land issues according to Mangala Rai, secretary of the Department of Agriculture Research and Education. >> Read the Full Article
Let There Be... Organic Food
COMMERCE, Texas - The Hale family has embraced organic farming because it is healthy, good for the environment and less cruel to animals. But do not mistake them for nature-worshiping New Agers or back-to-basics hippies.They are part of a small movement of conservative Christians who believe the Bible demands an organic or natural approach to agriculture. >> Read the Full Article
More Christians Embrace Organic Farming
COMMERCE, Texas (Reuters) - The Hale family has embraced organic farming because it is healthy, good for the environment and less cruel to animals. But do not mistake them for nature-worshiping New Agers or back-to-basics hippies.

They are part of a small movement of conservative Christians who believe the Bible demands an organic or natural approach to agriculture.
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Floods in Africa kill dozens and wipe out crops
Floods from torrential rains have caused the deaths of at least 80 more people, displaced thousands, and devastated crops and livestock across sub-Saharan Africa, officials said on Friday. >> Read the Full Article
Watchdog Group Files New Complaints Against Aurora Organic Dairy And Certifier QAI
Cornucopia, WI - A Wisconsin watchdog group has filed new legal complaints with the USDA, and threatening civil lawsuits against an organic dairy and its certifiers.The complaints, filed by the Cornucopia Institute criticized the USDA for not penalizing the industry's largest organic milk producer after their government regulators found that the dairy may have perpetrated consumer fraud by violating the federal organic labeling law. >> Read the Full Article