November 2021
Do the sums of farm-free food fermented in the desert as the saviour of our over-heating planet really add up? [1].
Doing the maths of bacterial burgers
The big why of fake food
November 2021
If you've just been reading about the plan to save the world by feeding people very strange burgers grown in vats on even stranger buns so that all the land we've destroyed with agriculture can be left to re-wild [1], you may well be asking yourself some 'why' questions.
Why would we consider junking the entire historic basis of human provisioning?
Why, when we're already suffering unprecedented chronic disease from our novel, over-processed, corporate-led diet, would we head off down a path which takes all these aspects to new extremes?
Why, when millions go hungry due to poverty, bad cultural influences and bad politics, are we concentrating on technofixes to our food chain?
Why, when there are more farmers in the world than in any other single job, would we scrap farming?
Cancer burgers in bacterial buns
November 2021
We're in a mess.
Our climate's crumbling and our ecosystem's in collapse.
Human 'progress' has become a one-way street, in which we're leaving a trail of devastation behind us and facing ever-more bleak views ahead.
In fact, we appear to be digging our own grave, and don't seem to know how to stop.
Avoiding evidence about cancer (linked to Glyphosate of course)
October 2021
Because humans can't be subjected to experimentation, regulators assessing the safety of a chemical have to weigh whatever other, imperfect, evidence they have at their disposal. Safety assessment is particularly challenging when dealing with a possible carcinogen, such as glyphosate herbicide [1]. It's even trickier, it seems, when the chemical is, like glyphosate, a major money-spinner produced by the powerful biotech industry for use on its commodity GM crops [2].
There are two important types of evidence available to regulators: laboratory experiments using animal models, and epidemiological studies. Neither can yield definitive conclusions, and their limitations are particularly evident in investigations of suspected carcinogens.
The shortcomings of animal models stem from the biology of cancers.
2,4-D on the menu too
October 2021
If you've just been reading about the two latest GM-crop-linked, cancer-causing herbicides to add to the glyphosate formulations already in use globally [1,2,3,4], don't relax, here's another one to worry about.
Last year, China approved Corteva's* 'Enlist' GM soya for importation. This secured a place for Enlist crops, plus the herbicide 2,4-D they're designed to be sprayed with, in US fields. It was described by GM seed suppliers, MS Technologies, as "great news for US soybean growers".
*Corteva Agriscience is a division of DowDupont
A former research professor who now works as a consultant for environmental groups said "2,4-D could by-pass glyphosate as the most widely used pesticide within a couple of years".
2,4-D and its sister chemical, 2,4,5-T, were two of several substances developed by Britain and America as herbicidal weapons during World War II. These two were formulated for use in equal quantities and were later packed in colour-coded containers to become known as 'Agent Orange'.
Isoxaflutole - The Next Herbicide Headache?
October 2021
Isoxaflutole is a newcomer in the world of herbicides and is recognised as a probable human carcinogen because it induces liver and thyroid tumours in rodents. This herbicide is potentially toxic to the liver, blood and eyes, and may have negative developmental effects. It's pretty good at drifting, and is persistent and mobile in the environment, possibly accumulating in ground water.
All this may sound like a good reason not to approve isoxaflutole nor the GM crops designed to escalate its use.
Dicamba - Worse Than Glyphosate
October 2021
After all the whitewashing of glyphosate herbicide revealed when its manufacturer, Monsanto, was taken to court by users who now have cancer [1], it should come as no surprise that dicamba herbicide [2] looks like being a re-run of the same story.
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