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soybeans 
Fri Jun 03, 2011 at 22:14:59 PM PDT
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The humble soybean has become a source of controversy, with some accusing the legume of all sorts of adverse health effects.
The Harvard Women's Health Watch has published an article in its June 2011 issue, stating, "a large study suggests that breast cancer survivors can safely eat soy foods." These findings were presented in April at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer research.
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Tue Apr 12, 2011 at 14:58:24 PM PDT
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Back in March, Tom Philpott, a blogger at Grist, wrote that Tim Wise of Tuft Universities Global Development and Environment program had said that farm commodity subsidies cause low farm prices. The operative quotation was that, ""... by putting downward pressure on corn and soy prices, federal subsidies..." gave below cost gains to CAFOs.2 Philpott's blog was soon picked up in various places around the internet. In a google search, on about 11/20/10 I found 32 hits on this quotation. This quotation is not an accurate reflection of what Wise wrote, as I show below.
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Fri Mar 18, 2011 at 19:19:02 PM PDT
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I've been fascinated with South American soybean cultivation since I read Raj Patel's book Stuffed and Starved. That was the first I had heard that Brazil and Argentina are literally covered in soybeans. I found it unsettling to discover that I - and likely others - had had such a blind spot. So when Food and Water Watch released a new report about South American soy and the impact of soy exports to the EU, mostly from Brazil and Argentina, I was eager to research it.
As it turned out, it was NOT easy to research. Ultimately, I found one colleague in Brazil who speaks Portuguese and, through him, I was able to interview a professor who did her doctoral research in the Amazon in an area impacted by soy. Additionally, I got in touch with an Argentinean who knew about soy but spoke little English. Let's just say that Google translator was my friend. What was even more difficult is that, on this topic, you need to know what to Google in order to get decent results. Most of Brazil's soybean cultivation takes place in the Cerrado, not the Amazon. But google "Brazil soy deforestation" and most of the hits focus on the Amazon.
In addition to writing the article, I also wrote a Sourcewatch article on Soy Cultivation in South America plus individual country pages for each of the 5 nations involved. I relied heavily on FAO data about soy production and exports, and posted several helpful links that I found on the Sourcewatch page as well (scroll to the bottom to External Articles - they are worth reading). Ultimately, I'd love to be able to dig more into detail about the specific ecosystems and populations impacted in each country. And I'll be traveling to Bolivia's soy growing region this August.
The outcome of my research, for now, is this Alternet article. I've pasted it below, in full. (Also, note that the Sourcewatch page is a wiki... if you've got a flair for research, please contribute!)
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Sun Nov 07, 2010 at 18:38:17 PM PST
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The U.S. soy industry is on the verge of losing its 8th largest customer: Turkey. According to the United Soybean Board, 60 percent of Turkey's soybeans come from the U.S. Yet now Turkey has a new law that may ban - or at least slow down - all importation of genetically engineered foods. And nearly all of the soy grown in the U.S. is genetically engineered.
I've not been able to find much about this story in the news, aside from what's been said by the United Soybean Board, some of which sounds like it might be bogus. But apparently, Turkey might be doing this because they want to become more in line with the policies of the EU. Or, honestly, and the United Soybean Board wouldn't say this, maybe they've seen some good science that made them decide to rethink their policies on biotech imports.
At any rate, it does not look like this is a ban. Rather, they are creating a new Turkey Biosafety Board and GE varieties that are already legally sold in Turkey will have to resubmit paperwork to be approved all over again. Or not approved, as the case may be. And it seems there might be a period of time in between the currently approved stuff being disallowed and the new approvals being issued in which U.S. soybeans won't be allowed into Turkey.
Let's continue to follow this one. It's certainly likely the U.S. government will weigh in on GE soy's behalf. I'm also interested to see where Turkey plans to get its soy, if not from the U.S. The other big producers are Brazil and Argentina... and I believe they grow GE soy too.
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Mon Dec 28, 2009 at 14:23:21 PM PST
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I thought I'd have a little fun and see who gets the most subsidy money. I also took a look at which states grow the most of some commodity crops that receive subsidies - corn, soy, wheat, rice, and cotton.
The results? 10 out of 21 members of the Senate Ag Committee comes from the top 10 farm subsidy recipient states. Go figure.
Also interesting is that the #1 rice and #2 cotton state's Senator, Blanche Lincoln, currently chairs the ag committee. Her policy advisor from 2000-2001 (Ben Noble) currently lobbies for the National Cotton Council and the USA Rice Federation. And Monsanto.
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Mon Nov 02, 2009 at 13:59:56 PM PST
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Oh yes, it's true. Monsanto is here to rescue us from overfishing. How, you ask? By engineering a variety of soybean with extra omega-3. And last week, the FDA decided that the oil of the new omega-3 soybean is GRAS - Generally Recognized as Safe.
The confirmation of GRAS status enables food companies to develop and test foods containing the new omega-3 oil, which are important steps towards consumers being able to benefit from this omega-3 product in a variety of food products with an acceptable taste experience.
As you can see on Monsanto Today, Monsanto is very pleased to give the world such a great product - one which will provide a source of omega-3s in our diet without a fishy flavor, and one which will mean we don't need to overfish the oceans in order to get enough omega-3s. I'm sorry, but that's like inflating the tires on a Hummer and saying you're doing something to help fight global warming. Let me explain.
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Mon May 11, 2009 at 22:00:12 PM PDT
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15 years after originally banning the granular form of carbofuran, an insecticide sold under the brand name Furadan, which was so toxic that just one grain was enough to kill a bird - USEPA on Monday finally officially banned use of the chemical in any form on food crops meant for human consumption -
FMC Corp. officials could not immediately be reached for comment. The company said on its Web site that Furadan "remains a useful product, vital to the sustainability of agriculture" and that its proper use "does not create a risk to human health, wildlife or the environment."
It's always great to see corporations attempt to pass of their deadly chemicals as a "sustainable solution", isn't it? While they're at it, maybe FMC Corporation can explain why a google search for 'FMC EPA investigation' brings up 18,500 hits, or why I spent a large percentage of my working life in environmental remediation back in New Jersey at their West Windsor chemical plant?
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