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.
Will gene editing, corporate consolidation bring agricultural revolution?
A new day is dawning for agriculture. When asked to describe the magnitude of the coming change, experts harken back ...
India’s intellectual property rights battle with Monsanto could cripple innovation
Unfortunately, in its campaign to lessen farmers’ reliance on Monsanto seeds, the [Indian] government has chosen to use the bluntest ...
Bee scientist joins Monsanto to battle varroa mites, save honeybees
About a third of the nation’s honeybees have died each winter over the past decade, and [Jerry] Hayes, an apiary ...
New biofortified GMO rice will cost farmers no more than conventional
A NEW genetically modified rice variety could improve the health of people suffering from nutrient deficiencies in Asia. The variety, ...
Why Bangladesh’s GMO eggplant success angers anti-GMO activists
This blog was written by Kevin Folta, chair of the horticultural department at the University of Florida. Kevin hosts a ...
Victoria, Canada City Council questions GMO safety, endorses mandatory labeling in Canada
Genetically engineered crops, plants and trees are not welcome in Victoria. City councillors have unanimously backed a multi-part motion last ...
Comparing conventional vs. organic: Don’t judge sustainability by yield alone
[T]wo colleagues and I published a paper in PLOS ONE titled “Commercial crop yields reveal strengths and weaknesses for organic ...
Europe’s battle over glyphosate ‘was never about science’
André Heitz is an agronomist and a former international civil servant for the United Nations. . . . [T]he European Commission ...
Challenging Vandana Shiva’s GMO fear-mongering
Vandana Shiva’s latest effusion against Monsanto in particular and genetically modified organisms in general appeared in this publication on Monday, and I ...
How anti-GMO imagery derails rational discussion of biotechnology
This paper explores the international controversy over genetically modified organisms (GMOs). We argue that the uncommonly high levels of opposition ...
Media shouting match over neonicotinoids isn’t helping bees
[Bees have] become pawns in the ag wars, the subject of dueling bee-death narratives. In one of those story lines, pesticides ...
China seeks to reassure consumers about GMO foods amid calls for labeling
China's agriculture ministry said it would back new laws on genetically modified (GMO) food labeling "at a suitable time" as ...
GMO labeling fight was between factions of food industry, not industry vs. consumer
[R]oughly 90% of survey respondents support mandatory GMO labeling. Consumers want to know. But the typical response when consumers want ...
Environmental Protection Agency in New Zealand finds ‘no glyphosate-cancer link’, rebukes WHO’s IARC
A new report on glyphosate [patented originally under the trade name Roundup], commissioned by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), says ...
USDA making progress crafting GMO labeling rules
The Agriculture Department's efforts to craft rules for implementing a nationwide, mandatory system for labeling genetically modified ingredients is making ...
Who will regulate lab-grown meat, other products of ‘cellular agriculture’?
[T]he test tube burger. . . has helped put a spotlight on the question of how the U.S. government will ...
Domestically developed GMO mustard clears major regulatory hurdle in India
A government panel has cleared commercial use of what would be India's first genetically modified (GM) food crop, but politicians ...
Does rootworm resistance to Bt corn symbolize failure of GMOs, industrial agriculture?
In recent months, the rootworm has caused damage in fields planted with Bt corn, which is engineered to kill the ...
Anti-GMO crusader Jeffrey Smith: ‘Labeling GMOs was never the end goal it was a tactic to get them banned’
Because “public-interest” groups cloak themselves with the feel-good mantle of protecting consumers, the environment, animals, etc., the motives of such ...
Zimbabwe could save $60 million per year by adopting GMO maize
Zimbabwe could be losing up to $60 million worth of maize output a year due to failure to adopt new plant ...
Indian regulators may consider socio-economic factors when assessing GMO crops
With the debate on genetically modified (GM) crops getting intense, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) is considering the ...
Preponderance of field studies and latest research still concludes bees not disappearing
Bees are in the news, . . . mainly, dire tales of disappearing bees threatening a third of our food supply. ...
Why science communication about GMOs often fails
. . . . [S]cientists and science supporters frequently take on those who dabble in homeopathy, or deny anthropogenic climate change, ...
Mergers between major seed, pesticide companies prompt scrutiny by US lawmakers
U.S. lawmakers say they plan to hold a hearing to examine a wave of mergers that could reshape the $100 ...
Video: ‘Natural’ label is meaningless
We want to buy what’s best, but there are almost too many choices. Food companies know this. So they use ...
In patent dispute, Monsanto withdraws application for next generation GMO cotton from India
Monsanto Co has withdrawn an application seeking approval for its next generation of genetically modified cotton seeds in India [Bollgard ...
Australia, New Zealand reviewing bruise resistant, low acrylamide GMO potato
Australia's food regulator has called for submissions as it reviews a genetically-modified potato designed to produce less chemicals when fried ...
