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: Sustainable food and biotechnology innovations are cornerstones of global food security threatened by armed conflict
While there are multiple causes of food insecurity on the planet, one is predominant: armed conflict. This year, with 20 ...
Bayer’s latest Roundup court victory could provide protection in tort suits if upheld
[August 15] the Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued its ruling in Monsanto’s favor in the Schaffner v. Monsanto case, ...
Bayer lobbies Congress to pass legislation protecting it from billions of dollars in lawsuits claiming glyphosate caused cancers
German chemical giant Bayer is seeking protection in the latest farm bill from lawsuits involving its Roundup weedkiller, according to ...
Once high-flying start up Beyond Meat crashed in the US market. Could Europe offer a reset?
The plant-based meat industry is in a bad place. Sales in the US fell last year as the pandemic-era enthusiasm for vegan burgers ...
Viewpoint: These global organizations and billionaire foundations are directing the war against sustainably transforming our food system
Elite billionaire organizations and foundations, government agencies, and activist pressure groups are funding and coordinating a global war on modern agriculture, ...
Insect protein is taking flight in the UK — fed on food waste from restaurants and supermarkets
There are no cows or chickens down on Entocycle’s farm; it focuses on an altogether different category of livestock – ...
Processed meat and memory: Connections between eating bacon, hot dogs and dementia
Regularly eating processed red meats like bacon, hot dogs, sausage, and salami may increase the risk of developing dementia, according ...
Protein-packed potatoes: Startup boosts protein content from 2% to 30% to tackle global malnutrition
ReaGenics, an Israeli biotech startup leveraging cellular tissue culturing to grow plant molecules in bioreactors, has created high-protein potatoes that ...
Can CRISPR gene editing spur increased consumption of fruits and vegetables?
Pairwise, a food and agriculture company that uses gene editing and CRISPR technology to transform plants and production systems, recently ...
Nascent cell-based meat industry is a disruptive technology. Is that a threat or an opportunity for UK farmers?
A new report from the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) has looked at the potential impacts of cultivated meat on farmers ...
Viewpoint: ‘Herbicide hustlers’: Tort firm’s email blast seeks expert witnesses to testify against herbicide paraquat herbicide that EPA finds safe-as-used
With money-hungry attorneys filing herbicide lawsuits, a “Don’t Miss Out on This Paid Consulting Opportunity” note started showing up in ...
Is there such a thing as ‘plant behavior’?
We are just beginning to glimpse the extraordinary complexity and subtlety of plants’ relations with their environment, with each other ...
Is the European backlash against cell-based meat a lobby-driven campaign?
[Recently] the UK became the first country in Europe to approve the sale of meat grown in a laboratory, giving ...
Seedless blackberry: What seemed impossible with conventional breeding is now a reality
Blackberry lovers everywhere can rejoice! NC State University alumna Lauren Redpath has harvested success by helping develop the world’s first seedless blackberry ...
How culture wars and ideological polarization are holding back the sustainable meat revolution
Just a few years ago, the alternative protein industry promised to revolutionize the way people eat burgers: They would still ...
RFK, Jr. claims chronic diseases are soaring, urges government to support litigation targeting agricultural chemicals such as paraquat and glyphosate
[Robert F Kennedy, Jr] sat down with The Detroit News Editorial Board, which is extending invitations to all major presidential ...
Startup Hatchless produces poultry from infertile chicken eggs — no slaughtering needed
Frustrated by “a lot of shortcomings” in the cultivated meat industry that held back production and increased prices, Hatchless CEO ...
US judge throws out case claiming paraquat causes cancer, suggesting tide may be turning against environmental activists’ bogus campaigns targeting safe crop chemicals
It’s big business in the US and elsewhere, with lawyers making a fortune out of class actions. The process is ...
Gene editing poised to save Florida’s citrus crop from greening disease spread by invasive insect
In 2003 and 2004, citrus yields were the highest in Florida history, at almost 300 million boxes, more than any ...
Viewpoint: Does atrazine turn children LGBTQ? Challenging crazy theories of right-wing conspiracy theorist and social media influencer Robby Starbuck
In recent months, major companies have publicly announced that they are abandoning their diversity efforts. In at least two cases, ...
Guilt-free dessert? Enzyme-boosted chocolate bar soaks up sugar in the gut — turning it into fiber instead
A guilt-free chocolate bar, full of sugar, could someday land at a supermarket near you ...
Singapore and Canada top list of countries most supportive of alternative protein and lab-grown meat
Australian think tank Food Frontier has compared the policies of 10 countries to determine which governments have the most progressive ...
Small farms in South Africa are vulnerable to pests and diseases. Here’s how investing in the ‘bio-economy’ can give farmers early warning signs
Smallholder and emerging farmers in South Africa are particularly vulnerable to plant pests and diseases, leading to significant yield losses ...
What happens when a country forces farmers to go all-organic? Sri Lanka, India prove powerful examples
What happens when a state or country forces organic production on all of its farmers? There are a couple of ...
Electrocuting weeds: Environmental and health concerns over herbicide use sparks quest for new solutions
As concerns over chemical usage and weed resistance increase, different technologies have been offered as alternatives to weed control. Recently, ...
Singapore becomes first country to sell lab-grown meat directly to the general public
It was a remarkable moment in the annals of food, perhaps even humanity: A store in Singapore started selling lab-grown ...
Podcast: Robo-restaurants, AI mapping farmland and CRISPR tomatoes
Tomatoes are thirsty crops. Here’s how CRISPR gene-editing could help them thrive with less water ...
