Archive for 2003
« Previous Entries Next Entries »British Says Farms Should Produce More Weeds, Less Food
Wednesday, October 29th, 2003Dennis Avery
The British government has just completed extensive three-year field trials of genetically modified rapeseed, sugar beets, and corn. The journal Science reported that “Cultivation of [genetically modified] beets and rapeseed clearly had deleterious effects on wildlife and native plants” in the trials. The Guardian of London headlined: “Two GM Crops Face Ban for Damaging […]
Why The Trash You Sort Isn’t Recycled
Tuesday, October 21st, 2003Dennis Avery
My neighbors are unhappy to learn that the trash they’ve carefully sorted for years into brown bottles, green bottles, cans, and paper is being dumped back into one pile at the local landfill. Except for aluminum cans, no one wants the sorted trash items. Is this bad for the environment?
Probably not. I checked with […]
Britain Finds Cancer-Causing Toxin in Organic Corn Meals
Thursday, October 9th, 2003Dennis Avery and Alex Avery
Great Britain has recalled all six tested brands of organic corn meal from its food stores after they were found to contain dangerous levels of fumonisin, a cancer-causing natural toxin produced by a fungus. The organic cornmeals were found to average nearly 20 times as much fumonisin-9,000 parts per billion-as the […]
Has America Already Lost High-Yield Agriculture?
Monday, October 6th, 2003Dennis T. Avery
America has had a proud two centuries of world leadership in high-yield agricultural research and technology. It stretches back to George Washington’s farming experiments and Abraham Lincoln signing the Morrill Act to create the land-grant colleges and agricultural experiment stations. It includes the hybrid seeds, mechanization, and pesticides that produce ample American ample food-while […]
Why is Russia’s Putin Refusing to Sign the Global Warming Treaty?
Thursday, October 2nd, 2003Dennis Avery
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is refusing to commit his country to the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, thus preventing the treaty from going into effect.
Countries representing 55 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions must sign the treaty before its provisions come into force. The United States, with 36 percent of the emissions, has […]
U.S. Intellectuals: Finally Embracing High Yield Farming
Monday, September 29th, 2003Dennis Avery
Maybe it’s the more serious mood of the country since terrorists hit the World Trade Center. Maybe it’s the now-foreseeable end of the global population surge (about 2035, at 8-9 billion people). Whatever the reason, American “thought leaders” are saying good things about high-yield farming for the first time since Paul Ehrlich’s book, The […]
Bugs Not Building Resistance to Biotech Crops
Thursday, September 25th, 2003Dennis Avery
The superbugs aren’t showing up. In a major disappointment for environmental activists, insects are not building up resistance to the genetically-engineered Bt corn and cotton that have been planted on millions of acres around the world since 1995.
“If I’d gotten up seven years ago and said that there would be no evidence of increased […]
U.S. and EU Farm Subsidies Scuttle WTO Trade Talks
Thursday, September 18th, 2003Dennis Avery
The Cancun world trade talks have collapsed-in large part because of agriculture. The United States and the European Union waited one trade round too long to give up their now-counterproductive farm subsidies. As a result, U.S. farmers may see their export sales stagnate in the coming decade, even as their government subsidies are swamped […]
Will Global Warming Bring Mass Species Extinction?
Sunday, September 14th, 2003Dennis Avery
The environmental movement is telling us that global warming might cause a mass extinction of wild species. This is a serious concern, since the Earth has clearly been warming for 150 years, either due to human activities or a natural cycle.
George Woodwell, a co-founder of the Environmental Defense Fund, said of global warming in […]
CO2 Boost Gives Fruit More Cancer-Fighting Power
Thursday, September 4th, 2003Dennis Avery
What if organic fruit and vegetable growers could prove that their produce is 10 to 15 percent more effective in combating cancer than conventional fruits and vegetables? Customers would flock to their doors offering to pay triple (up from the usual double) prices for such healthful foods.
Unfortunately for organic farmers, they can’t demonstrate any […]