2013-03-12 | permalink

Anti-GMO grass-roots effort gains ground in U.S.

Anti-GMO food activists in the U.S. don’t stage late-night guerrilla raids, vandalizing farms swathed in hazmat gear. Instead, they’re more likely to patrol the corridors of power in sport jackets, lobbying lawmakers for oversight or suing biotechs in court. But even without these tactics, American activists, including a handful of scientists, have been raising skepticism about GMO foods. “The science just hasn’t been done,” says Charles Benbrook, an agricultural policy expert at Washington State University and a leading voice of dissent. Today, about 90 percent of the corn, soy, and cotton grown in the U.S. are genetically modified to be either resistant to pests or tolerant of herbicides, including the popular weed killer Roundup, so that farmers can spray throughout the growing season without harming crops.

• Discover Magazin, USA: Anti-GMO grass-roots effort gains ground in U.S.
• Huffington Post, USA: GMO poll finds huge majority say foods should be labeled
• Sustainable Food Trust, USA: GMO labelling in America