News

Unceded Algonquin Territory – Ottawa, ON – February 16, 2023

Today Liberal and Conservative members of the House of Commons Environment Committee voted to remove Senate amendments requiring meaningful public participation in assessments of genetically engineered (GE) animals and an evaluation of whether there is a ‘demonstrable need’ for such an organism.

“We are dismayed that the government and official opposition have blocked strong, clear guidelines for meaningful public participation, which is a foundational part of any review and approval process in a democracy,” says Mark Butler, Senior Advisor with Nature Canada. “We are concerned at the overly pro-industry stance being taken by government MPs, which is not coherent with strong government commitments to protect Nature and the public interest.”

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The new U.S. agriculture trade chief on Thursday told Reuters that he has given Mexico until Feb. 14 to respond to a U.S. request to explain the science behind Mexico's planned bans on genetically modified corn and glyphosate herbicide.

Doug McKalip, the U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) new chief agricultural trade negotiator, said that Mexico's response will help the trade agency decide next steps in its quest to resolve a long running dispute over Mexico's biotechnology agricultural policies.

After just two harvests of genetically modified (GM) salmon from its facility in Prince Edward Island, U.S.-based company AquaBounty is changing up the business model for that location.

While it will continue to raise GM salmon at its Rollo Bay facility, it will focus on salmon broodstock and egg production, the company told SaltWire Network in an email.

February 7, 2023, Charlottetown. In a major turn-around, the US company AquaBounty says it will stop producing its controversial genetically modified (GM or genetically engineered) Atlantic salmon in Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada.

“This is a huge victory for everyone in PEI and across Canada who protested against this dangerous technology,” said Sharon Labchuk of the coalition GMO Free PEI. “Genetically modified fish are unnecessary and risky.”

AquaBounty has decided it will no longer produce GM fish in Canada, after rasing just two “cohorts” of its GM salmon at their only Canadian production site, on land at Rollo Bay, PEI. This facility was the world’s first purpose-built GM fish factory. The decision was reported in the seafood industry media SeafoodSource, quoting the company’s CEO, Sylvia Wulf.

Company's US patents are now being challenged. Report: Claire Robinson

The European Patent Office (EPO) has revoked an EU patent held by Impossible Foods, maker of the Impossible Burger. In the US, Impossible's fake meat products are manufactured with GMO yeast-derived soy leghemoglobin, a controversial ingredient that makes the fake meat look as if it's bleeding, like undercooked real meat, and that we have argued may not be safe to eat.

Following the EPO's decision, another fake meat company, Motif FoodWorks, has filed a suite of new petitions with the US Patent and Trademark Office challenging US patents held by Impossible Foods over the use of heme proteins (such as that present in soy leghemoglobin) in meat alternatives, as it defends itself against Impossible's accusations of patent infringement, according to Food Navigator USA.

The EU Commission is planning to lower the standards for the approval and labelling of genetically modified plants and food. The German government should not support this, according to a distinct majority in a new VLOG survey.

58 percent of respondents in a representative Civey survey at the beginning of January 2023 opposed the German support for the EU Commission's plans to deregulate genetic engineering, only 25 percent were in favour, and just under 17 percent were undecided.

Company is one of the first U.S.-based ingredient providers to verify its sustainable practices under rigorous global standard

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Benson Hill, Inc. (NYSE: BHIL, the “Company” or “Benson Hill”), a food tech company unlocking the natural genetic diversity of plants, announced today that it became one of the first U.S.-based ingredient providers to achieve the international ProTerra Certification, a rigorous global standard that sets the bar for sustainable agricultural practices and labor practices as well as segregated non-GMO programs and more. Benson Hill also joins the respected ProTerra Network, a group of companies dedicated to sustainable practices and continuous improvement.

DEMO 21.01.2023

Warming up after the Wir haben es satt!-Demo, eating soup, meeting people and hear and see what great approaches and projects for transformation already exist in agriculture - that's Soup&Talk!

In 5-minute turns, makers and shakers will present what they have already achieved or are currently starting, how we can participate, and what is next for farming, eating and sharing.

We will show how things can be done differently in food and farming. Over good soup for all, grassroots and agro-policy initiatives, sustainable companies of all kind and activists from all over the world will present their big and small contributions to social and ecological change. The last two years, we could only zoom. This time we'll mix contributions on site and online, German and English.

USDA Must Not Deregulate GMO American Chestnut Trees

“In any revolutionary area, and biotechnology is a revolutionary area, most of our current ideas are wrong. Then I ask you, what the hell is the rush to apply these ideas… we’re still at the very beginning of understanding what we’re doing. The rush to apply these ideas is absolutely dangerous, because we don’t have a clue what the long term impacts of our manipulations are going to be.” - Dr. David Suzuki, geneticist and educator

The USDA is accepting public comments on its plan to deregulate genetically engineered (GE/GMO) “Darling 58” American chestnut trees and allow for the tree to be planted in wild forests.

The Alphabet of Complexity Webinar Series!

N as in "narrative" - 8th of February 2023

This webinar will be our fourteenth meeting within the series of The Alphabet of Complexity webinars. The letter N (as in “narrative”) will guide us through the main question of the day: How can the narrative of restoration and reciprocity influence the course of agricultural policies? The lectures of three key speakers (Nara Petrovic, Anna Nacher, Marek Styczyński) will be followed by a discussion on how the perspective of restoration and reciprocity can inform our actions for the purity of seeds and against GMOs.

N as in Narrative:

How can the narrative of restoration and reciprocity influence the course of agricultural policies?

Key speakers: Nara Petrovic, Anna Nacher, Marek Styczyński

Time and date: 8.02.2023, 11a.m. - 1 p.m. CET