GreenWatch

B. McPherson Making children unknowing guinea pigs undermines trust in official pronouncements The genetically altered grain known as Golden Rice has been touted as the answer to Vitamin A deficiency in many countries around the world. The premise is that a gene inserted into the DNA of rice would produce beta-carotene, a precursor to Vitamin A. This would be the first GM organism that would be aimed at improved nutrition rather than having commercial traits inserted into the genome. While those who fully support the growing of GM field crops are still supporting the Golden Rice and castigating those who would criticize tinkering with the genes of one of the world’s most important foods, Golden Rice has been field tested and found wanting. The International Rice Research Institute(IRRI), located in the Philippines, is a non-profit organization that is overseeing various research projects that seek to improve the nutrients in rice. Both traditional selection and hybri...

B. McPherson Superweeds are a new reality for N. American farmers. Weeds capable of resisting the herbicide glyphosate are sprouting in all the wrong places after years of inadvertent selection by farmers depending on chemicals to keep weeds down. Since the ‘70s when Roundup was introduced, farmers and homeowners alike have used the liquid to kill plants that they didn’t like. Mother Nature has surprises for the unwary. What seemed like a quick, cost effective solution to elimination of weeds in soy and corn fields has turned out superweeds instead. Iowa is finding more and more Palmer amaranth(pig weed)  infestations. This weed is capable of putting out half a million seeds for each plant. And it’s only one of a plethora of superweeds washing back over croplands that have been sprayed with glyphosate . Glyphosate(Roundup Ready) resistant crops are genetically modified(GM) to not die when sprayed with the chemical. Palmer pigweeds can produce up to half a million se...

B. McPherson Are you ready for Roundup in your baby's food? In the fight to keep GM crops from polluting their fields legislators in El Salvador have banned the chemicals used on them, taking any advantage in buying GM seeds away. In total, 53 agricultural chemicals have been banned with glyphosate, paraquat and endosulfan topping the list. Glyphosate was first developed as the herbicide Roundup, an effective killer of broad leaf plants. Monsanto developed a genetically engineered corn that wouldn’t die when sprayed with the chemical – Roundup Ready corn. The GM corn has been widely planted in the US as well as soybeans, canola  and sugar beets, all resistant to glyphosate. The US has found over the years that superweeds that won’t die have evolved in many areas. Canada is starting to recognize the presence of superweeds as well. While that is troubling, questions have been asked about the widespread use of glyphosate and the health of people who ingest trace amounts...

B. McPherson Water, the Blue Gold, will become the next global flashpoint. Texas is confronting New Mexico in the Supreme Court over water. Texas and much of the US interior has been struggling with multi year drought conditions and the lack of water is reaching a crisis point. Texas is maintaining that New Mexico is pumping water out of the ground at a rate that impinges on Texas’s supply and violates treaties agreed to. New Mexico for its part is maintaining that the most recent treaty was forced on them and they need the water for their purposes. This spat between states is a microcosm of what is happening around the world where potable water is concerned. While North America is engaged in a rush to extract oil and gas resources, and endangering the water supplies by pumping toxic chemicals under pressure into the ground(fracking), the country famed for its massive pool of oil Saudi Arabia, is rapidly running out of water. That kingdom has supplied petroleu...