Tag Archives: child

Biofortified GM bananas

Posted on June 22, 2014 by argylesock

James Dale is a scientist at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT, Australia). His lab has developed a genetically modified (GM, genetically engineered) banana (Musa × paradisiaca) rich in ‘pro-vitamin A’. Here’s the QUT report. This is the ‘super banana’ … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, horticulture, knowledge transfer | Tagged Africa, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, America, Asia, banana, banana Cavendish, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, biodiversity, biofortification, biotechnology, breeding, carotenoid, child, conservation, cotton, crop diversity, crop variety, development, East African cooking banana, food security, food sovereignty, fruit, fruit variety, gene, gene gun, genetic modification, iron, land grab, local variety, marker assisted backcrossing, micronutrient, Monsanto, nutrition, patent, plantain, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, poverty, pro-vitamin A, Provit Banana, research, rice, Scuba rice, seed, soya, staple food, super banana, tissue culture, trade, Vitamin A | 2 Comments

Special bananas: Africa’s answer to Golden Rice?

Posted on June 18, 2014 by argylesock

Oluwabusayo Sotunde (writing as Busayo in Ventures Africa) tells us about a ‘special banana’ (Musa × paradisiaca) rich in alpha-carotene and beta-carotene. After eating those carotenes, the body converts them to Vitamin A. So they’re ‘provitamins’. This new genetically modified … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, horticulture, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged Africa, America, Asia, banana, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, biodiversity, biofortification, biotechnology, child, development, food sovereignty, fruit, fruit variety, genetic modification, Golden Rice, grain, Green Revolution, nutrition, plantain, plant_monocot, Provit Banana, research, rice, staple food, tree, Vitamin A, woman | 6 Comments

Monsanto’s “Roundup” Herbicide is Destroying Our Bodies

Posted on May 26, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on Illuminate:
Photo by http://greenupgrader.com ? From CredoAction.com: In case you weren’t sure yet if the massive use of the herbicide glyphosate – also known as Monsanto’s Roundup – was cause for concern, here’s the sobering takeaway from…

Posted in agriculture, food, human health | Tagged Altzheimer's disease, America, antibiotic, autism, biotechnology, cancer, chelator, child, coeliac disease, diabetes, disease, Europe, food safety, genetic modification, glyphosate, herbicide, hormone, human, law, liver, milk, Monsanto, obesity, Parkinson's disease, pesticide, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, research, Roundup, Roundup Ready crop, soya, staple food, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, wheat, woman | 6 Comments

Rising levels of CO2 could exacerbate malnutrition

Posted on May 16, 2014 by argylesock

argylesock says… Climate change is happening. We humans caused it. Here’s yet another way that climate change threatens people, especially poor people. [Edit] I looked up the original paper (behind a paywall, but my University library has a subscription) and … Continue reading →

Posted in food, human health, weather and climate | Tagged America, Asia, biofortification, carbon dioxide, child, climate, corn, crop variety, field pea, food quality, grain, iron, legume, maize, nutrition, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, poverty, research, rice, selective breeding, sorghum, soya, staple food, vegetable, wheat, zinc | 2 Comments

Breast milk, indigenous food: A mother’s recipe for healthy children

Posted on May 12, 2014 by argylesock

Here’s Velvet Escario Roxas, a Filipino mother, telling us that children in the Philippines need breast milk and indigenous foods, not Golden Rice. Mrs Roxas says that Filipino women should breastfeed as she did. After weaning, she says these women … Continue reading →

Posted in food, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged Asia, biotechnology, child, crop diversity, food availability, food sovereignty, fruit, genetic modification, Golden Rice, grain, leaf, local variety, mango, milk, moringa, nutrition, papaya, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, rice, sweet potato, tradition, vegetable, Vitamin A, woman | 2 Comments

Tyto alba

Posted on April 2, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on The Naturephile:
A few posts ago in ‘The Owl and the Woodpecker‘ I mentioned that a pair of robins may have started getting fruity in my garden as early as the begining of January. And then last…

Posted in ecology | Tagged barn owl, bird, bird of prey, birdwatching, breeding, bromadiolone, child, conservation, difenacoum, education, Europe, law, native species, nest, pesticide, poison, predator, rare species, vertebrate, wildlife | Leave a comment

Does the world need more food?

Posted on February 11, 2014 by argylesock

Human populations are growing and people are hungry. Does that mean the world needs more food? The answer depends partly on whether you focus on food sovereignty or food security. My fellow blogger Jessica Duncan at Food Governance tells us … Continue reading →

Posted in food, human health | Tagged child, crop, farmer, food, food security, food sovereignty, fungus, livestock, neglected crop, pastoral, peasant, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, population, poverty, smallholder, vertebrate | 3 Comments

Not just bad for bees: Neonic pesticides could damage babies’ brains

Posted on December 19, 2013 by argylesock

argylesock says… Another neonic! I hadn’t heard of acetamiprid until now but our European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) says that it’s likely to be a hazard to unborn babies and young children. Perhaps this is another neonic that should be … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, horticulture, human health | Tagged acetamiprid, child, food safety, fruit, human, imidacloprid, insecticide, lab animal, law, mammal, neonicotinoid, pesticide, rat, research, vegetable, vertebrate | Leave a comment

DON’T PANIC — The Facts About Population

Posted on December 10, 2013 by argylesock

Hans Rosling is a great communicator. Here’s his documentary about human population. Our world reached ‘peak child’ around 2000 because people are using more birth control. Now children aren’t dying so much as they used to. Therefore the world’s population … Continue reading →

Posted in food, human health, statistics | Tagged child, contraception, data, human, population | 3 Comments

Six things that will change with the loosening of China’s one-child policy

Posted on December 1, 2013 by argylesock

argylesock says… China’s one-child policy was supposed to be only for a short time in the 1970s but it has lasted until now. In this article, Quartz considers what might happen as the policy is relaxed. You can read commentary … Continue reading →

Posted in human health | Tagged child, development, politics, population | Leave a comment