Archive for the 'GMO' Category
Genetically Modified Hype in Israel
Thanks to Michael Green of the eco-Israeli blog, Green Prophet for this guest post and his take on the debate over genetically modified foods in Israel.
A headline in the Israeli press last week went a little like this: “Scientists, activists debate if genetically modified foods are panacea or plague.”
Sounds great, but where exactly is the ‘debate’? The article in question reads more like a press release for the GM lobby: ”Distribution of new, genetically engineered crops can help solve world hunger, but the question is where they are used,” said Hebrew University professor Ayal Kimhi. Absent from the 551-word article is the voice of GM-sceptics.
In fact, according to the trusted scientists, it is those who dare to question the merits of a risky and untested technology who are standing in the way of ‘progress’:
No Comments »Where’s the Beef? (In the Test Tube)
x-posted from All Voices.
Scene from inside a fancy restaurant circa 2015:
Man: (scanning the menu) - What are you thinking of getting dear?
Woman: Hmmm…pasta looks good, but I think I’d actually prefer a steak.
Man: Do you know where the meat comes from?
Woman: Of course! I always inquire about the source of the meat I eat. It’s from vat 13 at Acme Labs!
This scene may sound like fodder for a science fiction novel, but according to Wired, test tube meat may end up on consumers’ plates in the not-too-distant future.
Grown in bioreactors, the in vitro meat would be created to mimic the texture and flavor or real meat, from to ground chuck to filet mignon. As of now, scientists say that they have a ways to go before reaching the desired results - but they’re making progress. Wired reported: “Researchers can currently grow small amounts of meat in the lab, and have even been able to get heart cells to beat in Petri dishes. Growing muscle cells on an industrial scale is the next step.”
Earth Mother: Q&A with Emily Freed of Jacobs Farm
America, Community Agri., Farmer's Markets, Farming, GMO, Grocery, Judaism, Organic, Seasonality, Supermarkets, Sustainability, gardening
Local or organic? Farmer’s Market or Supermarket? And what about the GMOs? There’s a lot of talk — and a lot of confusion — these days, about our food. Around the world, people are starting to grapple with the negative impact that large scale, industrial Agribusiness has had over the past half century. As its legacy of soil erosion, polluted groundwater, and chemically-laden fruits and vegetables becomes clear, more and more people are choosing to support organic and local farmers. Emily Freed is one of those farmers. As the Assistant Field Production Manager of Jacobs Farm in Northern California, she’s responsible for over 250-acres of organic farmland. She’s also a Jewish activist who was recently named as one of the Heeb 100 in the category of Food. Despite it being her busy season (she was in the midst of moving about 6,000 lbs of herbs out of the farms each day when we caught up with her), she found the time to discuss the organic movement, the future of food, the connection between agriculture and the environment, and how it’s all related to Judaism.
Children of the Corn
It’s a familiar legend - whether it’s the Golem or Dr. Frankenstein’s monster (the latter perhaps inspired by tales of the former) - what we arrogantly create comes back to haunt us. America’s monster might turn out to be one that we encounter in its most powerful form each Halloween: corn. Not the sweet, buttery kind that we get from our CSA in July. The kind that industrial-strength petro-chemicals and lobbyist-induced grain subsidies have produced in quantities unfathomable even fifty years ago. As Michael Pollan noted in Omnivore’s dilemma, which so eloquently sounded the clarion call for the dangers of corn, much of this crop has been turned into food additives that are so commonplace that if we’re eating any type of processed food, chances are we’re eating corn, even if we don’t even know it! Read more »
Be Fruitful and Save Seeds
The following is an excerpt from an article, “Be Fruitful and Save Seeds,” by Hazon friend, Rachel Kriger, which originally appeared in Tikkun Magazine [Sept./Oct. 2007].
Welcome to the beginning of the end of the growing season. This is the time of year where your weekly share of produce will be most abundant. Since the hard frost has not hit yet, we still have the summer crops and the beginning of the fall crops. This time of year is great for freezing, canning, pickling and seed saving.
What is seed saving? It is the process of extracting seeds from the best selection of our favorite, most resilient crops so that we can plant new seeds in the spring. This is what people did before seed catalogues and garden stores and supermarkets. When we lived off the land, we had to ensure that we would have crops every year.
Every vegetable crop has its own inner survival instincts; and as its growing season ends, each plant produces seeds to ensure its life in future generations. Agrarian humans have developed the knowledge to know how to extract the seeds, cure them and store them. They have even understood how to select for tolerance against pests or weather conditions, or simply for what tastes the bests and has good looks.
Chick (pea) it to me
Chickpeas, also known as Garbanzo beans, are those little flesh colored legumes that come in a Goya can. Sometimes they’re mashed into a creamy paste by Sabra - or some other inferior brand of hummus. At least that’s what I thought until tonight’s dinner.
