Daily Food & Agriculture Digest
Green Revolution 2.0: Agricultural technology ‘moonshot’ could change future of food
The first meeting of “Science Breakthroughs 2030” just convened to discuss the key advances essential for revolutionizing food and agriculture ...
Food Evolution director defends documentary as pro-data, pro-science
[Scott Hamilton] Kennedy goes deep here with his answers to Salon’s questions, judiciously explaining what others might consider blasphemy. ...
Opinion: Greenpeace’s ‘fearmongering’ gives environmental advocacy a bad name
The little town of Saint-Félicien, in Quebec’s lovely Saguenay region, is under siege. ... “Greenpeace wants our total death!” mayor ...
Prince Charles: ‘Future of humanity’ may depend on organic farming
Prince Charles has warned that the ‘very future of humanity’ may depend on organic farming. Speaking as he celebrated the ...
California’s Prop 65 listing of herbicide glyphosate as carcinogen goes into effect July 7
Glyphosate, an herbicide and the active ingredient in Monsanto Co's popular Roundup weed killer, will be added to California's list ...
Review: ‘Fact-based’ Food Evolution doc counters anti-GMO documentaries’ ‘questionable content’
Plant breeding doesn’t generally inspire filmmakers. But genetic engineering — the process that creates “GMO” crops — has already sparked ...
‘Culture of confrontation’: Professor on abusive use of Freedom of Information Act in GMO debate
[Editor's note: David Zilberman is a professor of agriculture and resource economics at UC-Berkeley.] [A] few weeks ago, I received a ...
Opinion: Food Evolution movie gets science right—but that won’t likely convince ‘GMO-averse people’
[Editor's note: Keith Kloor is a freelance writer and adjunct journalism lecturer at New York University.] Unfortunately, there’s no good ...
Genetically engineered natural insecticides? RNAi crops with built-in protection hit the market
DvSnf7 dsRNA is an unusual insecticide. You don’t spray it on crops. Instead, you encode instructions for manufacturing it in ...
‘Crop of the century’: How GM soybeans unseated ‘king corn’ in the US—with help from China
[Editor's note: 78 percent (91.4 million hectares) of the world's soybean acreage, is genetically modified.] With planting almost complete, soybeans are ...
Gene ‘silencer’: GM crop technology could help stop spread of herbicide resistance
Introducing genes for herbicide resistance into a crop permits it to be sprayed with weedkiller that really does then kill nothing ...
Luxembourg’s parliament votes unanimously to prohibit farmers from growing GMO corn
Luxembourg’s parliament has voted unanimously in favor of a resolution which calls for the ban of cultivating genetically modified maize ...
‘Food Evolution’ review: Film shows fear of GMOs in rich countries hurts African farmers
The Food Evolution documentary, directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Scott Hamilton Kennedy and narrated by pop astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, navigates ...
Jury orders Syngenta to pay Kansas farmers $218 million for GMO corn losses
A U.S. jury on Friday [June 23] ordered Syngenta AG to pay $217.7 million to more than 7,000 Kansas farmers ...
Will new government guidelines for GE crops spur innovation—or do they not go far enough?
[Editor's note: Hank Campbell is president of the American Council on Science and Health.] Since 2014, China has spent $4 billion ...
GMO papaya saved an $11 million industry in Hawaii—and set off a political storm
It started with rotting flesh. ... It was a sign of trouble for hundreds of Hawaiian papaya farmers who, for the next several ...
European Union rejects attempt to block full ban on neonicotinoid insecticides
MEPs [Members of the European Parliament] have rejected an attempt by UK Conservative MEP Julie Girling to oppose a full ...
Infographic: Vermont’s twisted GMO labeling logic
Although the prospect for on-product labeling of genetically engineered foods in the United States have dimmed, critics of biotechnology continue ...
How GMOs help farmers achieve more sustainable ‘conservation agriculture’
[Editor's note: Michelle Miller, the Farm Babe, is an Iowa-based farmer, public speaker and writer, who grows row crops, and raises ...
Everything you need to know about the evolving fiasco over IARC’s glyphosate cancer designation
In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) reviewed research data regarding Monsanto’s glyphosate weed killer, also known ...
Foodie Michael Pollan and 45 researchers dismiss Food Evolution doc as ‘a piece of propaganda’
[Editor's note: The following is part of a letter signed by 45 academics including University of California-Berkeley professor Michael Pollan, ...
Opinion: Food patents immoral? Anti-GMO argument isn’t based on logic or science
[Editor's note: "Fallacy Man" is the pseudonym for a PhD biology student who blogs at The Logic of Science.] ["It’s morally wrong ...
Infographic: Twisted GMO labeling logic
Although the prospect for on-product labeling of genetically engineered foods in the United States have dimmed, critics of biotechnology continue ...
NY Times on Food Evolution movie: ‘In a world desperate for safe, sustainable food, GMOs may well be a force for good’
The scientific method is under siege, and not just from naysayers who dismiss climate change or fear vaccines. G.M.O.s — ...
Honey bees could be shielded by probiotics from toxic effects of pesticide exposure, study finds
In a new study from Lawson Health Research Institute and Western University, researchers have shown that probiotics can potentially protect ...
Marion Nestle: ‘GMO propaganda’ film Food Evolution quoted me ‘out of context’
[Editor's note: Marion Nestle is a professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University. She is featured ...
Open-source seeds: Breeders release tomato, wheat strains that aren’t allowed to be patented
There's open-source software, open-source pharma research, and open-source beer. Now, there are open-source seeds, too. Breeders from Göttingen University in ...