It is astounding that any organization would advocate for in-creasing food insecurity, yet this is exactly what the United Nations’ Human Rights Council did in its Jan. 24 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. It has done so by calling for the removal of chemicals in the agricultural production of food. […] Read more
Stories by Stuart Smyth
Anti-biotech group uses big tobacco strategy to refute GM research
In 1839, in the historical play Cardinal Richelieu, playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton wrote that “the pen is mightier than the sword.” Since 2014, in both the United States and Canada, the pen has been progressively attacked by the sword. Academic freedoms of biotech researchers have been attacked by an organization known as the US Right to […] Read more
Just how free is gluten-free?
Food fads come and go, as do dieting fads, but you might be less aware of food labelling fads. Food and beverage companies know that consumers have limited awareness about how products are made and use this to their marketing advantage. A few examples of this have been organic maple syrup, verified non-genetically modified tomatoes […] Read more
New York Times ignored GM crop benefits
The New York Times claimed Oct. 29 that it had conducted an “extensive examination” of genetically modified crops and found their benefits to be lacking. The use of the word “‘extensive” by the media is a bit of an oxymoron. It is certainly the case in this situation because the Times would appear to have […] Read more
New York Times ignored GM crop benefits
The New York Times claimed Oct. 29 that it had conducted an “extensive examination” of genetically modified crops and found their benefits to be lacking. The use of the word “‘extensive” by the media is a bit of an oxymoron. It is certainly the case in this situation because the Times would appear to have […] Read more
GM crops provide billions in benefits
Were it not for the snow on the ground, I would have thought it was April Fool’s Day instead of Christmas when I read The Western Producer’s Dec. 3 story, Anti-GMO group says yield gains non-existent. Lucy Sharratt, Taarini Chopra and the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network are once again misleading Canadians about genetically modified crops, […] Read more
Can world afford luxury of organics?
Numerous articles and reports that compare the production of organic and conventional agriculture have concluded that on average, organic crop agriculture produces 25 to 30 percent less per acre. The most recent examination of the subject is a meta-analysis by Seufert et al. (2012), which concluded that organic yields are 34 percent lower when organic […] Read more
GM crops help produce more with less
There have recently been protests against biotechnology firms and products. Many signs people were shown waving in the protests were perplexing to say the least. Demonstrations of this nature raise the question as to what foods could be constituted as genetically modified. In Canada, it has been estimated that GM food and food ingredients are […] Read more
