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.
30% more flavorful tomato: Gene editing improves one of the world’s most valuable crops
Rotten tomatoes no more: growing sweeter tomatoes is possible by editing just two of the fruit’s genes. Deleting the genes increased the ...
Viewpoint: Trump’s FDA has a chance to revamp U.S.’s outdated approach to food regulation
One of the lessons from our recent national election is that we are a nation of individuals, not demographics. We change over ...
Will there be an AI agricultural revolution?
The increasing sophistication of agriculture ... has supported an ever-burgeoning population. [T]he projected population collapse of the 20th century was ...
‘It is high time to move beyond baseless anxiety-provoking rhetoric criticizing crop biotechnology’ The European Union falls even further behind the rest of the world
'[T]he current EU regulatory context on GMO’s is a major handicap for European biotechnology innovation. Since 1989, the various European ...
What would the effect on US agriculture be on farm profits and climate change if glyphosate is banned?
What’s a future without glyphosate look like? How about a nearly $2.9 billion drop in net farm income, food inflation ...
How blockchain technology is transforming Indian agriculture in unexpected ways
India’s agricultural sector is grappling with several challenges that hinder efficiency and profitability for farmers. Traditional agricultural supply chains are ...
FAO chief: Gene editing key to protecting traditional foods
The “genetic revolution” in agriculture powered by gene editing can help preserve access to traditional foods in the future, protecting ...
HHS director nominee RFK Jr unlikely to be an strong advocate for American conventional farming
His potential influence over the USDA is unclear following Trump's announcement, but he does appear to have permission from Trump ...
Kenyan High Court rebuffs activist suit to block GMO food imports
The High Court [of Kenya] has dismissed petitions challenging the lifting of the ban on genetically modified (GMO) foods.... Justice ...
With AI, farmers can drastically shorten the timeline it takes to optimize their operations but is resistance to the practice holding them back?
Agriculture has always been a profession steeped in tradition, requiring years of experience to master the nuances of the land ...
As farming becomes more unpredictable, agricultural technology is stepping up to meet the challenge
Today’s farms and other agricultural operations work far differently than those of just a few decades ago, primarily thanks to ...
Citing the precautionary principle, South African high court rescinds approval of drought tolerant GMO corn
South Africa’s Supreme Court delivered a ground-breaking ruling that reversed the approval of [genetically] modified organisms (GMOs), specifically, a drought-resistant ...
99+% pesticide free: While activists claim chemicals soak our fruits and vegetables, USDA provides facts
[T]he U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its annual Pesticide Data Program report to little fanfare or attention. We’ve said repeatedly ...
Threatened by warming temperatures, wineries may be forced to turn to gene editing
Warmer temperatures are advancing grape ripening and harvest dates by 2-3 weeks compared to 40 years ago. Higher temperatures are ...
Farmers incorporating AI to generate risk assessments could help soften resistance to genetically modified crops
The acceptance of genetically modified (GM) crops is still a controversial topic that presents major obstacles to their general use ...
Western diets need to change to meet sustainability challenges. How resistant will consumers be to munch on insects or plant-based meats
What will the diets of the future look like? The answer depends in part on what foods Westerners can be ...
‘Genetically modified Golden Rice poses no dangers while offering life-saving potential’—Its opponents have manufactured a deceitful counter narrative
Vitamin A deficiency (VAD), practically unknown in the western world, has been a deadly public health problem in parts of ...
Plastic waste as food? Microorganisms may one day be able to feed a growing world population
In 2019, an agency within the U.S. Department of Defense released a call for research projects to help the military deal with the ...
Pesticides cause prostate cancer? Cedars Sinai Medical Center epidemiologist criticizes ‘biased’ ecological study
A recent study published in Cancer, an international interdisciplinary journal of the American Cancer Society, concluded that there is an association ...
Podcast viewpoint: RFK, Jr spewed misinformation about glyphosate, vaccines and cellphones on Joe Rogan—clues on how he could impact US policy” ← Go to editor
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is recognized for his bad science around critical issues like vaccination and agricultural chemistry. Recently he ...
Chinese consumers open to gene-edited foods
Experts from the School of Communication, Soochow University in China, surveyed over 600 consumers in China to solicit their perceptions ...
Switzerland edges towards embracing gene edited foods
[After a 20-year moratorium on genetically modified crops], the Swiss parliament asked the government to prepare a draft act for ...
Viewpoint: What policies do the leading food, farming and activist organizations hope and fear from a second Trump Administration
Given the lack of detail in the official Republican party platform on food and ag, meanwhile, uncertainty abounds…. American Farm ...
Silicon Valley nihilism? Will reckless scientists introducing dubious technological innovations stir opposition to cellular agriculture?
[C]ultivated meat is grown from livestock cells, without slaughter. It provides a potential solution to a number of seemingly intractable ...
‘There is a coming revolution in CRISPR’: Gene editing pioneer Jennifer Doudna anticipates focus on crops and climate change
Jennifer Doudna, one of the inventors of the breakthrough gene-editing tool CRISPR, says the technology will help the world grapple ...
Biotechnology is the way forward for many of Africa’s most pressing challenges
Biotechnology is one of the modern-day scientific innovations that are widely misunderstood, especially in Africa. Often regarded as a complex ...
UK moves ahead with crop gene editing but lags in approving precision breeding to contain animal diseases
Ministers are preparing to introduce legislation [permitting] the growing of gene-edited crops in England and Wales. [However,] the new legislation ...
