Daily Food & Agriculture Digest
Agroecology can ‘save the world’ from GMO-led industrial agriculture
Imagine the scenario: world food production has become concentrated in the hands of a tiny elite who, backed by powerful ...
African rejection of hybrid and GMO seeds in favor of heirloom varieties promotes food crisis
Africa’s seed industry is complex and can be inefficient, with most farmers using the same seeds they have been planting for generations, unlike farmers ...
History of farming suggests science is not the enemy of natural and nutritious food
Many consumers have the impression that, until recently, food and food production was something little changed. This mistaken view is ...
Mark Bittman: Food movement has bigger issues to tackle than GMO labeling
There is some talk about the food movement’s winning. I’m not even sure such a thing as a food movement ...
After breeding non-allergenic soybean over 10 years ago, researchers achieve conventionally bred version
In the United States, nearly 15 million people and one in 13 children suffer from food allergy. Soybeans are one of ...
Panera creates ‘no-no’ ingredient list in response to consumer demand
In doing so, Panera Bread will join the growing ranks of food companies and restaurants that have announced plans to eliminate a ...
Why Chipotle’s GMO-free move got so much backlash
The last few days at Chipotle HQ could not have been much fun for the people running the marketing and ...
Playing God? Many faiths agree that tinkering with genes is out of bounds
Last fall, at the peak of the contentious, expensive fight over Oregon’s ballot measure to label genetically engineered foods, about ...
Food industry group appealing latest Vermont GMO labeling ruling
Grocery and food industry groups will appeal a recent federal court ruling that allowed Vermont’s GMO labeling law to go ...
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker irritates Twitter followers for being pro GM labeling
Cory Booker has a lot of fans among progressives — not just in New Jersey, but across the country. His ...
Chipotle’s move toward GMO-free supply chain will raise prices for consumers
Chipotle Mexican Grill and Panera Bread for years have led the fast-casual restaurant segment, and their moves away from genetically modified ...
Antibiotic use in livestock may pose health threat to farm workers
A new study by the researcher who has done the most to pin down the presence of “pig MRSA” in the United States ...
Doctor Is In: Despite evidence of GMO safety, this doctor still skeptical
Chipotle announced plans this week to stop serving foods made with genetically modified ingredients — after being the first corporate ...
Millennials drive fast food to change: From non-GMO to antibiotic-free pledges
Millennials across the country are more aware of their food than ever before, from seeking out farmers markets to fill ...
One baboon gene could vastly improve lives of millions of African farmers
With one gene, molecular geneticist Steve Kemp may someday be able to boost the success of small farms across a huge swath of ...
Farmers choose seeds, not corporations
For years now, there has been a myth going around the internet about how farmers seed options have been growing ...
Pamela Ronald profile: Organic farming and GMOs can be ‘bedfellows’
Pamela Ronald is a plant pathologist and geneticist—a professor at the University of California, Davis whose lab has isolated genes from ...
Mythbusting: Little understood facts to calm chemophobia
All too often the use of the word “chemicals” in the news, in advertising and in common usage has the implication ...
Rapid DNA test identifies bacteria that can spoil beer, wine
Something very simple can throw that flavor off before most types of beer are even bottled, and cause further troubles ...
USDA advances approval of another GM potato, with lower sugar and blight resistance
USDA moved another variety of genetically engineered potatoes developed by J.R. Simplot Company forward in its approval process, the agency ...
Biofortifying rice with folate could prevent birth defects
Bolstering rice with a gene to produce more folate, or vitamin B9, could ward off birth defects, according to a ...
Farmer and consumer cost of delaying approval of single GM trait estimated at $19 billion
A new white paper shows that a three-year postponement in global approval of biotech-enhanced soybean traits any time in the ...
USDA organics chief silent on whether organic is safer, healthier
Are consumers right to think that organic food is safer and healthier? It seems like a straightforward question, especially for ...
In debate over organic or conventional, is there third way to feed growing, warming world?
Proponents of organic agriculture say it leads to better soil management, uses fewer pesticides and fertilisers, and is a better ...
Soon-to-be marriages in Big Ag: Monsanto-Syngenta? Dupont-Dow?
A combination of Monsanto Co. and Syngenta AG would set the stage for even more mergers and acquisitions. Monsanto has ...
USDA rebukes EPA for claiming neonics provide no ‘clear’ farmer benefits
During a public comment period for a review of the use of neonicotinoids by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Robert ...
Why is mainstream media promoting ‘quack’ anti-GMO book?
Anna Medaris Miller, writing for U. S. News and World report, gives what I hope was unintended free advertising to ...