Digest – News: Monsanto patents attacked, Taiwan “leans” against U.S. pork

Your regular Digest editor is back from vacation and has spent her jetlagged, bug-eyed last 24 hours scanning all 17,041 headlines since she left, and trying to make sense of the House's Frankensteinian Farm Bill. Kudos and many thanks to Marc R. for so ably holding down the fort. It was great to get a break.

While we hope none of the following links are repeats, please bear with us while we catch up. By the way, we've compiled all the last 19 months' worth of Digest links into a set of archives pages for your (and our) convenience.

Monsanto spanked: The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has rejected four key Monsanto patents related to genetically modified crops on the grounds that the agricultural giant is using them to harass, intimidate, sue - and in some cases literally bankrupt - American farmers. But will Monsanto have to refund the legal fees of the farmers it's tormented? Although he's Canadian, somewhere Percy Schmeiser must be breaking open the bubbly. (PUBPAT press release, thanks Derrick!) This news has been surprisingly little covered, and deserves an in-depth post beyond our time and skills right now. Yoo hoo, LawforFood?

Chinese Taiwanese farmers protest U.S. pork: Taiwan's pig farmers are asking for ban on US pork because a drug used to cause pigs to gain lean weight, known in Asia as 'lean meat essence,' has turned up in local shipments and those from the US. (Taipei Times)

Greening Africa, naturally?: The Gates' Foundation's Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa has ruled out the use of genetically modified crops to fight hunger and poverty on the continent, according to the group's chairman Kofi Annan, says a report by Kenyan Business Daily (via Chews Wise). Or has he? A few days later, Business Daily Africa asks, Could Mr Annan’s perceived ambiguity and AGRA’s nuanced shifts in its statement be a part of an effort to pander to those for and against modern bio-technologies in Africa at the same time?

Not a drop to drink: Landowners (mostly agribusiness) in California's Westlands Water District would gain the rights to 1 million acre feet of water under a proposed settlement — 15 percent of the federally controlled water in California. Westlands is the nation's largest water district, and its members include Harris Farms, one of California's biggest farming operations, and Tanimura & Antle, the nation's top lettuce grower. (Guardian Unlimited)

Pol calling kettle black: Bush threatens veto of Ag funding bill. One reason is that it will tie the Executive Branch's hands. So why not just use a signing statement to untie the hands? The other objection, that the bill's not fiscally responsible, is laughable. (ABC News)

Protecting local porkers: Most disappointingly, California Sen. Barbara Boxer said Wednesday she would not support a $250,000 limit on farmers receiving federal crop subsidies, saying it would be a disaster for the state's cotton and rice growers. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Congress, give this man some funding: The head of the FDA says the agency will likely increase the number of food safety inspectors, possibly placing some in foreign countries. (Chicago Tribune) Related: FDA stops plans to close seven regional laboratories, including Bay Area facility that helped investigate spinach outbreak

Spray gunning: Having failed to add new pesticide controls to a House farm bill, farm worker and environmental groups are trying the courts to block use of chlorpyrifos. (TheHill.com)

Women exposed to organochlorine pesticides may be more likely to give birth to children with autism (Los Angeles Times)

Whalemeat in Japanese school lunches found toxic (Reuters)

Lead paint prompts Mattel to recall 967,000 Chinese-made toys (New York Times)

Wild vs. farm fish test developed (ScienceDaily)

Botulism-tainted Castleberry’s Food cans still on supermarket shelves, more than a week after recall began (New York Times)

Smoking one joint as harmful to lungs as having up to five cigarettes, according to study (Reuters)

 

Comments