Tag Archives: food sovereignty

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

The new scramble for Africa (part 1)

Posted on June 20, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on ECO-opia:
. With the African continent home to the majority of the world’s fastest-growing economies, urban consumer markets and a wealth of natural resources, it’s perhaps not surprising that some of the world’s largest corporations, from Monsanto…

Posted in agriculture, food, horticulture, knowledge transfer, money and trade | Tagged Africa, aid, Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, Asia, breeding, development, DuPont, Europe, farmer, fertiliser, finance, food security, food sovereignty, G8, history, knowledge, local variety, Monsanto, New Alliance, nutrition, pesticide, politics, prosperity, seed, smallholder, Syngenta, trade, tradition, World Development Movement, Yara | Leave a comment

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

Call for articles: Nutritional values and family farming

Posted on June 16, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on AGRICULTURE BLOG…..:
Farming Matters | 30.2 | June 2014 We are told of the great advances that have been made in ‘modern’ agriculture in the last 60 years. Yet there are more hungry and malnourished people on…

Posted in agriculture, food, horticulture, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged access to food, agroecology, biotechnology, cash crop, conservation, crop, development, family farm, farmer, fertiliser, finance, food, food availability, food loss, food quality, food security, food sovereignty, food waste, forest, genetic modification, Green Revolution, intensive, iron, knowledge, land use, local community, nutrition, obesity, poverty, rural, smallholder, trade, tradition, Vitamin A, woodland, yield, young person | Leave a comment

Revisiting the “eat local” Idea

Posted on June 15, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on Thought + Food:
I just came across this review of a book called “The Locavore’s Delusion”, and yes, it is a nod to that other book, in case you were wondering! The authors of the book tried to…

Posted in food, knowledge transfer | Tagged access to food, biotechnology, climate-ready crop, flood, food, food availability, food quality, food safety, food security, food sovereignty, genetic modification, grain, grocery, local breed, local community, local variety, marker assisted selection, plant_monocot, Scuba rice, selective breeding, staple food, sustainable, trade, transport | 3 Comments

What is biodiverse food?

Posted on June 13, 2014 by argylesock

Ann Tutwiler of Bioversity International tells us why in the 21st century, we need biodiverse food. And she tells us what that could mean. Ms Tutwiler doesn’t mince her words, saying that a need for dramatically increased food production is … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, horticulture, knowledge transfer | Tagged amaranth, banana, barley, biodiversity, biotechnology, cacao, cassava, climate, commodity, corn, crop, development, fertiliser, food, food security, food sovereignty, fossil fuel, foxtail millet, genetic diversity, grain, grass, Green Revolution, grocery, knowledge, maize, neglected crop, oats, pearl millet, plantain, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, politics, pollution, potato, poverty, prosperity, public_private partnership, quinoa, research, rice, rye, small millet, smallholder, soil, sorghum, staple food, supermarket, sustainable, teff, trade, water, wheat, wild rice | 3 Comments

No seeds, no future

Posted on June 8, 2014 by argylesock

Biowatch South Africa shows us a film about agroecology and food sovereignty. ‘We accept maize seeds from the Department of Agriculture, but we don’t plant those GM seeds. We feed them to chickens.’

Posted in agriculture, food | Tagged Africa, agroecology, biotechnology, bird, chicken, corn, crop, crop variety, development, family farm, feed, food, food sovereignty, genetic modification, grain, livestock, local variety, maize, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, poultry, seed, seedbank, smallholder, subsistence, trade, tradition, vegetable, vegetable variety, vertebrate | 2 Comments

GM foods neither safe nor needed, say genetic engineers

Posted on May 19, 2014 by argylesock

Today Earth Open Source (‘Collaborative approaches for sustainable food’) promotes the second edition of GMO Myths and Truths. Here’s the press release. Genetic engineers Dr John Fagan and Dr Michael Antoniou, and researcher Claire Robinson, talk good sense in my … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, human health, knowledge transfer, money and trade | Tagged America, biotechnology, Europe, farmer, food safety, food security, food sovereignty, genetic modification, glyphosate, knowledge, Monsanto, research, Roundup, Roundup Ready crop, Séralini_Gilles-Eric, scientist, seed, sustainable, trade, tumour | 4 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

Secret trade deals

Posted on April 23, 2014 by argylesock

The campaigning group GMO Inside isn’t only about genetically modified (GM, genetically engineered) food. It’s also about the secret trade deals which, says Shireen at GMO Inside, threaten the food on our plates. From the United States Shireen looks West … Continue reading →

Posted in food, money and trade | Tagged biotechnology, Fairtrade, family farm, farmer, food, food sovereignty, genetic modification, trade, Trans Pacific Partnership, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership | 1 Comment