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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What’s the recipe for healthier food? Healthier soil?
Greater biodiversity is the key to healthier soil. And healthier soil is the key to a range of environmental and ...
Combinations of some sweeteners and food additives slightly increase health risks
Food additives are widely used by the agri-food industry and are especially common in ultra-processed products found in supermarkets. Scientific ...
‘Tariffs on China could put me out of business’: Trump-supporting farmers panicked by erratic trade flip flops pleads for a quick deal
Amid an escalating trade war, President Donald Trump announced a 125 percent tariff on China while the country hit back ...
Foreign entities are partnering with American tort forms to fund environmental lawsuits that undermine science and U.S. national security
One of the most insidious threats today is not on the battlefield, but in our courtrooms—where foreign entities are using ...
Viewpoint: Agroecology is a cult dogma that is taking global agriculture hostage
Agroecology is a cult dogma that imposes arbitrary political restrictions on agriculture (no industry involvement, no global trade, no innovative ...
From nuclear energy to chemicals to vaccines to GMO crops and food, conspiracy theories and disinformation are as rampant on the political left as the far right
The great majority of conspiracy theories and disinformation spread about environmental and health topics are popularly attributed to the conservative/right side of the political spectrum. But ...
Mostly nutrition-less rice could be gene edited to increase heart health for hundreds of million of nutrition-challenged children
A team of Chinese scientists has successfully modified rice to produce coenzyme Q10, an essential compound known for its role in energy ...
Viewpoint: In RFK, Jr.’s Brave New World of food and health, Zen Honeycutt and and other ‘zealots and gurus’ roam freely
In an NPR article on Moms Across America’s Zen Honeycutt, covered in The Firebreak, the anti-vax activist stated she had given her co-conspirator, ...
Viewpoint: ‘We need to protect ag’ — ‘Meritless’ threats to ban safe pesticides and chemicals could surge US food costs by $10 billion
Along with volatile market conditions and erratic weather, Florida’s farmers now face growing legal assaults brought on by activist lawyers ...
Here’s the case for vertical farming and gene editing in Pakistan
When genome editing and vertical farming are combined, the results are transformative. Scientists can tailor crops-like dwarf wheat or fast-growing ...
AI, freeze drying and 3-D printing are poised to make food more nutritious and carbon friendly
One of the most promising applications is the use of AI to tackle food loss — one of the biggest ...
Viewpoint: ‘This is Hollywood science, not real science’ — RFK, Jr.’s ‘plan’ to let avian flu ‘run through the flock’ courts a catastrophic, global pandemic
In two recent interviews on Fox News, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. downplayed concerns about H5N1 avian influenza in the U.S., raising alarm among ...
Bayer petitions Supreme Court to block lawsuits targeting Roundup and set aside verdicts because EPA has determined it is safe as used
Bayer (BAYGn.DE) said on [April 4, 2025] it was again petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to sharply limit legal claims that ...
Viewpoint: NPR and hypocrisy on science: It defends Girl Scout cookies under attack from the MAGA right after years of promoting crackpot chemophobia
If NPR’s latest defense of Girl Scout cookies doesn’t leave you scratching your head, you might need to check your ...
Trump’s first tariff trade war cost U.S. farmers $27 billion. This round is shaping up as far worse, with food prices poised to rise as a result
If history is any indicator, farmers are sure to pay for Trump's trade war. During the first Trump administration, retaliatory ...
AI generated food images make people queasy. Here’s why
If you’ve seen a recent advertisement for food that you found unsettling rather than appealing, artificial intelligence may be to ...
Switzerland poised to break from its anti-GMO past, edges closer to deregulating gene edited crops to increase crop yields
Switzerland is considering a change of its rules to allow gene editing, reflecting a broader shift across Europe aimed at ...
Tariff chaos threatens to ignite agricultural trade war with China that could roil US farmers and send food prices soaring
China ... is the third-largest importer of American farm goods, behind Mexico and Canada. ... [It's] retaliatory tariffs, which are supposed ...
Greening cows: How farmers can accelerate the transition to more sustainable milk production
This past summer, we read about Danish farmers paying a carbon tax on their cows and pigs. Starting in 2030, ...
117 Organizations join 153 Nobel laureates in a global call for agricultural innovation to end hunger
More than 115 organizations worldwide have joined a coalition urging urgent action against global hunger. This initiative follows the call ...
Nanomedicine techniques are being redeployed to accelerate transition to more sustainable farming
Cancer drugs and agrichemicals can be powerful, but toxic, tools. Now, UNSW scientists are applying nanomedicine insights in a project ...
Will Trump’s global tariffs disrupt the U.S. agricultural and food system?
Trump is using tariffs to bring jobs back to America, keeping illegal immigrants from crossing the Canadian and Mexican border, ...
Indonesia reconsidering its opposition to genetically modified crops
The [Indonesian] government is looking to develop genetically modified organisms (GMO) to boost domestic soybean production and reduce imports in ...
Bananas that don’t brown within minutes? Gene editing makes that possible
“Food waste is a big contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. It’s very bad, clearly,” said Gilad Gershon, the chief executive ...
Urine could be a key source for developing sustainable fertilizers
The reuse of human urine would allow for the production of sustainable fertilizers for urban agriculture, with significant environmental benefits ...
Viewpoint: ‘We’re trapped in an increasingly dangerous supplement hell online, all thanks to politicians. And it’s probably going to get worse’
The nutritional and dietary supplement industry has exploded in recent years, fueled partly by social media influencers and branded content ...
Robot lasers may open the door to near chemical-free agriculture
The LaserWeeder G2 doesn't just remove weeds; it obliterates them. Using optimal thermal energy, the laser explodes cell walls at ...
