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.
Beemageddon? Honeybee numbers at 20 year high
You've heard the news about honeybees. "Beepocalypse," they've called it. Beemageddon. America's honeybees are dying, putting honey production and $15 billion worth ...
Anti-GMO activists’ attacks on scientists echo Soviet persecution of geneticists
After the "Ask Me Anything" discussion on August 8, 2015, it's clear the recent actions by US Right to Know and activist groups ...
Opponents of Bt brinjal in Bangladesh employ false media reports and scare tactics
Media reports are claiming that Bt brinjal (eggplant) has failed in the field and that farmers in Bangladesh are regretting growing it ...
Scotland banning GMOs over objections of Scottish farmers
Scotland is to ban the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) produce, the country's rural ministry has announced. Rural affairs secretary Richard ...
Generic GMO soy opens lower cost market and could be boon for academic researchers
Monsanto's Roundup Ready seeds increased farmer's yields, but came with a caveat. Because their pesticide resistance genes were patented, farmers had ...
GMO white sea cucumbers could make costly Chinese delicacy affordable
Sea cucumbers, sluglike creatures that hug the seafloor, have long been a prized delicacy at Chinese banquets, the mark of ...
Anti-GMO critics could use lesson in critical thinking
The debate over GMOs is a case study in critical thinking. By exploring the errors in fact and thinking circulated by ...
Can “lab-grown” meat end animal cruelty and promote sustainability?
If we know too much about that juicy steak we might not want to eat it anymore. A lot of ...
Biotech professor’s emails show no misconduct in battling anti-GMO propaganda, but Monsanto tie noted
Michelle McGuire, a nutrition scientist at Washington State University in Pullman, was stunned when anti-GMO activists asked to read her ...
Kevin Folta responds to questions about funding of his biotech outreach efforts
In addition to my job as a researcher and a department chair, I run the Talking Biotech science communication program designed to help ...
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow lectures Congress on science and safety of GMOs
Gwyneth Paltrow lent a touch of Hollywood glamor Wednesday to a campaign against legislation that would prevent the labelling of ...
Celebrity GMO critic Food Babe pitches products with ingredient she demonizes
While “Food Babe” Vani Hari’s pseudoscience has been widely debunked by qualified doctors and scientists, a more sobering fact seems ...
Strawberries, threatened by disease, look to pesticide-avoiding genetic solution
Delectable strawberries are highly sought after — and not just by humans. Rodents, insects, fungi and bacteria all like to pig ...
How does synthetic biology, including genetic engineering, work?
Nature has always been the world's best engineer. That’s because there’s always been a divide between technology — the inanimate stuff ...
GMO chicken could solve avian flu crisis, saving millions of birds, if only if….
The solution to avian flu, the virus responsible for the devastating eradication of chicken and turkey flocks across much of ...
GMOs are a touchy subject at the dinner table. Is thoughtful debate possible?
The subject of GMOs can whip pleasant dinner conversation into an ugly froth. It’s a complicated issue, produced with complicated science. Worse, many ...
Golden rice paper retracted over ethical concerns, not quality of science
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article from the Retraction Watch website: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition is retracting a paper that ...
Farmers need better communication with public on GMO issues
Farmers and ranchers are honest men and women who have been known to seal a deal just with a handshake ...
Opinions on GMO labeling cross partisan divide—for now
Unlike issues such as gun control or universal healthcare that fall neatly into "Red" and "Blue" territories, divisions over GMO ...
Nationwide mandatory GMO labeling bill won’t reduce food costs or address global farming challenges
An attempt to pass a new law preempting efforts in several states to mandate GMO labeling is not only doomed ...
Are plants sentient beings with rights? What would this mean for conservation and agriculture?
Plants are intelligent. Plants deserve rights. To most of us these statements may sound, at best, insupportable or, at worst, ...
Boston Globe Editorial: GMO state labeling bills misguided, exaggerates illogical fears of food and Big Ag
Congress created mandatory nationwide food labels, and it is Congress that has a responsibility to ensure they don't stray from ...
Asia poised to overtake anti-GMO Europe in farming innovation
If current economic growth trends persist, the “Great Divergence” between Western Europe and East and South Asia in per capita ...
Obama declines to answer whether US supports GMOs in Ethiopia
During his official visit to Ethiopia, President Barack Obama toured Faffa Foods highlighting why one of his signature policy initiatives ...
Anti-GMO critics claim Big Ag out lobbies “good food” organic supporters
The leaders of the so-called good food sector — including Chipotle, Whole Foods and Applegate — are winning big in ...
Do activists claiming pesticide Beemageddon really care about bee survival or is it tactical ploy?
We know that activist groups really care about bees. In 2013, about 200 activists held a funeral for 50,000 bumblebees that ...
Can genetic engineering resurrect extinct plant species?
The subject of extinction and de-extinction are much in the news at the moment, but discussions tend to focus on ...
