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.
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 ...
How are we feeding a global population that has tripled since 1940? Propelled by genetic tinkering, crop production takes up 8 to 11 times less land while maintaining yields
The impacts of climate change, particularly extreme weather events, will increase the likelihood of crop failure in the future. As ...
Viewpoint — Part III: Claimed side-effects of GM crops from GMO corn rebuked by scientists
In their crusade against PBR-Cowpea, anti-GM activists cite articles written by Vendomes et al. (2009)... and an article published by ...
Here are 5 new biotech ag products that consumers might fall in love with
After almost three decades of providing solutions to farmers’ concerns, biotech experts are now releasing and developing a new set ...
Viewpoint: Court rulings and science are increasingly at odds when it comes to evaluating crop chemicals
In early February, dicamba once again found itself on the wrong side of the law. A federal court in Arizona vacated EPA’s ...
Viewpoint: Part II — Anti-GMO arguments rest entirely on botched studies
GMO food and feed have more than twenty years of safety record. During these twenty years, each day hundreds of ...
When can plant-based foods be described as ‘meaty’? France cracks down on plant based meat claims
In three months’ time, France will enforce a ban on the use of ‘meaty’ terminology for plant-based products ...
Viewpoint: Part I — Behind the anti-crop biotechnology crusade in Nigeria and across Africa
Before any GM crop is released, it is intensively analysed for human, animal and environment safety. Despite their historical high ...
What role can gene editing play in neutralizing the global devastation caused by papaya viruses?
Amidst a backdrop of devastating viral attacks on papaya crops worldwide, scientific innovation emerges as a beacon of hope. Gene ...
The dark side of convenient foods: 32 health problems from heart disease to depression are associated with ultra-processed foods, new study claims
Many studies have indicated that ultra-processed foods are uniquely bad for our health. But the authors of this latest research, published ...
Iconic Oscar Mayer wieners will come in a plant-based version with a smoky taste later this year
If you wish there was an Oscar Mayer wiener that was plant-based, soon there will be one ...
Nightmare germ: A look back at terrifying Mad Cow Epidemic that began in the 1980s
One of the most existentially frightening illnesses ever to be discovered was mad cow disease, a fatal prion-spread illness that ...
Roundup weedkiller cancer trials now trending Bayer’s way
Bayer on March 5 said it won a trial in a lawsuit brought by a retired postal service worker in ...
As a bill to ban cell-grown meat makes its way through the Florida legislature, science researchers are divided on potential consequences
Legislation in states including Arizona, Alabama, Tennessee and West Virginia has emerged against cultivated meat in the last two months ...
‘This is one of the worst droughts of my lifetime’: Renewed push for insect-resistant GMO corn to ward off insect-invasions
“This is one of the worst droughts I have ever seen in my life. I don’t know what to do,” ...
Harnessing algae opens a new frontier in sustainable meat-like protein
Evidently, the need for alternatives to traditional meat and cheese has been a growing concern for health and the environment ...
Study: Gene editing in medicine is more favorably viewed than in agriculture
A study published in Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology explored U.S. public opinion on gene editing in agricultural and medical fields. ...
Viewpoint: Healthy eating is less about what you eat and more about how much
“Avoid carbohydrates!” “Eat intermittently!” “Eat like a caveman!” “Increase foods that are antioxidants!” The list of recommendations is vast ...
AI poised to develop new agricultural practices to curtail plant pests and disease
In keeping with the age-old saying: ‘prevention is better than a cure’ more sustainable approaches should await the farmers of ...
Viewpoint — Why the non-GMO label is a deceptive farce
Everyone is able to choose what they want to consume, that’s the good thing about the U.S. food system. There ...
Bangladesh still stuck in the past as locally grown Golden Rice hits markets in the Philippines
Golden Rice has finally hit markets across the Philippines as the country embraces the genetically modified crop to boost local ...
Epigenetics opens new pathway to producing climate-resilient crops
Genetic manipulations such as RNAi silencing and CRISPR are helping researchers and plant breeders enhance traits and characteristics ...
Cell-based protein for your pup? Cultivated meat companies see large potential market in pet food
The pet food market is becoming a target for cultivated meat; a small number of lab meat producers are targeting ...
Viewpoint: Non-GMO seed company mistakenly listed a seed in its catalogue that had a similar name to a genetically-modified tomato — prompting a bizarre tirade against “Big Ag”
Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company had an intriguing offer in its 2024 catalog: a tomato seed it called Purple Galaxy ...
Want to sell cell-based meat in Tennessee? You’ll face a million-dollar fine in yet another chapter in the ‘long-running fight over the future of protein’
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared his support for banning a food product that barely exists — cell-cultivated or “lab-grown” meat — ...
