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.
Belgium Public Health Council endorses safety and efficacy of gene edited crops, urges EU approval
A European legislative proposal is being studied to authorize the cultivation of NGT plants. These are plants created by the targeted ...
‘Over a million seeds are safely locked away here’: Remote Norwegian island keeps Earth’s plant diversity safe in case of disaster
“Over a million seeds are safely locked away here,” Ola Westengen says. He is a researcher and former head of ...
Viewpoint: Will European farmer protests drag the EU into the 21st century on biotechnology and AI in agriculture?
Among all the demands that European farmers are making (claims of an economic nature, which have to do with imports, ...
Viewpoint: ‘Flashy junk science tort lawyer ads’ that claim glyphosate causes cancer warp public’s view about weedkiller dangers
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates the nation’s tort system cost the U.S. economy $443 billion in 2020, a sum equivalent ...
Here are the states trying to ban cell-based meat, and why
Months in jail and thousands of dollars in fines and legal fees—those are the consequences Alabamians and Arizonans could soon ...
How CRISPR gene drives could help eliminate pesticide-resistant ‘superweeds’
A gene drive – a bit of DNA that cheats evolution and can spread even if harmful – has been ...
Study: What does ‘ultra-processed’ food do to our brains and capacity to learn?
Ultra-processed foods may not only affect our bodies, but our brains too. New research suggests links between ultra-processed foods—such as chips, many ...
Organic production in France slides as focus shifts to climate change and organic yield lag
The 21st Agence Bio barometer sheds new light on the causes of France's disenchantment with organic products ...
Methane is 28 times more powerful than CO2, and it’s increasing in the atmosphere. Here’s why and what must be done
The greenhouse gas methane is 28 times more powerful than CO2, and its presence is increasing in the atmosphere ...
Green activist setbacks — Internal divisions and zero-compromise approach to biotechnology highlights recent campaign failures by European environmental activists
2023 marked a tumultuous year for European environmental activists, witnessing significant setbacks in their long-standing campaigns against pesticides and genetically ...
Viewpoint: South Africa lags much of world in regulating gene-edited seeds as GMOs
Automatically regulating all gene-editing products as GMOs as opposed to the product-by-product approach adopted by most other countries is going ...
Viewpoint: Despite a sea of environmental activist disinformation, GMO plants have more than lived up to the hype
There is a great deal of misinformation out there regarding genetically modified organisms (GMOs). From monikers like "Frankenfoods" to general skepticism, there has ...
In its quest for food security, China scales up GMO and gene edited crop approvals
In a significant leap towards self-reliance in food security, China celebrates the success of a three-year trial planting homegrown genetically ...
Viewpoint: Why the European Union Commission’s proposal to limit patents on gene-edited crops would rewrite global intellectual property rights
On February 7, 2024, the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) adopted, by way of plenary vote, a position supporting ...
Viewpoint: The Europe’s anti-pesticide fearmongering continues to cripple African food security hopes
As farmers protest across Europe, blockading cities, smashing through police barricades, and dumping manure, European politicians are falling over themselves ...
Insect Allies: Why the Pentagon’s plan to transmit plant viruses with gene edited insects to increase climate resilience is stirring such controversy
Recent investigations have illuminated controversial projects by the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), specifically the "Insect Allies" program, ...
New Zealand considers deregulating crop gene editing, but public resistance and limited understanding of CRISPR limits acceptance
The potential use of genetic technologies in New Zealand’s agriculture has been a political hot potato for 25 years. But ...
Switzerland green lights field tests on CRISPR yield-enhanced barley
Agroscope has been granted approval by the Federal Office for the Environment for a field trial with spring barley. The ...
Food security challenged Pakistan reevaluating benefits of currently-banned GMO crops
For the last two decades, Pakistan has faced several challenges, such as drought, salinity, temperature, climate change, and an increasing ...
Viewpoint: ‘There are still some people out there screaming about gene edited crops, but that opposition is getting weaker’
The amount of money and human resources directed at gene edited crops is staggering, says Kevin Folta, a University of ...
Viewpoint — Part V: ‘Ignominious’, fabricated attacks on GM crops jeopardize Africa’s food security and seed sovereignty
For two years, groups of farmers have been testing the PBR [pod borer resistant]-cowpea; they are thrilled with the product ...
‘Science proves GM corn and the herbicide glyphosate are harmful to human health and native crop varieties’: US claims Mexico ignores ‘decades’ worth of evidence demonstrating their safety
In a written submission to a panel of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, Mexico, the top buyer of U.S. corn, argued ...
‘Texas Two-Step’ — Bayer weighs new Roundup suit strategy as costs of cancer litigation mount
Bayer AG is weighing whether to use a controversial legal maneuver known as the Texas Two-Step bankruptcy to try to resolve ...
Scammy food allergy test? Why the most prominent US allergy association recommends against relying on popular IgG serological panels
A test that claims to be able to diagnose food sensitivities and is commonly available is the food IgG test. ...
Viewpoint: Proposed Vermont bill follows New York in banning neonic pesticides — a move that lacks evidence and will hurt farmers
A new bill in the Vermont House would ban the use of certain insecticides by the state’s agricultural sector. Bill ...
Viewpoint — Part IV: Anti-GM protests spread fear and ultimately protect pet industries while denying Africa opportunities to advance
The European Union countries are the biggest importer of GM-maize and GM-soybean feed (more than 30 million tons per year); ...
East Africa is taking a jumbled approach to approving GMO innovations in crops and pest protection
While East Africa's approach to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) remains varied, Rwanda's recent biosafety law highlights the region's complex stance ...
