What’s a GMO and what’s it doing in my food? Two good questions. If you’ve never heard of GMOs, then today is a great time to start getting informed. October 2010 is the first ever Non-GMO Month, and yesterday, October 10, 2010, was Non-GMO Day, celebrating our right to choose food and products that do not contain GMOs (you’ll find out in a bit why that’s a good thing).
So, first things first – a definition. GMO stands for “genetically modified organism”. A genetically modified organism is a food (or other products, but we’ll focus on food here) that has been genetically manipulated in a lab, where scientists take the plant or animal’s DNA and inject it with DNA from another plant, animal, bacteria or fungus – something that would never happen in nature. The second question – what’s it doing in your food – has everything to do with business, and nothing to do with what biotech companies would want us to believe, which is their intention of producing a new species of food that can withstand drought and pests and yield larger amounts, maybe even produce a better product.
To date, none of these claims have proven true. In fact, quite the opposite. Read More…
John Reganold has been comparing organic and conventional agricultural systems since he noticed the drastic difference between them in a soil sample 25 years ago. He is an agro-ecologist who has always been interested in how land is used, and is the lead author of a study on the sustainability and nutritional benefits of organic farming, which was published in the journal PLoS ONE yesterday.
The demand for organic food continues to increase, and as we are huge fans of the benefits of organic produce here at HLife, we were thrilled to see such definitive information on a much-debated subject. While everyone knows that conventionally grown produce has more pesticide residue that the liver then has to discard, there wasn’t conclusive data regarding nutrition – until now. This study of strawberries grown on commercial farms is among the most comprehensive of its kind: A team of interdisciplinary researchers checked indicators like soil DNA, microbe diversity, fruit taste, antioxidant activity, and even appearance. Twenty-six strawberry fields were analyzed, and side-by-side comparisons found that the organic farms produced more flavorful and nutritious berries while leaving the soil healthier.
HLife chatted with Professor Reganold about the groundbreaking implications of this study, among which are the relationship between organic farming and better nutrition, a longer product shelf life, and quality soil. Read More…
Green: Harvesting…electrons? Yes. In an electrifying first, Stanford scientists have tapped the power of plants, as researchers looking for alternate sources of electricity experimented with plugging in to algae cells and succeeded in harnessing a tiny electric current. They found it at the very source of energy production – photosynthesis, a plant’s process of converting sunlight to chemical energy. This may be the first step toward generating high efficiency bioelectricity that doesn’t give off carbon dioxide as a byproduct. In the experiment the researchers intercepted the electrons (using gold electrodes) just after they had been excited by the light and were at their highest energy levels. “We believe we are the first to extract electrons out of living plant cells. This is potentially one of the cleanest energy sources for energy generation,” said WonHyoung Ryu, lead author of the paper published in Nano Letters. Read More…
Here are 10 simple tips to improve our food system, compliments of the wonderful people over at Food Inc.:
1. Drink fewer sodas and other sweetened beverages. If you replace one 20 oz soda a day with a no calorie beverage (preferably water,) you could lose 25 lbs in one year, and you can also replace that drink with other nutrient-packed drinks like veggie juices, probiotic drinks like kombucha, and lime-water that will quench your thirst and help balance your pH levels. Read More…
