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.
‘Forest reset’: When dinosaurs went extinct, rainforests thrived — allowing new vining grapes to evolve
A lack of dinosaurs traipsing around following the K-T mass extinction may have allowed the grape we know and love to spread and thrive. A team ...
Pink Jello or lab grown meat ingredient? Improved 3D scaffold mimics flavor and aroma of grilled beef
Researchers in South Korea say they’ve developed a new way to make lab-grown meat taste like the real deal. It may look like a ...
In face of Florida lab grown meat ban, Upside Foods hosts cultivated meat tasting party
As Florida’s ban on “lab-grown” meat is set to go into effect [soon], one manufacturer hosted a last hurrah — at ...
Not just a fad: The ‘Mediterranean diet’ has been around for over 4,000 years
Even 4,000 years ago, people in the Mediterranean knew what was good for them. A new study found ancient Syrians ate similarly ...
Viewpoint: We need crops that can withstand record-breaking heat waves. But so far, funding has lagged
Southeast Asia grappled with a record-breaking heat wave in April and May that not only claimed hundreds of lives but diminished entire ...
Responding to ‘eco-terrorist’ attack on rice varietal engineered to resist disease, Italian government recommits to science
Eco-terrorists perhaps thought Italy was like other European countries and destroying a CRISPR food test plot would make the government apologize and ...
Organic produce made up 15% of all US fruit and vegetable sales in 2022. Is the organic label really worth the cost?
In 2022, organics accounted for 15 percent of all fruit and vegetable sales in the United States despite being far pricier than conventional ...
Viewpoint: Environmental trade-offs are more important than knee jerk, feel-good chemophobia — Pistachio growers make the case for paraquat
The latest errant shot at farmers is Assembly Bill 1963, authored by Asm. Laura Friedman, D-Burbank, an unnecessary and unscientific ...
Methane-free cows? Editing genes of gut microbes responsible for emissions could be one-time treatment for climate-friendly cattle
From feed supplements to animal breeding to vaccines, multiple approaches are being explored to cut methane emissions from belching ruminants. But if you can edit ...
Viewpoint: Are vitamin supplements necessary, or is a healthy diet good enough?
My chemistry teacher, Father Wheeler in Kansas City, would say that the only thing affected by vitamin supplements was your ...
Organic farms are always free from pesticides? Debunking 17 enduring organic food myths
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, organic retail sales were estimated to be more than a staggering $52 billion ...
Fighting crop diseases: Replacing crop chemicals by using gene-editing and other new breeding techniques
Modern agriculture has encountered several challenges in achieving constant yield stability especially due to disease outbreaks and lack of long-term ...
Kenyan farmers, scientists and consumers hold their breaths as decision to lift long-time ban on GMOs punted until the fall
Efforts by the Kenyan Government to have the orders barring the importation, distribution & adoption of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) ...
Viewpoint: ‘Bayer is desperate to put glyphosate litigation in the rear-view mirror’ — and they’re considering splitting the company in two to solve the problem
Bayer is desperate to put glyphosate litigation in the rear-view mirror. Just. Get. It. Over. That has the Bayer brain ...
Meat makes up more than 90% of pet food ingredients world wide. Here’s how AI and precision fermentation could transform what our furry friends eat
Like other consumer product sectors, the pet food industry is now a part of the “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” the term ...
Eating insects: Ants come in many intriguing flavors. What’s the chemistry behind this phenomenon?
Edible insects are already considered delicacies in some countries, but researchers believe understanding their flavour profiles is essential for the ...
“Organic beef,” “GMO-free,” and “100% natural” Challenging 5 eco-friendly food claims
"Organic beef", "GMO-free" and "100% natural" are just some of the countless claims designed to attract the eyes of eco-conscious ...
‘It was a big challenge to dispel the narrative that TELA Maize is harmful’: Biotechnology solutions spearheaded by Nigerian scientists can address crop diseases, pests, and unpredictable climate conditions
Over the years, farming in Africa and Nigeria in particular have become not only unattractive but discouraging as a result ...
Will AI conquer herbicide resistance? Ultra-precise targeting removes weeds with next to no impact on anything else
Weeds are growing resistant to the herbicides already on the market, and agribusiness companies like Bayer are in a desperate search ...
Viewpoint: Harnessing bacteria, fungi, and viruses — Genetically engineering microbes could help us contain climate change, if we get clear regulations
Microbes are tiny living things — such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses — that can help boost crop immunity to ...
Agroecology supporters mull threats and opportunities posed by agro-biotechnology revolution
The result of 18 months of workshops and analysis, the Agroecological Intelligence project brought together agroecological farmers and growers for a series ...
Viewpoint: One-third of greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture. Here’s why that needs to change, and how we do it
Our global food system is in urgent need of transition. At present, one-third of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions come from food ...
Viewpoint: Is ‘Big Food’ downplaying risks of ultra-processed foods?
The rising concern about the health impact of ultra-processed foods, or UPFs has recast the debate around food and public ...
Viewpoint: Replace Greenpeace’s ‘Save the Whales’ motto with ‘Blind the Children’
More ways to get vitamin A into people are needed. Human ingenuity being what it is, very clever people discovered ...
98% of Chinese consumers are willing to eat more plant-based foods. What’s holding them back?
When you inform people in China about the benefits of a vegan diet, nearly all of them (98%) would be ...
Brazen Beef: Do Tyson Foods’ taxpayer-subsidized ‘climate-friendly’ beef claims hold up under the microscope?
In late 2022, Tyson—one of the country’s “big four” meat packers—applied to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), seeking a ...
Right-wing influencers attempt to convince followers that drinking potentially virus-carrying raw milk provides ‘benefits’
According to James Fitzgerald, PhD, associate professor of security studies at Dublin City University, whose research focuses on conspiracy-led violent extremism, ...
