Policy

Plant scientists: GM technology a safe tool to help meet food supply demands Washington, DC

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More than 1,000 scientists from nonprofit, corporate, academic, and private institutions say public doubts about genetically modified food crops are hindering the next Green Revolution. In a letter published in the journal Science, six researchers from three institutions explain their recent petition in support of science-based criteria in guiding the safe and effective employment of … Read more

Analysis of the President’s FY 2017 Budget Request

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President Obama released the last budget request of his Administration on February 9th. The budget proposal nominally adheres to the top defense and non-defense discretionary spending levels agreed to by Congress in the fall of last year. However, the White House is relying on mandatory spending, which requires Congress to pass legislation to make these … Read more

Analysis of the FY 2016 Omnibus Appropriations Bill

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Prepared by Lewis-Burke Associates LLC December 17, 2015 This week, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees concluded negotiations on an omnibus appropriations bill (H.R. 2029) to fund federal government agencies for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2016. The final bill provides significant increases to federal investments in research, education, and healthcare programs important to … Read more

Council for Agricultural Science and Technology Annual Meeting Summary

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I am your ASPB representative on CAST.  CAST is the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology and is a non-profit organization composed of scientific societies, many individuals, students, companies, nonprofits, and associate scientific and industry society members.  The primary work of CAST is to organize scientists to write papers on different important topics. CAST assembles, … Read more

ASPB responds to FDA RFI on the Coordinated Framework

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ASPB responds to Response to FDA-2015-N-3403: Clarifying Current Roles and Responsibilities Described in the Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology and Developing a Long-Term Strategy for the Regulation of the Products of Biotechnology; Request for Information. Since the first introduction of biotechnology-derived plant products, not a single documented issue with regard to human safety has … Read more

Petition: Scientists in Support of GMO Technology for Crop Improvement

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Dear  Colleagues, As you know, there is substantial fear of GMO technology both within commercial and public spheres. Recently, companies like Chipotle and initiatives such as the Non-GMO Project (representing over 4,500 non-GMO brands) have cited a petition of 300 scientists that claim there is no consensus regarding the scientific safety of GMOs. A group of scientists and myself have organized a petition … Read more

NYT Publishes ASPB Response to 10/24 Article on European GMO Policies

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The New York Times published the following letter to the editor from ASPB on October 30, 2015.  ASPB’s letter was in response to the October 24th article by Mark Lynas, the political director for the Cornell Alliance for Science.  In his piece, Lynas laments that due to “Europe’s Coalition of the Ignorant, we are witnessing … Read more

Policy Update: FDA Announces RFI and Accompanying Public Meeting on Biotechnology

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On October 16, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a Request for Information (RFI) on “Clarifying Current Roles and Responsibilities Described in the Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology and Developing a Long-Term Strategy for the Regulation of the Products of Biotechnology” and announced a public meeting.  This is the next step in … Read more

Process Labeling of Food & Role of Scientific Engagement in Public Dialog on Food Science Seminar – Monday October 5th

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ASPB is a co-sponsor of this seminar: Process food labeling, the role of social media in communicating about genetic engineering and implications for agricultural producers and consumers will be addressed at National C-FAR’s research seminar on Monday, October 5, offered at 10 a.m. in 328A Russell Senate Office Building and again at noon in 1300 … Read more

Everyone is Biased and Conflicted, Now What?

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Critical discussion and debate is a powerful tool for honing scientific ideas and developing public policy.  Intellectual disagreements can be constructive even when people have starkly contrasting views.  However, too often in our internet and social media-fueled age, honest disagreements degrade into name calling, ad hominem attacks, threats and bullying.  When that happens, people are … Read more

ASPB joins AIBS letter to Senate Commerce on reauthorization of COMPETES

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ASPB joins AIBS letter to Senate Commerce on reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act. Through competitive, peer-reviewed research grants, the NSF funds discoveries that will help to solve the most challenging problems facing society. NSF research, education, and training programs lead to new patents, prepare a highly skilled workforce, and stimulate the creation of new … Read more

AFRI Coalition letter to Senate Ag Appropriators on FY 2016 AFRI funding

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ASPB joins AFRI Coalition letter to Senate Ag Appropriators on FY 2016 AFRI funding. We write on behalf of the AFRI Coalition’s broad and diverse collection of organizations, scientific societies and interest groups, to urge your support for increased funding for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) in the final Senate agriculture funding bill. … Read more

ASPB welcomes Sally Rockey as new executive director of FFAR

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ASPB welcomes Dr. Sally Rockey as the first Executive Director of the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR). ASPB is extremely excited about the creation of FFAR and the enormous potential that it represents to invigorate the nation’s food and agricultural research enterprise. As ASPB and other organizations continue to urge congressional support for … Read more

White House Orders Review of GMO Regulations

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On Thursday, July 2nd, 2015, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) ordered a review the regulatory policies for biotechnology products. ASPB welcomes this opportunity to engage both OSTP and the relevant federal agencies. The administration’s efforts, which will cover both agricultural and biomedical products, will seek to improve public confidence in the … Read more

Cornell Alliance for Science Petition – A letter to our community

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The following letter was sent to our USA members in regards to the Cornell Alliance for Science petition. This issue is extremely important regarding transparency concerning publicly-funded research and scientific investigations. Please read below to help support the plant science and research community with this issue. On January 28th, 2015, 14 scientists from four universities were targeted … Read more

FOIAs Chilling a Scientific Dialog- Your Call to Communicate

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One morning in early February I received an unusual email.  It was from my colleague here at University of Florida, Dr. David Oppenheimer.  It simply said, “FYI”, and was followed by a note from university General Counsel that email records were demanded back to 2012 under auspices of Florida Sunshine, or Freedom of Information Act … Read more

2015 Borlaug CAST Communication Award Winner: Dr. Channapatna S. Prakash

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We are pleased to announce that our nominee, Channapatna Prakash of Tuskegee University, was named the 2015 Borlaug Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) Communication Award for outstanding efforts using his research and communication skills to promote food production. The announcement was made this morning at a National Press Club event in Washington, DC. Borlaug … Read more