Illumination 2.0

I've taken a lot of heat for my criticism of the planned Science Marches. Getting scientists to coalesce around anything is a rather monumental task akin to herding cats-- if cats were on Segways programmed to move randomly at high speed. Taking a united stand against the erosion of science funding and science standards is a good thing.  But as I mentioned earlier, is this the best investment of our energy?  Maybe, and we should probably do it.  But let's do two other things: 1.  Stand up for science by making a commitment to durable, sustained efforts to fight science illiteracy and teach the wonders of our physical world.  2.  We must label, criticize, ostracize and shame the pseudoscientific organizations that will co-opt the Science Marches nationwide.   "Partner Organizations" contain some great organizations, but also a few that actively fight against science they find inconvenient or helpful in fundraising.  A Mess on the Hor...

Please watch this and share widely. The journey is quite a story. 

Strawberry is a popular fruit with tremendous commercial value, and while everyone loves a good strawberry, are they actually getting better? This week’s podcast talks to Dr. Jim Hancock, strawberry breeder from Michigan State University.  Dr. Hancock explains strawberry’s wild history, from cultivation by indigenous people in Chile, to colonists moving them around the world, to spies taking them home to the king.  Modern challenges and solutions to sustainable production are discussed. In the second part of the podcast professional speaker and agvocate Michele Payn-Knoper ( Cause Matters Corp. ) talks about effective ag communication and her favorite places to find good information on science and agriculture. Foodinsight.org   — geneticliteracyproject.com  —  thefarmerslife.com  —  Foodie Farmer  PLEASE WRITE A REVIEW ON iTUNES.

Folta Note:  We don't have Earl's Restaurant in Florida. However, notes from Canadian friends suggest they have a raging Chipotle on their hands.  The chain has eliminated Canadian beef based on an illusion health claim.   The note below is from Lesley Kelly, and appeared on her Facebook page . I'm proud to repost her eloquence here, and hope that others share the message.  Dear  Earls Restaurants , I thought we had a great thing going but...I’m going to have to break up with you. I can say I’m not surprised. We all saw this coming. You’ve joined the ranks of the Chipotles and A&Ws and have thrown your neighbour (the farmer), the Canadian agriculture industry and our struggling economy under the bus with your recent announcement to source meat from outside of Canada under the “Certified Humane” label. What exactly does that label mean anyways? You see, when you joined this club, it indirectly applies that our food system is not one o...

The news that I was the recipient of the 2016 CAST Borlaug Agricultural Communications Award added a new extreme to the wild emotional dynamics of the past twelve months.  Celebrate, suffer; dance, cry; hurt, heal. Quit, start, refresh, retreat. Lather, rinse repeat. Back in August and September 2015 I read in disbelief that I was part of Monsanto’s “inner circle”, one of their “strategic advisors” with “close ties” that “took money to lie about science” and “used undisclosed funds to thwart labeling efforts.”  I read the websites, I read the articles.  The person I was reading about was not the person in the mirror. But in the day of the internet, the person in the mirror is forced to take the yoke that the most devious person installs.  You become, in perception, who they decide you are.  You lose control of your own persona—that is left to those that want to destroy you. There is nothing you can do if you are a mostly unknown public scientist t...

Those quick to criticize genetic engineering in food were not pleased with the Simplot non-browning potato or the non-browning Arctic Apple.  In these cases the enzyme polyphenol oxidase (PPO) is disabled using a genetic engineering approach. Without this enzyme, plant materials do not turn off colors upon exposure to air, keeping postharvest quality high. Everyone from Michael Hansen to Dr. Oz went on the warpath, generating fear and doubt about the safety of the apple upon its release.  Criticisms abounded on the web , claiming that the new products were dangerous, that PPO was important, and that nobody knows what is going to happen if we eat non-browning produce.  Those of us that think about food and crop biology on a daily basis know of examples where defects in PPO have been of interest for a long time.   One great example is the golden raisin.  No PPO activity, and plant breeders and consumers celebrated new little dried weird fruits that were clear ...

When you can pick through someone's emails, you can assemble the story you want to tell, and use that manufactured story to harm their reputations.  Facts don't matter. If you had 5000 pages of someone's communications, what story could you tell?  The climate deniers and anti-GMO folks have it down to a science.  I'm seeing it happening today, again.  Over on Twitter I have still been enduring hostile harassment, this time from another set of claims from another newly-established account.  They again play off of the tired trope that I'm some agent of Monsanto and am financed by them.  This is posted for two reasons.   1. Does their repetition of the same misinformation lead others to have questions?  I'm glad to clarify them here.  2. It is good to show how they cherry pick unrelated events and make them seem related by strategically gluing them together.  On the left, my words.  On the right, a letter in my emails th...