Daily Food & Ag 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: How organic proponents hijacked the term ‘organic’ and why confused consumers are the victims
I recently learned that Costco is selling “organic protein.” My first reaction was to laugh, because all protein is organic ...
Viewpoint: Slow Food movement claims two recent studies showing EU’s Green Deal Farm to Fork strategy would exacerbate climate change are flawed
The EU Farm to Fork Strategy has been repeatedly attacked and questioned by industrial farm lobbies, a number of conservative ...
‘Gene revolution’: Africa could benefit greatly from embracing genetically engineered crops — but overcoming public and policymaker skepticism is key, concludes Russian researchers
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is the least food-secure region, and solutions are constantly being sought to alleviate the problem. The region’s ...
6 ways agricultural scientists are addressing climate change
Modern agriculture has to produce more food than ever to feed our growing planet, which requires the use of synthetic ...
Farming sustainability study: What climate benefits could widespread adoption of genetically modified crops bring to Europe?
Genetically modified (GM) crops can help reduce agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In addition to possible decreases in production emissions, GM yield ...
Viewpoint: What is a ‘pesticide prescription program’ — and is it a better option than many chemical regulations?
The public worry about residues in food. They are concerned about harming non-target flora and fauna. They worry about the ...
From biofertilizers to plastic substitutes, fungi is poised to revolutionize food and industry
To meaningfully address the climate crisis, we must confront our construction practices – and that’s where mushrooms come in. Mycelium ...
Anti-GMO stances ‘insult smallholder farmers’ in Africa and Asia
Science advocates in Africa and Asia reject claims that genetically modified (GM) crops have been hijacked by big companies from ...
Anti-pesticide campaigners maintain that insecticide sulfoxaflor violates the Endangered Species Act. Here’s how Biden’s EPA responded
We may be our own worst critics, but America continues to lead the world in science, science literacy, and science ...
Complicating food security: Trade-offs exist between strict conservation measures and global human health, study finds
Area-based conservation targets aimed at stopping and reversing global biodiversity loss are set to form an integral part of the ...
Biotech-tweaked plants and meats are the ‘next big thing’ in food — but consumer demand remains a question mark
Upside Foods, which is developing cell-cultured meat, announced its acquisition of Cultured Decadence, a start-up that aims to make seafood from ...
Can we genetically engineer soil bacteria to adapt to climate change?
Massive heat waves and droughts are already posing a threat to farmers: Over the next three decades, California’s San Joaquin ...
Responding to ethical and social concerns, researchers offer framework to distinguish between GMOs and gene edited crops
Researchers from Hokkaido University have proposed a framework to assist in the demarcation between genetically modified organisms and genome-edited organisms, ...
Viewpoint: With Africa embracing genetically modified crops, efforts should expand to include small-scale farmers
How can next-generation GM projects produce crops that work better for smallholder farmers? One immediate change is greater transparency. Most ...
How would shifting to a primarily plant-based diet impact climate change projections?
The worldwide phase out of animal agriculture, combined with a global switch to a plant-based diet, would effectively halt the ...
Talking Biotech: Percy vs. Goliath—Hollywood aside, what really went down with Canadian farmer Percy Schmeiser’s court battle with Monsanto?
The story of Percy Schmeiser is a well known tale of big biotech against the little farmer from rural Saskatchewan ...
GM versions of fall armyworm can effectively control the insect pest, study confirms
Genetically modified insects offer a sustainable solution for controlling fall armyworm, a devastating agricultural pest that has already developed resistance ...
Would you eat bacteria to limit climate change?
Ideas about how to reform agriculture to make it less destructive vary widely, ranging from organic farming and eating less ...
‘Safer than natural’: Japan’s leading food risk expert says genetically modified and gene edited crops are safer than ‘wild varieties’ and offer ‘improved taste and yield’
When comparing artificially modified crops such as GM/genome editing with natural crops, "natural" seems safe at first glance, but it ...
Viewpoint: Gene edited crops key to addressing climate dislocation and sustainability challenges
Producing food for a population of nearly eight billion takes an enormous toll on the world's fresh water supply. And ...
Global forest diversity: Earth supports 9,200 more tree species than originally thought — over 73,000 in total
A new study involving more than 100 scientists from across the globe and the largest forest database yet assembled estimates ...
Viewpoint: ‘Herbicides reduce the cost of food production by half and triple yields’: Mass bans on synthetic chemicals would open the doors to 32 invasive species that threaten African crops
A recent survey by the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) shows the 32 key Invasive species in Kenya include 11 arthropods, ...
Viewpoint: Essential to feeding the world, synthetic fertilizers have negative environmental impacts. Here’s how genetic engineering can change that
Much of the world is preoccupied with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but there are other global challenges, including climate change, ...
240 million people suffer annually from malaria. Could deploying CRISPR to gene edit mosquitoes’ pesticide resistance contain the scourge?
Insecticides kill off most of the mosquitoes in an area. But a small number may survive because something about their ...
Viewpoint: Will the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen finally adopt science this year — instead of promoting evidence-free scaremongering?
For over 25 years, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has released its so-called “dirty dozen” list, which inaccurately disparages popular, ...
Viewpoint: Challenging organic advocates’ claims that agroecology and regenerative farming can sustainably feed France
"Organic could satisfy the needs of the French population quite easily if the proportion of animal products in our diet ...
China’s ‘future foods’: Lab grown meat and plant-based eggs on 5-year plan food and agriculture policy table
China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has set the lab-grown meat industry abuzz with the release of its official five-year agricultural plan ...
