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: ‘Anti-insecticide crusade’ threatens food security of 20 million people as locusts swarm across East Africa
A plague of locusts has hit Africa. Massive swarms are devouring crops and other vegetation in their path, imperiling millions ...
As France phases out common pesticides, regulator says farmers still need crop chemicals to control new plant diseases
France needs to retain pesticides to combat new plant diseases spread by international trade and climate change even as it ...
Cargill preps for April launch of plant-based burger to compete with Impossible Foods, Beyond Meat
Cargill Inc will launch plant-based hamburger patties and ground “fake meat” products in April, the company said on [Feb. 24], ...
USDA unveils initiative to halve US farming environmental footprint, boost production 40% by 2050
The world’s population is likely to grow to 9.7 billion by 2050. The global agriculture sector will not only need ...
$265 million dicamba weed killer verdict paves way for more successful lawsuits against Monsanto, BASF
A $265 million verdict .... against two global agribusiness giants [in late February] has now created another legal headache for ...
Spray-on ‘vaccine’ could protect food crops from pests in countries that ban GMO disease-resistant plants
In August 2019, a research group .... announced the development of a rapid and reliable approach to creating a “vaccine” for ...
Bayer likely to fight new wave of Roundup-cancer litigation in Australia, despite looming US settlement
As tens of thousands of cases against the makers of the weedkiller Roundup mount up in the United States, a ...
Vegans vs. Meat Eaters: When it comes to nutrition, the ‘what’s better’ debate has gone off the rails
The vegan vs meat eater farce has become a complete circus. The cruel irony is that by confusing ideology at ...
‘Bee-washing’ by advocacy groups and product pushers: We should shift the focus to native bees not honeybees
Amid the worry over the loss of honey bees, a far quieter but just as devastating loss is occurring among ...
Bucking US pressure, key European politicians pushing to make its farming policies a global green standard
Ahead of a much-anticipated ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy to accompany the EU Green Deal, some EU policymakers say Europe’s food ...
African farmers helping to grow quality seed for ‘neglected’ crops
Though Uganda has some of the lowest agricultural productivity in the world, efforts to bring smallholder farmer groups into the ...
Kenya begins pesticide spraying to fight ‘locust swarm of the century,’ but critics abound
As the devastating locust invasion continues to spread in East Africa and a new wave of locusts is gathering, pesticide ...
Gene editing ‘rice revolution’: CRISPR could be used to grow one of the world’s most important crops in salt water
Traditional agriculture requires many inputs; fertilizer, specific chemicals, manual labor and water. Most of the water used in agriculture is ...
Some organic farming advocates poised to embrace CRISPR and other New Breeding Techniques because of their sustainability benefits
There is a new ongoing debate as to what plant breeding technologies constitute genetic modification. The transgenic GM crops introduced ...
GMO labeling manifesto: Probiotic company ZBiotics explains why it proudly displays the new USDA ‘Biogineered’ icon
Genetically modified organisms are commonplace, and are already present in many of the foods we eat — often, though not ...
Beneficial bugs can co-exist with Bt crops, new studies show
Genetically modified, insect-resistant Bt crops do not have harmful effects on beneficial bugs in farmers’ fields, two new scientific papers ...
Climate change poses mixed consequences for agriculture: Conservation International study concludes global warming will make farming possible in regions important for biodiversity and carbon storage
Future farming in regions that were previously unsuitable for agriculture could significantly impact biodiversity, water resources, and greenhouse gas emissions ...
African science literacy: Ugandan teachers are being trained in agricultural biotechnology
In a bid to popularize technology in local schools, the Uganda Biosciences Information Center (UBIC) has begun training teachers and ...
Viewpoint: Europe’s paranoid fear of chemicals fueled by disinterest in learning
In a season of resolutions, a site like [European Scientist] has one hope: that the 2020s will be the decade ...
CRISPR gene editing means more high-yield, disease-resistant crops likely to hit the market
Since the millennium rolled over 20 years ago, the pace of genetic discovery has only accelerated. Nobody could have predicted ...
Infographic: Without improved crop yields, farmers would need a lot more land to feed us
If we took away significant gains in cereal crops yields since 1962, farmers would have been forced to claim more ...
Genetic engineering of a different kind: Using nuclear energy in Burundi to attack cassava diseases
When Burundian cassava farmers split open the plant’s starchy root, they’re hoping to find white flesh that resembles coconut meat ...
Viewpoint: How Europe’s risk aversion has turned the continent into an agricultural backwater
With tariffs announced against Brazil and Argentina, and a threat against France, Donald Trump is dragging the world deeper into ...
CRISPR technology opens door to vertical farming of dozens of crops, from strawberries and cucumbers to mango and almond trees
Do you want it locally grown, water-saving and pesticide-free? Urban agriculture might suit you, with a little help from gene ...
What’s Bayer’s argument in its appeal of the $265 million Bader Farms-Monsanto dicamba weedkiller jury verdict?
What’s next in the Bader Farms lawsuit? Both Bayer and BASF deny Bader [Farms] suffered any dicamba damage. They blame ...
Viewpoint: European environmental activists scaremonger against agricultural science, manipulating media and politicians
Whether we are talking about genetic engineering or glyphosate, scaremongering threatens our prosperity. Three-quarters of the Swiss are afraid of ...
Climate change could turn bugs into more aggressive pests—and limit the ability of plants to protect themselves
Recent models are telling us that, as our climate warms up, herbivores and pests will cause increased damage to agricultural ...
