Farmaceuticals on the loose: Ever more human medicines are being manufactured by genetically modified plants, such as insulin producing safflower. Denise Caruso looks at whether efforts to confine biopharma genes in open fields will be successful, and whether the risk assessments used to evaluate them are sufficient. As one expert wonders, why not grow them in greenhouses? And why use food crops when carnations could work, too? New York Times Magazine
But don’t worry, it won’t spread: Monsanto is purchasing 2,300 acres of land in Kunia, Hawaii, that used to belong to Del Monte Fresh Produce Hawaii — most likely to grow genetically modified seed corn. Honolulu Star Bulletin
Shark gavage: At the latest opulent aquarium, in Atlanta, an adolescent whale shark’s death shed light on some slimy practices: the shark had been force-fed for months — apparently a common practice at aquariums, even for tiny creatures like sea horses — and died of a perforated stomach. Aquarium defenders say they serve a purpose for catalyzing interest in the oceans. New York Times Magazine
Supplemental insurance: UC Davis researchers analyzed nine over-the-counter herbal kelp products and found high levels of arsenic in eight of the samples. The FDA has limited control over dietary supplements, and has no time to scrutinize products like herbal kelp before they enter the market, so it has to rely on adverse reports to determine product safety. HealthNewsDigest
Paging Woody Guthrie: Climate change threatens to make drought the normal condition in the American Southwest, turning parts of it into a 1930s-like dust bowl and making agriculture a lot more difficult in states like California. Nature
I love the smell of lettuce in the morning: Rep. Mike Pence’s (R-IN) description of his recent trip to a Baghdad market as “like a normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime” inspires Brooklyn writer John Kenney to write about his last trip to a weekend market in Indiana with the family. Los Angeles Times
Cage-free egg hunt: British retailers’ chocolate Easter eggs are graded from a sustainability and fair-trade perspective. Fair-trade and organic chocolates are becoming easier to find, but wasteful packaging is still all too common. Sunday Herald
Thai scientist has managed to excise durian fruit’s stink; durian lovers outraged (NYT)
Mexico pays heavy price for imported corn (Foreign Policy in Focus)
Ithaca’s farmers market switches to compostable cutlery (WCAX Vermont)
Food, Farming, & Food Politics events calendar
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