ARE GMOS REALLY THAT BAD? A prominent environmental journalist takes a fresh look at what they actually mean for our food system and for us.
In the past two decades, GMOs have come to dominate the American diet. Advocates hail them as the future of food, an enhanced method of crop breeding that can help feed an ever-increasing global population and adapt to a rapidly changing environment. Critics, meanwhile, call for their banishment, insisting GMOs were designed by overeager scientists and greedy corporations to bolster an industrial food system that forces us to rely on cheap, unhealthy, processed food so they can turn an easy profit. In response, health-conscious brands such as Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods have started boasting that they are “GMO-free,” and companies like Monsanto have become villains in the eyes of average consumers.
Where can we turn for the truth? Are GMOs an astounding scientific breakthrough destined to end world hunger? Or are they simply a way for giant companies to control a problematic food system? And what will the next four years hold for food policy?
In FOOD FIGHT: GMOs AND THE FUTURE OF THE AMERICAN DIET, environmental writer McKay Jenkins travels across the U.S. - from the Monsanto headquarters in St. Louis to the papaya fields of Hawaii to a family farm in the Chesapeake Bay that grows grapes and tomatoes for local vegetable markets alongside GMO corn and soybeans—to get to the bottom of the GMO debate.
What he discovers is that the GMO controversy is far more complex than meets the eye—there are many famers, scientists, and consumers with stakes in the GMO game, and each has a strong opinion about why their stance is the correct one. Jenkins paints a complex picture of the role that GMOs necessarily play in the industrial food system, with shocking revelations on both sides of the debate, with realities like:
• Most GMOs can be found in packaged processed foods, rather than fresh produce—you’re more likely to have GMO corn in your cereal than on the cob.
• A Hawaiian-born scientist created a GM papaya seed that saved the livelihoods of thousands of Hawaiian papaya farmers in the late 1990s.
• Many genetically modified (GM) crops are designed to be sprayed with hundreds of millions of pounds of insecticides and herbicides each planting season.
• Samples taken from the air around a middle school in Kauai, Hawaii contained traces of five pesticides including DDT, which has been banned in the U.S. for forty years.
This is not, however, a fearmongering book that leaves readers with a list of all the issues in the food system without any real solutions. Rather, FOOD FIGHT is both an intriguing piece of investigative journalism and a practical, nuanced guide to help consumers make more informed choices about what they eat. Jenkins includes opinions and stories from both sides of the aisle, including those who hover around the middle—scientists and farmers who think that GMOs are an important part of the solution to the issue of food security, but not the entire solution in itself.
FOOD FIGHT offers a fascinating, informative and much-needed look into how GMOs factor into our modern food scene and impact our health—from the fields to the grocery store shelves to your dinner table.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
McKay Jenkins is the author of seven books, including ContamiNation, The Last Ridge, and Bloody Falls of the Coppermine. Jenkins holds degrees from Amherst College, Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, and Princeton, where he received a Ph.D. in English. A professor of English, journalism, and environmental humanities at the University of Delaware, Jenkins lives with his wife and two children in Baltimore.
HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS ROOKIE HOOPS GREEN - GLOBETROTTERS ARE BACK WITH THEIR 2017 WORLD TOUR
HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS BRING THEIR 2017 WORLD TOUR TO THE LOS ANGELES AREA FEBRUARY 11-19
Basketball’s most entertaining team debuted the sport’s first 4-point line during 91 st season
The world famous Harlem Globetrotters, featuring some of the most electrifying athletes on the planet, brought their spectacular show to the Los Angeles area during their 2017 World Tour.
New this season, for the first time ever, the Globetrotters will debut basketball’s first 4-point line. The 4- point line will be located 30 feet from the basket – 6 feet, 3 inches beyond the top of the NBA’s current 3- point line.
During their 2017 World Tour, the famed team will feature a star-studded roster that includes Big Easy Lofton, Ant Atkinson, Hi-Lite Bruton, Thunder Law, Bull Bullard and Cheese Chisholm – plus female stars TNT Lister and Ace Jackson*– the Globetrotters’ one-of- a-kind show is unrivaled in the world of family entertainment. Every game will showcase incredible ball handling wizardry, rim-rattling dunks, trick shots, hilarious comedy and unequaled fan interaction. After the game, Globetrotter stars will sign autographs and take photos with fans.^
Tickets for Los Angeles area shows start as low as $18.00 and are now available for presale at harlemglobetrotters.com and arena box offices. Information on group and scout tickets can also be found at harlemglobetrotters.com. The Harlem Globetrotters will tip off their 2017 World Tour on Dec. 26, 2016 and bring their unrivalled family entertainment to over 250 cities in 48 states across North America.
The Harlem Globetrotters® are legendary worldwide, synonymous with one-of- a-kind family entertainment and great basketball skills for the past 90 years. Throughout their history, the Original Harlem Globetrotters have showcased their iconic talents in 122 countries and territories on six continents, often breaking down cultural and societal barriers while providing fans with their first-ever basketball experience. Proud inductees of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the Globetrotters have entertained hundreds of millions of fans – among them popes, kings, queens, and presidents – over nine thrilling decades. Sponsored by Baden Sports, Harlem Globetrotters International, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Herschend Enterprises, the largest family-owned themed entertainment company in the U.S. For the latest news and information about the Harlem Globetrotters, visit the Globetrotters' official Web site: www.harlemglobetrotters.com and follow them on Twitter @Globies
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