Terry Etherton’s Blog on Hormones, Biotechnology, and Food Safety

Patricia Walling*

These days everyone wants to eat healthier. Whether your doctor has advised you that natural foods like whole grains and organic vegetables are better for you or you have simply discovered this on your own, making smart decisions when buying food can provide you with numerous benefits. Luckily, there are some great resources out there that can help you find organic fresh food and get the products you want to improve their health. However, there are some stores that do not measure up to the national standards for organic foods and obtain their products from sources that are not proven to be organic and sometimes not even fresh. In the health food market, you have to be careful about when purchasing products labeled as “fresh” and “organic,” since oftentimes they may not be as fresh and organic as they seem. Read the rest of this entry »

Paul Patterson
Professor of Poultry Science
Penn State University

For those readers who have been following the news about eggs and salmonella, here is a very informative Op-Ed article written by Dr. Patterson that was published online in the New York Times on August 25. Read the rest of this entry »

Op-Ed Contributor
New York Times

By Stephen Budiansky
Published: August 19, 2010

IT’S 42 steps from my back door to the garden that keeps my family supplied nine months of the year with a modest cornucopia of lettuce, beets, spinach, beans, tomatoes, basil, corn, squash, brussels sprouts, the occasional celeriac and, once when I was feeling particularly energetic, a couple of small but undeniable artichokes. You’ll get no argument from me about the pleasures and advantages to the palate and the spirit of eating what’s local, fresh and in season.

But the local food movement now threatens to devolve into another one of those self-indulgent — and self-defeating — do-gooder dogmas. Arbitrary rules, without any real scientific basis, are repeated as gospel by “locavores,” celebrity chefs and mainstream environmental organizations. Words like “sustainability” and “food-miles” are thrown around without any clear understanding of the larger picture of energy and land use. Read the rest of this entry »

Elton Robinson
Farm Press Editorial Staff
Posted, March 16, 2010

When surveys don’t give you the overwhelming result you’re looking for, there’s only one thing left to do — cook your numbers. This was the tactic employed by the Consumers Union (CU), the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports, after it conducted a poll recently on genetically engineered crops. Read the rest of this entry »

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) released their annual report on global adoption of genetically modified (GM) on February 23, 2010.

An executive summary of Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2009 – The first fourteen  years, 1996 to 2009 presents highlights of the amazing growth in the global adoption of GM crops.  Impressively, GM crops are being readily adopted by developing and developed countries. Read the rest of this entry »

Chad Dechow
Associate Professor, Dairy Cattle Genetics
Department of Dairy and Animal Science
The Pennsylvania State University

“Instead of redesigning the factory farm to suit the animals, they are redesigning the animals to suit the factory farm”
Matthew Scully. The American Conservative, May 23, 2005.

My most memorably painful experience occurred when I was a teenage farm kid that stomped on the end of a pitchfork. My intent was for the handle to swing up and whack my sister in the hand. Alas, she was not the embarrassed teenager who left for our family vacation the next day with a well deserved set of stitches. In the seconds after the handle did its damage, I knew where I was hurting, I knew that it was a rather intense sensation, and I knew that it was not at all pleasant. What I did not know was that these experiences where the result of two different sensory pathways. The first pathway told me that my chin hurt, and badly; the second told me that it was not pleasant (for me at least – my sister was on the ground laughing). Read the rest of this entry »

Council for Biotechnology Information
Published December 16, 2009

With so many stories to choose from, it was hard for us to determine the top agricultural biotechnology story of 2009. Therefore, we turned to the Council for Biotechnology Information (CBI) experts and let them choose the top three stories that stood out in terms of their significance and impact on the future of agricultural biotechnology worldwide. CBI experts include the nation’s leading scientists in plant genetics and food science, among other disciplines. Read the rest of this entry »

Virginia Ishler
Nutrient Management Specialist
Department of Dairy and Animal Science
Penn State University

What are greenhouse gases?

Naturally occurring greenhouse gases consist of water vapor (H₂O), carbon dioxide (CO₂)₎, methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O) and ozone (O₃). Gases produced from industrial activities include chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons. Read the rest of this entry »

Henry I. Miller
New York Times – June 29, 2007

Stanford, Calif. – MILK occupies a special place in our lives and language. It has been dubbed natures most perfect food, and we speak sentimentally of the land of milk and honey and the milk of human kindness.

But things are turning sour for consumers of milk. The average price of a gallon of milk nationwide is up 37 cents since January, to $3.47. Strong demand and limited ability to increase production quickly are expected to increase prices more, and experts have speculated that the price per gallon could reach a record $5 by years end. High feed costs associated with the ramping up of American corn-based ethanol production are making it difficult to produce more milk. Read the rest of this entry »

Reprinted from Farmshine: May 4, 2007

Industry is heading down a slippery slope

By SHERRY BUNTING
Special for Farmshine

BROWNSTOWN, Pa. – The dairy industry is heading down a slippery slope. For those who may have thought the “rbST-free” milk labeling issue was an isolated concern: think again. Read the rest of this entry »