I went over to a friend’s apartment to make supper, and along with fresh green beans, ripe tomatoes, and multiple bulbs of garlic, she whipped out a bowl of what looked like dried out raisins. “They’re heirloom chickpeas,” she said. “My sister got them for me.” What? On closer inspection these brown spheres did resemble a bean, but definitely not the plump spheres I occasionally tossed into green salads. But that’s just the thing about heirloom vegetables. Most of the vegetables found in supermarkets are bred (or genetically modified) to 1. look pretty 2. stand up to the long distances they travel from farm to table. Heirlooms are, as their name suggests, an older variety of a plant that has been largely knocked off the agricultural playing field. If you’ve ever wondered why heirloom tomatoes often look so ugly, it’s because they pre-date our cultural obsession for fat, uniform - and tasteless - produce.
GMOs at the Teva Seminar: Tomatoes, anyone?
A few weeks ago, the Adamah fellows attended the Teva Environmental Education Seminar at Surprise Lake Camp — what an amazing day. Kudos to Teva for organizing such a great event. Here are some thoughts inspired by one of the sessions by Jackie Topol. Jackie is an artist who loves photographing nature (esp. produce from farmer’s markets) — check out her website: www.jackietopol.com. Hopefully we’ll get some of her photos up here soon ;-)
– Anna
As you may have gathered from Jeff & Anna, our schedule here at Adamah is exciting and filled to the brim. So — as much as I love working in the fields, the greenhouse, and the pasture — it was a nice change of pace to head to the Teva Seminar for a day of Jewish learning and environmental education. The first lecture I attended was about GMO foods and the Jewish response, led by Noam Dolgin. Genetically modified organisms are a major piece of the conversation around contemporary food issues. We talked about BT corn, square tomatoes, vegetables with fish genes, and other new and bizarre developments that are or will soon be growing on farms in the US.
Noam shared examples from the Torah and Rabbinic commentary that could be said to pertain to our current agricultural practices, including the question of GMO. A quote that I found particularly poignant was: “Look at My creations! See how beautiful and perfect they are… Make sure you do not spoil or destroy My world, for if you do, there will be no one to repair it after you” [Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) Rabbah 7:13].
But, although the biblical excerpts really resonated with me, what has really been on my mind for the past two weeks is the square tomato.
Spirit and Soil
Tomorrow, June 6, 2007 - the Jewish-Muslim internet radio station Radio Salam Shalom is hosting a live debate about food, science, and what is “fit” to eat. The debate will focus on genetic modification and will feature Michael Green of the Soil Association and Dr. Majid Katme of London’s Islamic Medical Forum and a member of the GM Freeze campaign.
Tune in / log on: 2pm EST (7pm UK / 9pm Israel) at www.salaamshalom.org.uk
GM and Kosher?
In a recent article in the UK’s Jewish Chronicle, Michael Green of our ally across the pond, Swords and Ploughshares, writes about the questionable kashrut status of genetically modified foods:
A long tradition of Jewish thinkers has emphasised the importance of protecting the natural environment, but Jewish voices have failed to reach a consensus since GM food hit the shops in 1996. . .
As Jonathan Sacks puts it, God and man are “partners in the work of creation”. The ancient covenant is mirrored in the modern concept of sustainability which seeks to “meet the needs of the present [generation] without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Or, in biblical terms, the environment must be preserved l’dor v’dor, from generation to generation.
Farm to School in New York State
Community Agri., Family & Kids, Farming, Food Safety, GMO, Health, New York, Organic, Personal Story, Region, School Food, Sustainability, Vegetables
I just got back from presenting at 4 area conferences for the NY State School Nutrition Association. This is a professional organization that helps support and educate cafeteria workers. This year’s theme was Farm to School Programs. Getting more local fruits, grains, and vegetables into the schools makes sense for children’s health, local economies, school budgets, and the preservation of farmlands. Other presenters included local farmers, and folks from the NYS Farm Bureau. Promoting local agriculture and economies was something that everyone there agreed with, and there was a lot of useful information presented by some very passionate and well-informed people. I felt welcomed, even with my more ‘radical’ viewpoints, and was given a good forum to present my ideas, as well as my songs - I really enjoyed myself.
On the other hand, I am constantly surprised to be reminded that most of the attendees, which included cafeteria managers as well as staff, had little knowledge of nutrition beyond the basic USDA requirements.
Investigate Further
Or at least, that chicken wasn’t a happy one. Eat happy chickens.
“Living Food”: Will You One Day Grow Your Meat?
If the science of cloning can take stem cells and regrow organs and tissues such as stomachs, skin, and muscle then here’s a creepily not too distant question: Will you one day purchase meat which is grown in a vat rather than slaughtered from an animal?
Says Jason Matheny, the leader of a team to do just that, “With a single cell, you could theoretically produce the world’s annual meat supply. And you could do it in a way that’s better for the environment and human health. In the long term, this is a very feasible idea.”
Globe warms, holidays flee to Canada
The cranberry bogs of New England are flooding in warmer weather and soon Canada will overtake the US in production of cold weather goodies, according to the brilliant food writer, Corby Kummer in a NYT Op-Ed. (reprinted in stopglobalwarming.org)
Your pie crusts will also wear the maple leaf as the thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/12/05/americas-breadbasket-moves-to-canada/)”>US sees a drop in wheat production.
Local and organic will be a thing of the past as we come to rely on genetically modified seeds to stave off the devastating effects of a radically altered ecosystem.
