Understanding Government

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is shocked, shocked by the divide between organic farmers and agribusiness on the question of GMO foods, as Lyndsey Layton reports in the Washington Post.  “Each side is so passionate, [a]nd each side is convinced that it’s right.  Vilsack, named “Governor of the Year” by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (nice URL grab, guys!), has been on the side of the big guys before, and recent rulings allowing unrestricted farming of genetically-modified alfalfa and other crops show how he walks, no matter how he talks.  Still, you shouldn’t believe that this is a David and Goliath fight. (more…)

Federal regulators are on the verge of approving the world’s first ‘Frankenfish’ — genetically modified Atlantic salmon engineered to grow from fingerling to filet in half the time.  According to Les Blumenthal of McClatchy Newspapers, “if the Food and Drug Administration approves it, the salmon would be the first transgenic animal headed for the dinner table.” (more…)