The Organic & Non-GMO Report Newsletter

How do we reduce pesticide use while empowering farmers? A more nuanced approach could help

By Jessica Knapp, assistant professor in ecology, Trinity College Dublin Pesticides threaten humans, wildlife and our environment. Food production must change. But farmers are already pushed to their margins. Organic agriculture produces less food and requires more land. An immediate end to pesticide use will probably cause productivity to drop and prices to soar. There’s no simple answer […]

Little-known toxic chemical shows up in 80 percent of Americans tested

Exposure increasing as EPA raised allowance level in 2023 The pesticide chlormequat, linked to reproductive and developmental harm in animals, is present in popular oats and oat products including Quaker Oats and Cheerios. In urine samples of 96 people collected between 2017 and 2023, 80 percent of them showed traces of the chemical. In May […]

Red nets signal “stop” to insect pests, reduce need for insecticides

Changing the color of commonly used agricultural nets lessens insect damage to Kujo, Japan leek fields Red nets are better at keeping away a common agricultural insect pest than typical black or white nets, according to a new study. Researchers experimented with the effect of red, white, black, and combination-colored nets on deterring onion thrips […]

GM banana lauded for “saving” the fruit—despite promising non-GMO varieties

World’s first GM banana will provide a “safety net” for Australia’s $1.3 billion Cavendish banana industry The Panama Disease Tropical Race 4 (TR4) poses a threat to several banana varieties, including the Cavendish—a major export crop for Australia. Queensland scientists have developed the QCAV-4, a genetically modified Cavendish variety, to provide a “safety net” for […]

Rotten tomato: Biotech company makes false claim about its GMO purple tomato

Norfolk Healthy Produce says its patented GMO technology is the only way to develop a purple flesh tomato containing antioxidants but Oregon State University developed an antioxidant-rich purple tomato more than a decade ago using traditional plant breeding. Norfolk Healthy Produce, a UK-based biotechnology company that developed a much-hyped purple tomato, claims on its website […]