GMO

State voters to decide on GMO-labeling initiative

Steve Jackson — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:02:12 +0000

State voters will decide on the fate of an initiative that would require labeling of genetically-modified food products.

Initiative 522 would require food products to bear a label informing the consumer if they contain any genetically-modified organisms, or GMOs.

The public signature-gathering campaign for the bill was successful, and while it allowed the Washington state Legislature an opportunity to decide its fate, its language mandated that if lawmakers took no action, the initiative would automatically to a public vote in November.

Japan suspends white winter wheat purchases from Northwest

Amelia Templeton — Fri, 31 May 2013 05:03:43 +0000

Japan has temporarily suspended white winter wheat purchases from the Pacific Northwest.

The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture announced the decision after U.S. regulators found genetically modified wheat on an Oregon farm.

USDA: Non-approved GMO wheat found in Oregon field

The Associated Press — Wed, 29 May 2013 18:53:01 +0000

The Agriculture Department says a non-approved strain of genetically engineered wheat has been discovered in an Oregon field.

USDA officials said the wheat is the same strain as a genetically modified wheat that was tested by seed giant Monsanto a decade ago but never approved. Monsanto stopped testing that product in Oregon and several other states in 2005.

Biotech apples may be harbinger for GMO spuds

The Associated Press — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:52:04 +0000

As Idaho's J.R. Simplot Co promotes its genetically engineered potato, a tiny Canadian apple breeder is working on a similar product that could provide a glimpse of how consumers react.

Okanogan Specialty Fruits expects U.S. and Canadian government approval for Granny Smith and Golden Delicious apple varieties with their genes modified to halt browning.

Did Congress just give GMOs a free pass in the courts?

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 23:21:49 +0000

Tucked inside a short-term funding measure that Congress approved Thursday is a provision that critics are denouncing as a "Monsanto Protection Act."

The so-called "biotech rider" was included in legislation that won final approval from the House, avoiding a shutdown of the federal government on March 27, when the

WSU study: GMO crops need more herbicide to fend off 'superweeds'

Jessica Robinson — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 23:32:57 +0000

According to a new study out of Washington State University, farmers of genetically engineered crops are dramatically increasing their use of herbicides. Researchers say farmers are spraying more in response the rise of so-called “superweeds.”

The new study analyzes 16 years of federal data on the nation’s corn, soybean and cotton fields. It finds growers with crops engineered to be herbicide resistant are now putting millions more pounds of weed killer on their fields than farmers who grow the non-modified variety.

The findings were published in the journal Environmental Sciences Europe.

Protesters call upon Gates Foundation to sever ties with Monsanto

Tom Paulson — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 06:05:24 +0000

As part of a somewhat spotty call for a worldwide protest against the practices of the multinational agricultural company Monsanto, about 40 protesters in Seattle descended upon the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Friday to demand that the philanthropy sever all its ties with the firm.

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