Monsanto Says it's the "Right Time" for GMO Wheat

Editor's Note: Problem = wheat shortages due to extreme weather and speculation driving commodity prices; Reaction = global starvation and outrage; Solution = Drought-resistant GMO wheat seed from Monsanto.

PopSci

This year, your bread dishes are probably not genetically modified — consumer and food industry opposition has so far prevented any GM wheat from making it to your table. So your biscuits, thickened gravy and turkey stuffing are made with flour from traditionally bred wheat.

But several seed companies, including Monsanto, Syngenta, BASF and others, are working on transgenic wheat. U.S. Wheat Associates, an industry group, said in early 2010 that GM wheat is still several years away, but efforts are ongoing to improve its acceptance among international consumers.

Monsanto Co., the world’s largest producer of genetically modified seed, backed off commercialization of “Roundup Ready” wheat several years ago, amid concerns it could hurt the U.S. wheat market. But earlier this month, the firm said it's the "right time" to pursue development of drought-resistant and high-yielding wheat.

Read Full Article

RELATED ARTICLES:
Food Fascism in the Land of the Free
7 Mega-Cartels That Run the World

Buy 1 Get 2 Free at Botanic Choice Buy 1 Bottle and Get 2 FREE (select items), plus Free Shipping on $25+ Expires 12/31/2010

Fresh food that lasts from eFoods Direct (Ad)

Live Superfoods It is time to Wake Up! You too, can join the "Global Political Awakening"!

Print this page

Monsanto Says it's the "Right Time" for GMO Wheat

Editor's Note: Problem = wheat shortages due to extreme weather and speculation driving commodity prices; Reaction = global starvation and outrage; Solution = Drought-resistant GMO wheat seed from Monsanto.

PopSci

This year, your bread dishes are probably not genetically modified — consumer and food industry opposition has so far prevented any GM wheat from making it to your table. So your biscuits, thickened gravy and turkey stuffing are made with flour from traditionally bred wheat.

But several seed companies, including Monsanto, Syngenta, BASF and others, are working on transgenic wheat. U.S. Wheat Associates, an industry group, said in early 2010 that GM wheat is still several years away, but efforts are ongoing to improve its acceptance among international consumers.

Monsanto Co., the world’s largest producer of genetically modified seed, backed off commercialization of “Roundup Ready” wheat several years ago, amid concerns it could hurt the U.S. wheat market. But earlier this month, the firm said it's the "right time" to pursue development of drought-resistant and high-yielding wheat.

Read Full Article

RELATED ARTICLES:
Food Fascism in the Land of the Free
7 Mega-Cartels That Run the World

Fresh food that lasts from eFoods Direct (Ad)

Live Superfoods It is time to Wake Up! You too, can join the "Global Political Awakening"!

Print this page

The Future of Wheat

Denver Post

The future of wheat – in many ways the future of food – was the subject of an emergency meeting of agricultural officials who flew to Rome from around the world, concerned over skyrocketing prices. Since July, when traders saw a historic heat wave devastating Russia’s crop, prices on the world’s wheat exchanges have shot up 50 percent. Corn and other grains rose in lockstep.

Feeding the world, 9 billion people by 2050, will mean boosting food output globally by 70 percent over 40 years, the FAO says. But wheat, the biggest source of protein in poorer countries, is falling behind: As global population grows 1.5 percent a year, the growth in wheat yields – the amount of grain produced per hectare – has slipped below 1 percent a year. In the U.S., yields generally peaked in the 1990s.

In the volcanic valleys of central Mexico, on the Canadian prairie, across India’s northern plain, they sow and they reap the golden grain that has fed us since the distant dawn of farming. But along with the wheat these days comes a harvest of worry. Yields aren’t keeping up with a world growing hungrier. Crops are stunted in a world grown warmer. A devastating fungus, a wheat “rust,” is spreading out of Africa, a grave threat to the food plant that covers more of the planet’s surface than any other.

Read Full Article and See Photo Gallery

RELATED ARTICLE:
Banksters Inflate Speculative Food Bubble

Fresh food that lasts from eFoods Direct (Ad)

Live Superfoods It is time to Wake Up! You too, can join the "Global Political Awakening"!

Print this page