Pew awards University $2.5 million to continue work on food, biotechnology
The Pew Charitable Trusts has awarded a $2.5 million grant to University of Richmond to continue the work of the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology. The initiative has received two other grants totaling $14.9 million since it was established in 2001.
A nonprofit, nonpartisan research project, the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology informs the public and policymakers about genetically modified food and agricultural biotechnology through reports, briefs and conferences.
"We greatly appreciate the continued confidence of the Pew Charitable Trusts," commented Michael Rodemeyer, executive director of the initiative. "These new funds will allow us to continue providing policymakers, stakeholders and the public with resources and information that address the evolving regulatory and market challenges presented by genetically modified foods and emerging products of agricultural biotechnology."
The new grant, which covers 18 months between October 2005 and March 2007, will fund projects that
- focus attention on and provide information to assist USDA and other federal regulatory agencies' efforts to re-examine how they regulate agricultural biotechnology,
- take advantage of the growing interest at the state level about agricultural biotechnology, including the potential impacts on markets, the interactions between state and federal regulators, and ways in which adopters of different production practices can coexist, and
- highlight for public discussion issues unique to future products of biotechnology.
Additionally, the Pew Initiative will continue to track consumer opinion, update fact sheets on transgenic crops and host public policy debates that respond to new developments.
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