Daily Food & Agriculture Digest
Every day, the staff of the Genetic Literacy Project scours the Web for stories on a range of agricultural and food issues, including the GMO debate, conventional and organic farming, regulations, new breeding technologies and sustainability. We publish excerpts of those stories and encourage our readers to visit the original publications for the complete stories.
Viewpoint: Two independent Vermont agencies determined there is no scientific basis in banning neonicotinoid pesticides to ‘save honeybees’ while some advocacy ‘environmental’ groups contend otherwise. It’s now in the governor’s hands to decide if naked ideology will prevail
Despite Vermont's Agricultural Innovation Board (AIB), created to inform regulatory recommendations using science, flatly stating there was no basis for a ...
As Switzerland mulls ending ban on crop biotechnology, organic farmers and environmental NGOs intensify campaign against reform
At the end of next year, genetically modified plants could be allowed in Switzerland. An alliance of organic farmers and ...
Impossible Foods company takes over cattle ranch, transforms it into soy, sunflower and other crops for plant-based meat production
Next battleground in US culture wars: Republican states advance bans on cell-cultured foods (Business Insider) ...
Next battleground in US culture wars: Republican states advance bans on cell-cultured foods
Move over, electric vehicles and gas stoves: A new product is taking center stage in the culture wars ...
Viewpoint: America now has a record number of honeybees. How did we get from ‘beepocalypse’ to bee abundance?
You can relax, everyone: The honeybees are back. As Andrew Van Dorn of the Washington Post reported recently, America suddenly now has ...
Only 11 of 54 African countries grow genetically engineered crops. This study explains why and offers guidance on how to increase acceptance
Adoption of GM crops has been extremely slow in African countries; only eleven of the fifty-four have current approved their ...
Counterintuitive agricultural science: Organic farming can lead to increased use of pesticides in neighboring conventional fields
New research adds to the increasingly nuanced picture of organic farming and how well it can meet both our food and ecological ...
Flushing fertilizer down the toilet: Human urine contains nitrogen and phosphorus — superfood for plants
Our urine contains what the body wants to dispose of. “But it can also put food on our table,” says ...
Viewpoint: Banning fledgling lab-grown meat industry nothing more than ‘conservative nanny states prohibiting the voluntary consumption of products that mostly don’t exist yet’
Last year, the Agriculture Department approved some companies to sell lab-grown chicken; other lab-cultured meats (such as beef, pork and ...
Mascara and eyeliner are mostly made from crude oil or mined minerals. This algae-based alternative could reduce the carbon impact of many cosmetics
Black pigment solutions are often derived from petroleum-based sources like crude oil, natural gas or coal. Each year, 8.1 million ...
Cows of the future: Bill Gates predicts that genetically modifying beef cows, with the help of AI, could help fight climate change
In a recent episode of his podcast “Unconfuse Me With Bill Gates,” the Microsoft founder offered the prediction that AI ...
Viewpoint: The case against banning neonicotinoid pesticides
As Consumer Choice Center, we believe that Bill H.706 – which plans to ban the use of neonicotinoid treated seeds ...
Viewpoint: Here’s why the European Parliament’s plan for loosening crop biotech editing regulations is two steps forward, three steps backward
Many welcomed the European Parliament's adoption, with a narrow majority of 307 votes for, 263 against and 41 abstentions, of ...
Talking trees? Do they quietly communicate through an underground fungi network? Here are the facts
A popular theory about how trees cooperate has enchanted the public and raised the profile of forest conservation. But some ...
Population growth, sustainability and the future of food
You are what you eat. Today, this famous saying comes bearing a question: What will we be eating tomorrow? ...
Viewpoint: By engineering block on Vitamin A enhanced Golden Rice, Greenpeace ‘puts the whole environmental movement into disrepute’
First, a word of warning. If you donate money to Greenpeace, you might think you’re helping save the whales or ...
Viewpoint: Disinformation on alleged dangers of chemical residues on fruits and vegetables is not only bad science, it causes consumers to avoid produce
Peer reviewed research and Alliance for Food and Farming (AFF) surveys among consumers and registered dietitians all show the negative impact of misinformation about pesticide ...
Viewpoint: Sri Lanka’s ‘tragic’ legacy — To encourage sustainable farming, countries cannot ignore food production and socioeconomic trade-offs
Sri Lanka is a particularly dramatic case showing how rash and poorly designed policies can lead to tragic consequences. In ...
Harnessing power of fungi could play key role in sucking CO2 from the atmosphere
Fungi is being put to use in a range of planet-friendly functions, from being developed as a non-polluting flame retardant to being ...
With Earth Day happening around the world, let’s focus on 10 of the biggest challenges to our global agricultural and food system
As we celebrate Earth Day, the importance of transforming our food system is higher than ever – here are 10 ...
Brewing resistance: Studying coffee’s genetic lineage provides clues on how to create varieties to survive climate change
A research paper released April 15 in Nature Genetics mapped the genome and considered the possible origins of the world's ...
Blue soybeans? Orange wheat? How a gene-edited splash of color could make robotic weeding much easier
Genetically engineering crops to be colourful could help farmers produce food without using herbicides, as it would make it easier ...
Viewpoint: Why recent setbacks won’t derail cultured meat revolution
Since Mark Post first introduced his cultured meat burger in 2013, the industry has attracted nearly US$3 billion in private ...
Viewpoint: Will India embrace a second green revolution — one focused on sustainable agriculture instead of yield?
Methane is a dangerous heat-trapping gas responsible for 47 per cent of India’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The agricultural sector ...
Want to improve cholesterol and blood pressure? Swapping out meat for plant-based alternatives may not provide heart health benefits, study suggests
In new research, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, scientists looked at how diets containing real meat compare to ...
Nutritional breakthrough: Genetically modified vitamin B1-fortified rice could help us overcome some health deficiencies
Vitamin B1 is an essential micronutrient for human beings. Its deficiency is the cause of numerous diseases of the nervous ...
European Ombudsman rejects environmental advocacy group claims that European Commission mishandled favorable impact assessment of gene-edited crops, and closes case
Releasing genetically modified organisms into the environment and placing them on the EU market as food or feed is subject ...
