Co-Authored by Colin O'Neil, Regulatory Policy Analyst at the Center for Food Safety

The agricultural biotech industry -- well, let's call it what it really is: the chemical industry -- has gone on the offensive as never before with a set of slippery policy riders to the House Farm Bill....

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently deciding whether or not to approve an application by Dow Chemical for its controversial genetically engineered (GE) corn variety that is resistant to the hazardous herbicide 2,4-D. 2,4-D and the still more toxic 2,4,5-T formed Agent Orange, the defoliant used...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently deciding whether or not to approve an application by Dow Chemical for its controversial genetically engineered (GE) corn variety that is resistant to the highly toxic herbicide 2,4-D, one of the main ingredients in Agent Orange.

Today,...

It should be no surprise that Monsanto's PR machine is working hard to spin the truth in this morning's decision in the first-ever Supreme Court case on genetically engineered crops (Monsanto v. Geertson Seed Farms). Despite what the biotech seed giant is claiming, today's ruling isn't close to the victory...

"President Obama promised President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan that the United States would remain in Afghanistan for the long haul..." -- New York Times May 12, 2010

"Tell a story, always tell a story." This advice, given by a senior attorney at one of the first law firms I worked...

The United States once had one of the safest food systems in the world, but now, 70 million Americans are sickened, 300,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 die from food-borne illness every year. It is a sad fact: since 9/11, far more Americans have been killed, injured or hurt...

It's finally happened. At last a government agency has rejected a genetically modified crop on the basis of a lack of conclusive scientific evidence that it is safe for consumers and the environment. The moratorium on the genetically engineered (GE) product also came about, in no small measure, as a...

Thanksgiving is the holiday most associated with celebrating healthy and abundant food. For many, it is also be a time when we recommit ourselves to creating an organic food future that promotes, safe, local, humane, socially just and biodiverse food production.

An under-publicized and often hidden threat to this...

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...

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....

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...

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...

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...

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....

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...