Andrew Kimbrell became Executive Director of the International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA) in 1994 and is also Executive Director of the Center for Food Safety, which he co-founded in 1997. He is one of the country's leading environmental attorneys and the author of books on the environment, technology and society, and food issues; his most recent is "Your Right to Know: Genetic Engineering and the Secret Changes in Your Food" (2006). Kimbrell's articles on law, technology, social and psychological issues have also appeared in numerous law reviews, technology journals, popular magazines and newspapers across the country.

Mr. Kimbrell's current work emphasizes policy and grass roots work on food issues including promoting organic and sustainable food, and opposing destructive technologies and practices such as genetic engineering, factory farming, irradiation, sewage sludge and the patenting of seeds and other life forms.

He has been featured in numerous documentaries including the recent film "The Future of Food" and has appeared on numerous radio and television programs across the country. He has testified before numerous congressional and regulatory hearings. In 1994, the Utne Reader named Kimbrell as one of the world's leading 100 visionaries.

Blog Entries by Andrew Kimbrell

New Report: GMOs Causing Massive Pesticide Pollution

Posted November 21, 2009 | 05:50 PM (EST)


There is one fact about genetically engineered foods that there is no debate about: no one wakes up in the morning eager to buy gene-altered food. There's good reason for this. Genetically modified foods do nothing for the "eating public". They provide no extra nutrition, flavor, safety or any other...

Read Post

Sustainable Agriculture: The Unrecognized Key to Reversing Climate Change

3 Comments | Posted November 5, 2009 | 06:09 PM (EST)


By Debbie Barker and Andrew Kimbrell

World leaders who met last month at the United Nations climate summit took stock of the sobering reality that a global pact on climate change very likely will not be achieved in Copenhagen this December. At the heart of this looming failure is money....

Read Post

An Example to All the World

Posted August 27, 2009 | 04:15 PM (EST)


I had just arrived from a long flight into Dulles Airport during which I had been reading about the excitable, gun-toting protesters attending public events where the President was to speak. One well-known conservative columnist scoffed at the media's "hand wringing" about automatic weapons being openly displayed at Town Hall...

Read Post

Use the Precautionary Principle

2 Comments | Posted July 3, 2009 | 03:54 PM (EST)


I appreciate Eddie Gehman Kohan's passion for the Obama's Kitchen Garden and all that it represents, and I concur that it is a source of inspiration for people around the world. I specifically mention in my last piece the First Lady's good intentions and the excitement over the...

Read Post

The Obama Organic Family Garden: Swimming in Sludge?

216 Comments | Posted July 1, 2009 | 06:48 PM (EST)


When Michelle Obama created an organic vegetable garden on the White House lawn earlier this year, the move was greeted with positive headlines and excitement among the food advocacy community. Here, we thought, was a First Lady who understood the importance of locally grown, whole and organic foods in her...

Read Post

The Food & Drug Administration: Broken, Now Break It Up!

4 Comments | Posted June 24, 2009 | 01:10 PM (EST)


The Obama administration came to Washington pledging to reinstate competence across all areas of government. Among their greatest challenges will be to restore the Food and Drug Administration's tattered reputation. The deservedly maligned agency has repeatedly failed to protect Americans, especially children, from illness and death related to contaminated foods....

Read Post

Poison: One Lump or Two?

Posted February 12, 2009 | 04:38 PM (EST)



In Shakespearean literature, the doomed Romeo poisoned himself in a fatal demonstration of his love for the beautiful Juliet. Come next Valentines Day, we may unknowingly be doing the same.

We recently received the disturbing news that corn syrup--the ubiquitous sweetener in American candy and packaged goods--was found...

Read Post

Food Crisis: A Regulatory Meltdown No Bailout Can Save

Posted January 15, 2009 | 06:01 PM (EST)


In the wake of the mortgage crisis, there's no doubt that the Bush Administration's lack of a coherent regulatory plan and its subsequent mishandling of events paved the way for a dramatic, and deeper, economic collapse. Acute observers noted that the President's laissez faire approach to regulation extended to nearly...

Read Post

Obama's Choice of Vilsack: AgriBusiness as Usual at USDA?

Posted December 23, 2008 | 05:39 PM (EST)


Subdued approval greeted President-elect Obama's choice of Tom Vilsack for Secretary of Agriculture last week. This came from mainstream environmental groups, such as Sierra Club, and even organizations that have been critical in the past of the Iowa governor's policies. Vilsack comes across in nearly all of the stories written...

Read Post

Save Money and the Environment: Cool Off Your Food this Summer

Posted July 30, 2008 | 04:50 PM (EST)


Summer's longer sun-filled days lead to visions of leisurely outdoor dinners and weekend picnics. This is a time we savor fresh fruits and barbeque and indulge in a wide variety of seasonal delights from watermelons to corn on the cob.

However with the price of food skyrocketing, many Americans...

Read Post

Mother's Day Candy from Monsanto Not So Sweet

Posted May 8, 2008 | 05:03 PM (EST)


This Mother's Day, as you give and receive the boxes of candy that are so much a part of the holiday, enjoy those luscious chocolate covered crèmes, nougats and truffles. There's no denying that chocolate is the taste of Mother's Day, but this may very well be your year for...

Read Post