The Non-GMO Blog

California approves $5 million for Organic Transition Program

California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) has been pushing for more help for farmers transitioning to organic production, through creation of an Organic Transition Program. In June, the governor approved a 2022-2023 state budget allocating $5 million for grants, technical assistance, education, and outreach to support farmers and ranchers to transition to organic. Funds will also […]

Udall Foundation honors student for regenerative agriculture project

Gavrielle Welbel is one of three Yale undergraduates named as Udall Scholars for contributions to environmental protection work. Fifty-five students were chosen nationally, based on career commitment to environment, tribal public policy, or Native health care—and for leadership potential and a record of public service and academic achievement. Welbel studied mechanical engineering and earth and […]

Who trusts and distrusts gene-edited foods? New study gauges public acceptance

Through CRISPR and other gene-editing technologies, researchers and developers are poised to bring dozens—if not hundreds—of new products to grocery stores with claims of benefits: mushrooms with longer shelf lives, drought-resistant corn and bananas impervious to a fungus threatening the global supply. A few, including a soybean variety that produces a supposedly healthier cooking oil, […]

Illinois organic farmers file lawsuit against hog confinement

An Illinois organic farming couple, Randy and Crystal Clair, have joined one of two lawsuits filed by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency against Carroll Family Farms, LLC, which owns a 5,000-hog confinement called County Line Swine in northern Adams County. The lawsuits claim Carroll Family Farms is operating the hog confinement with improper methods that […]

Gene editing hamsters induced the opposite effect from predictions—creating enraged “bullies”

Gene editing can turn your beloved hamster from a Dr. Jekyll to a Mr./Mrs. Hyde. That alone shows the potency of the genetic manipulation tool—but even scarier is that the researchers who used it on hamsters had strongly expected the opposite result. University of Georgia scientists used the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing tool to remove a […]