Monthly Archives: June 2008

Milk Labeling in Minnesota – Another Journalistic Venture

“Sweet Bonus” or Survival? Get the Facts and Then Decide!
by Sherry Bunting
Introduction by Terry Etherton

On June 22, 2008, the Star Tribune newspaper (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota) published an article, “Is Labeling Milk as Free of Hormones a Bad Idea“, written by Lou Gelfand. The story is great example of the lousy and slanted journalism being practiced that focuses on agricultural biotechnology … in this case, rbST and milk labeling. Continue reading Milk Labeling in Minnesota – Another Journalistic Venture

Popularity of the Dairy and Animal Science Web Site – A Letter to Our Users

by Rose Pruyne
Web Administrator,
Department of Dairy and Animal Science


“Great Web sites share everything they learn and hear
(that’s relevant of course) with their users.”
– Andrew B. King

screen shot of das web siteWhat does it take to be successful on the Web? The answer to that is simple and yet not so simple: Provide relevant information. Make it easy to discover. Continue reading Popularity of the Dairy and Animal Science Web Site – A Letter to Our Users

GM Food: Monster or Saviour?

By Jeremy Cooke
BBC News*

I have to confess, until now the whole debate about genetically-modified (GM) food has pretty much passed me by.

Most of my career has been spent as a foreign correspondent.

But last summer I returned to the UK to start a new job with the BBC. I now glory in the title Rural Affairs Correspondent. Continue reading GM Food: Monster or Saviour?

The UN Food Summit – Fiddling in Rome

Terry D. Etherton

The United Nations (UN) Food Summit (High-Level Conference on World Food Security), held in Rome in early June, 2008, was designed to address food security issues in the face of soaring food prices (see Figure below), and the growing challenges associated with rising energy costs, and how this has impacted food prices and food security.

The increase in food prices is astounding! For example, during the early part of 2008, nominal prices of all major food commodities reached their highest levels in the past 50 years. For the first time, the annual global food import bill will surpass $1trillion (FAO, Food Outlook, June 2008)! Continue reading The UN Food Summit – Fiddling in Rome

Animal Research: Giving the Gift of Life

Dr. Barb Glenn
Managing Director, Animal Biotechnology
Biotechnology Industry Organization
Washington, DC

Many of our greatest medical advances have been made through the use of animal models in research. There are, for example, mouse models for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and any number of animal models for cancer, as well as HIV. There is no question, we owe the progress made in treating these diseases to animal research. Continue reading Animal Research: Giving the Gift of Life