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.
35% greenhouse emissions: Agriculture is one of the largest contributors to climate change. How can we turn that around?
Plants rely on nitrogen to grow, but they fail to take up a lot of the nitrogen in fertilizers applied ...
Trump pledges to crack down on ‘harmful chemical poisoning’ and address a ‘chronic disease epidemic’. Here are some details
The next four years of federal food and health leadership could bring changes to what packaging materials are allowed in ...
How to improve crop yields
Conventional plant breeders [have] already optimized factors like plant size and [are] working on disease resistance. Based smack in the ...
Viewpoint: Facing steep agricultural challenges, Spain turns to technological innovation
The panorama of biotechnology ... such as genetic editing [enables] development of crops resistant to pests and diseases, and the optimization ...
The first AI-guided garden where the plants tell you when they are thirsty
Have you ever joyously stepped out to your backyard garden, freshly brewed coffee in hand, only to find your meticulously cared-for ...
European Green Deal: European Union rolls out sustainable food agriculture monitoring platform
Transforming the food system is an urgent challenge to achieve the sustainable development goals and key EU policy priorities, among ...
Gene-edited soybeans are the latest plant to pave the way towards sustainable agriculture
A new experiment in soybeans is genetically engineering soybean plants in ways that improve their resistance to differing stresses like ...
The global food system is already under stress from climate change. Here’s what the future might hold
The impact of climate change on yields will depend on several factors: the type of crop, how much warmer the ...
Podcast: Banned in Europe? Here’s how and why the US is more relaxed in its approvals of chemical additives in food
“How is America allowed to feed us certain products that are harmful and banned in other countries?” [Vox reader, Sommer] ...
Balancing traditional farming practices with agricultural biotechnology
Agtech innovations, such as drones and robotics, are being used to address labor shortages in agriculture across various countries. These ...
With climate change threatening commodity foods, these technologies are coming to the rescue
Food staples like coffee and cocoa are already suffering the effects of severe weather brought on by climate change and ...
Who would be hit hardest if the herbicide glyphosate is banned on US farms?
Marketing consultant The Directions Group has released a report titled Farm Bill Programs and the Role of Crop Protection Tools, exploring ...
As risks in agriculture from climate change escalate, gene editing offers potential remedies
In the words of Luis Planas, Minister of Agriculture [of Spain]: “ The future demands producing more and better and ...
Podcast: Scientists harness gene editing to engineer disease- and climate-resilient wheat
By 2030, Africa will account for 53 percent of the world’s population living in hunger, primarily due to climate change and ...
You are taking Ozempic or Wegovy and aren’t losing weight? 20% of patients are in the same boat. Here’s why
In clinical trials, most participants taking Wegovy or Mounjaro to treat obesity lost an average of 15% to 22% of ...
New Scientist viewpoint: We must use genetic technologies now to avert the coming food crisis
There are two monumental problems with the world’s food system. Firstly, hundreds of millions of people can’t afford to buy ...
Republicans wary about RFK’s pledge to ‘wage war against ‘industrial agriculture, industrial meat production, factory farming and chemical based agriculture’
Republican Senators on Capitol Hill ... share their hesitations about [Donald] Trump’s preferred candidate to lead the Department of Health ...
Food tech trends for 2025
Over the past few years, food technology has seen an upsurge in innovation. In areas like precision fermentation and cultivated meat, ...
Lab grown Japanese quail is the latest cell grown food in restaurants
Hongkongers can get their first taste of cultured meat, also known as lab-grown meat, after an Australian food-tech start-up became ...
What can the food sector expect in a Trump administration?
In his first term, Donald Trump rolled back over 100 climate policies and pulled the US out of the Paris ...
From genetics to the generation: What does the future hold for agrifood systems and food culture
Today we stand at the dawn of a new era. The challenges we face now – the climate crisis, biodiversity ...
Do ‘forever chemicals’ impact seafood? The FDA wants to know
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be investigating the presence of “forever chemicals” in seafood, [to understand] how such ...
Urban farming is getting a modern makeover
Urban farming is [getting] a modern makeover thanks to technology. From beautiful gardens on top of tall buildings to sleek ...
How genetics has revolutionized animal breeding
When geneticists talk about genetic information, [they generally refer] to the DNA that makes up our genes. These genes function ...
Health care policy uncertainty has lobbyists up in arms, hope Senate will reject RFK Jr. nomination
Lobbyists expecting a more conventional pick to lead the government’s $3 trillion health agency than Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the brash ...
White House report details the state of U.S. biomanufacturing capacity and proposes action by policymakers
The global bioeconomy is projected to expand at a rapid pace in the coming decade due to advancements in key ...
‘Climate change is happening so fast that classical breeding approaches are not enough’ — The case for genetic engineering
“Scientists and engineers want to be ready when new crops are needed,” [Hiroshi] Maeda said. “Of course, we shouldn't push ...
