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Cotton Incorporated Wins Fast 50 Award

You hoped this day was coming.

Eventually, someone was going to step up and actually start doing something about the state of the world. You might have thought it would be a president�a senator, maybe�who would stand, point out at the future, and raise the alarm. Instead, it is business, and more spe�cifically a certain strain of imaginative, entrepreneurial business, that has found the upside in addressing glob�al malfunction. Whether old-line, established companies or tiny startups, they're tweaking old technologies and inventing startling new ones, tackling everything from pandemics to ancient scourges like hunger. Are they doing all this because they want to save the world, or because they can turn a profit? Yes. And not a moment too soon.

Our sixth annual global readers challenge spotlights businesses that are helping to save the world. They are profit-driven problem solvers - people and companies out to address the planet's woes and make money at the same time. We believe that business-capitalist business is a profound force for positive change and these companies help prove it.

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[ Cotton Inc. ]

An entirely new foodstuff � where it's needed most

Every year, the world produces 45 million metric tons of cottonseed�every bit of it inedible by humans because of the the presence of a toxic chemical called gossypol. But last year, scientists at Texas A&M succeeded in breeding seeds without the gossypol, while retaining it in the plant itself to ward off pests. The resulting seeds can be ground into a nutty-tasting, protein-rich meal.

"This is something that we feel has global implications because there are many parts of Africa where cotton is grown under harsh, dry conditions, where corn is not readily available," says Roy Cantrell, vice president of agricultural research for Cotton Inc., the industry's research and promotion arm. The challenge now: get�ting government approvals. That could take upward of five years, but the technology promises a new food source in poor African nations and, for an estimated 10 million cotton farmers there, higher incomes, too. � Alyssa Danigelis

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