As the several year-old drought in California wears on with no end in sight, the state’s agriculture industry is scrambling for answers. Perhaps the hardest hit sector is organic dairy, where regulations make it harder to maintain business as usual through a severe lack of rainfall.
Denver, CO; Salem, OR—Two state ballot initiatives that would have required the presence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food to be called out on labels failed to pass on Election Day. The vote on Colorado’s Proposition 105 was not close, as voters shot it down 66% to 34%. Oregon’s Measure 92 came up short by less than one percentage point, or about 10,000 votes.
Washington, D.C.—The needed money has begun to arrive in the search for non-toxic, organic ways to defeat citrus greening, the disease that has threatened to overwhelm the citrus industry. The Organic Center, based here, announced the success of its first-ever crowdfunding campaign, designed to drum up funds for its previously announced three-year study on citrus greening.
A major fixture in the gluten-free community, the Gluten Intolerance Group (GIG), turns 40 this year. Its efforts to serve, inform and connect those who follow a gluten-free diet are rapidly expanding, including the continued rise of its product certification program known as the Gluten-Free Certification Organization (GFCO).
Washington, D.C.—In a move that has riled up critics of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and synthetic pesticides, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved modified corn and soybean seeds that are resistant to the pesticides 2,4-D and glyphosate.
The gluten-free labeling rule issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in August of 2013 went into effect on August 5, 2014. It requires any food product that carries a gluten-free claim to contain no more than 20 parts per million of gluten. Labeling of gluten as an ingredient in food products remains voluntary.