A surge in financial speculation on maize is causing vastly inflated prices for corn tortillas - a sacred staple in Mexico - and threatening the health and livelihoods of the country's poor. Tom Levitt investigates
A surge in financial speculation on maize is causing vastly inflated prices for corn tortillas - a sacred staple in Mexico - and threatening the health and livelihoods of the country's poor. Tom Levitt investigates
A surge in financial speculation on maize is causing vastly inflated prices for corn tortillas - a sacred staple in Mexico - and threatening the health and livelihoods of the country's poor. Tom Levitt investigates
Financial speculation in key commodities, like wheat and maize, is being linked to recent volatile food prices but attempts to regulate are being delayed by lobbying from the banking sector. Tom Levitt reports
As controversial UK trials of a potato genetically-modified to be resistant to late blight get underway, we speak to research leader and plant geneticist Professor Jonathan Jones about why he is in favour of an expansion in GM crops
On-going study of children in east London finds air pollution a factor in lung impairment - but political deadlock and lack of public awareness are holding up solutions
The founding ideals of the organic movement are being eroded by the drive for mass-production. The dilemma its supporters now face, is how to spread the organic message without losing its principles
Conservationists battling to save Indonesia's rainforests are locked in a dispute over moves to make oil palm plantations more wildlife-friendly. Tom Levitt reports
British diners could unwittingly be supporting Iceland's whale hunt as a major UK fish wholesaler continues to source seafood from an Icelandic company linked to the killing of endangered fin whales
Main ingredient of Monsanto's Roundup weed killer is being linked to cancer, birth defects and Parkinson's disease and should be banned, according to campaigners behind new report
Global study finds forests provide one-fifth of household income in rural communities and says access for them should be prioritised in REDD-type conservation projects
Fresh concerns over the spread of antibiotic-resistant infections from farm animals to humans have been raised after scientists find new strain of potentially deadly superbug in dairy cows
UK banks helping to finance oil giant Total's exploitation of tar sands on the world's fourth largest island despite lack of adequate environmental controls or regulation
The world's largest rainforest is ravaged by deforestation and two recent droughts. If they continue, says one expert, the Amazon risks entering a period where it can no longer be relied upon to absorb more greenhouse gas emissions than it produces
The world's largest rainforest is under combined threat from deforestation and human-caused climate change. In an interview with the Ecologist, tropical forest expert Dr Simon Lewis explains what is happening
Urgent calls from health experts to reduce antibiotic use on intensive farms are largely resisted by the agribusiness food lobby, who downplay its role in the spread of antibiotic resistance in humans. Tom Levitt reports
In producing nuclear power we are taking the benefits today but leaving the burden of cleaning up waste and accident risks to future generations, argues a study on nuclear ethics
Undercover footage of Portuguese rabbit farms shows the grim reality of intensive factory-style rabbit farming, which may now make a comeback in the UK
Despite outrage in the US over ‘fracturing’ techniques used to extract shale gas and new evidence its greenhouse gas footprint may be higher than that of coal, the UK has given the go-ahead to companies here to begin drilling. Tom Levitt reports from the centre of this potential unconventional gas boom near Blackpool
Unlike tea and sugar, the fresh milk we drink with our cuppa is likely to come from farms in the UK. But as Tom Levitt reports, there are still serious environmental and animal welfare problems associated with the UK dairy sector