Agriculture & Food
We eat to live. Humans use approximately 11% of Earth’s land for the cultivation of crops for food, but also for clothing, medicine and biofuels. Globally, major crops include sugarcane, pumpkin, maize (corn), wheat, rice, cassava, soybeans, hay, potatoes and cotton.
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Viewpoint: MAHA’s chemophobic agriculture recommendations take a back seat to industry and science as Republican farm policy comes into focus
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has courted controversy his whole life. Since becoming the Trump administration’s top health official, Kennedy’s outlandish ...
What you probably don’t know: For most fast-food fans, bioengineering isn’t a choice — it’s the norm
Think you’re grabbing a quick “natural” bite from your favorite burger joint? Think again. Whether you order a Big Mac, ...
Industrial ‘white biotechnology’ poised to jump-start Nigerian economy
Nigeria, with its abundant biodiversity, dynamic population, and growing technological capabilities, is uniquely positioned to harness biotechnology for transformative growth ...
‘Ultra-processed’ does not automatically equate to ‘unhealthy’
They have been called “poison”, “addictive” and “junk”, but however you describe ultra-processed foods (UPFs), it is clear they are the nutritional ...
Chemophobia: From anti-corporate liberal left to MAHA right, it’s getting worse
Chemophobia is complicated, but, in short, it’s a distrust or fear of chemicals and appears in many of aspects of ...
Britain’s landmark agricultural gene editing law kicks in next month. Here’s what to expect
Over the next few years, we could see the arrival of not just genetically altered tomatoes, but also bananas and ...
Consumer Reports is fearmongering (again). No, protein powders don’t contain ‘toxic’ levels of lead
Consumer Reports is at it again, this time, fear-mongering about lead in protein powders. Their latest headline and “report” concludes ...
Kenyan cabinet nears decision on GM crop approvals worth hundred of millions of dollars
Delays in adopting advanced maize, cotton, and potato varieties have cost the country a staggering KSh 20.4 billion in just ...
Gene editing may be the only protection we have to maintain farming output as climate grows more extreme
Rapid climate change has significantly impacted agricultural production, potentially affecting global food security. Scientists and policymakers worldwide have devised various ...
U.S.-China trade war is turning the country into a net importer of food
The United States, long regarded as a global agricultural leader, is facing a major shift as its farm trade balance ...
Viewpoint: The GMO primate study that finally shuts the door on misguided claims of unique harm
One of the most persistent myths surrounding GMOs is the supposed long-term harm on our delicate internal landscapes — the ...
Misguided MAHA: Its vision of transforming American agriculture would increase food prices, habitat loss, and emissions
Earlier this spring, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. walked the rows of John Sawyer’s Texas farm, the young corn brushing against ...
Chestnuts, rats, and rhinos: Can biotechnology become a key tool in conservation?
What do the American Chestnut tree, the black rat, and the northern white rhinoceros have in common? They are all ...
Organic labeled food does not mean it’s healthier. It only designates how it was grown
When you see the word organic on a label, it's easy to assume it means healthier, safer or more sustainable, ...
Taylor Swift and the intuitive eating craze
Intuitive eating “focuses on trusting your hunger cues. You decide what to eat and how much based on that,” says ...
‘Blood bath’: American soybean farmers are panicking as trade war with China escalates
China hasn’t booked any U.S. soybean purchases in months, making the oilseed a potent weapon in Beijing’s trade fight with ...
Viewpoint: The gap between agricultural reality and regenerative claims about palm oil: ‘It has become less about agronomy and more about allegory’
Today, the creed lighting up meetings, conference stages and supermarket shelves is regenerative agriculture (RA). ... It has become less ...
Big Ag vs. MAHA: Who’s winning and why
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a reputation for bashing powerful corporate interests in his quest ...
Viewpoint: Despite environmental activist claims, bird and insect populations are not crashing in Britain
The scientific evidence increasingly refutes the alarmist narrative that our farmland bird and insect populations are disappearing due to intensive ...
Viewpoint: 10 reasons why we should not fear GMO fruits
[1.] Many people think genetically modified fruit is a recent invention, but the first GMO fruit hit the market in the 1990s. ...
Growing rice traditionally releases dangerous greenhouse gas. Here’s a solution
Rice is perhaps the world’s most important foodstuff — it feeds more than half the global population. But it is ...
Mutant advantages: Constant change in plant breeding — random and now guided — has precisely crafted our global food system
A new review paper by researchers at Bayer Crop Science, titled Beautiful and delicious mutants: The origins, fates, and benefits of ...
Battling rising feed costs and misinformation, Kenya explores GMO solutions to revive its struggling livestock sector
For years, Kenyan farmers have been complaining of expensive and poor quality livestock feed that is eating into their profits ...
Avocado orchard of the future: ‘Creating novel types with vibrant skin colors, unique and distinctive flavors and very large sized varieties’
The future of the avocado could look very different, thanks to Westfalia Fruit’s innovative precision breeding programme in South Africa ...
Viewpoint: What happened when a liberal food writer makes a science-based case for glyphosate’s safety and importance—in the New York Times
You shouldn’t drink Roundup. You shouldn’t bathe in it, either. But you shouldn’t worry about eating crops sprayed with Roundup ...
Industry and Trump’s agriculture department: It’s a revolving door
For decades, regardless of who’s been president, some leaders in key government food and farm departments have had strong industry ...
Viewpoint: The organic food industry is a $180 billion marketing fraud
As a biomedical scientist, it has never failed to annoy me that the term ‘organic’ has been co-opted to spread ...
