Ambassador William Garvelink says biotech is important for world food security

Ambassador William Garvelink said in an interview with USAID’s publication Frontlines, “Genetically modified food, which is a little controversial in Europe and other places, is an important technology that will have to be used in the future to produce the amount of food the world’s populations will require.”

Ambassador Garvelink helped USAID to lead Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative to reduce hunger and malnutrition, particularly in the Horn of Africa. Read more.

Scientist explains biotech contributions to sustainable agriculture

Dr. Terry Etherton, Distinguished Professor of Animal Nutrition for the Department of Dairy and Animal Science at Penn State University, discusses the importance of biotechnology for food production sustainability in the blog, Food Insight.

He explains, the “use of biotechnology has many benefits for agriculture that range from environmental to improved production efficiency.” Read more.

This week, the International Food Information Council Foundation (IFIC) takes a stand against the misleading rhetoric about biotech sweet corn, calling attention to the safety of the food and its benefits to farmers and our environment. In the blog Food Insight, Dave Schmidt, CEO of IFIC, points out, “Since the 1990’s people around the world have been safely consuming many food products containing biotech crops.”

Mr. Schmidt calls for a more informed public discussion to help consumers better understand the benefits of biotechnology. Biotech sweet corn has been safely consumed by consumers for a decade and continues to benefit the environment by reducing the use of insecticides. Check out IFIC’s article on biotech sweet corn and other resources here.