Daily Food & Agriculture 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.
In debate over organic or conventional, is there third way to feed growing, warming world?
Proponents of organic agriculture say it leads to better soil management, uses fewer pesticides and fertilisers, and is a better ...
Soon-to-be marriages in Big Ag: Monsanto-Syngenta? Dupont-Dow?
A combination of Monsanto Co. and Syngenta AG would set the stage for even more mergers and acquisitions. Monsanto has ...
USDA rebukes EPA for claiming neonics provide no ‘clear’ farmer benefits
During a public comment period for a review of the use of neonicotinoids by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Robert ...
Why is mainstream media promoting ‘quack’ anti-GMO book?
Anna Medaris Miller, writing for U. S. News and World report, gives what I hope was unintended free advertising to ...
Farmer and consumer cost of delaying approval of single GM trait estimated at $19 billion
A new white paper shows that a three-year postponement in global approval of biotech-enhanced soybean traits any time in the ...
USDA organics chief silent on whether organic is safer, healthier
Are consumers right to think that organic food is safer and healthier? It seems like a straightforward question, especially for ...
Washington Post editorial: Chipotle promotes fear in gimmick claim to remove GMOs
Chipotle Restaurants have earned billions of dollars by making indulgence wholesome, or seem so. Its latest marketing campaign, however, takes ...
Rules force British organic farmers to use homeopathic remedies on their animals
British organic farmers are being forced to treat their livestock with homeopathic remedies under European Commission rules branded ‘scientifically illiterate’ ...
Organic board busts ‘no synthetic pesticides’ myth, okays new herbicides and fungicides
You might think the USDA "organic" label is reserved for foods produced without any man-made chemicals. But under government rules, "organic" ...
Canadian Cancer Society gives green light to prudent use of glyphosate
The Canadian Cancer Society isn’t calling for a ban on glyphosate. The Society says it’s acceptable to use pesticides to ...
Latest blow for Oz: Oprah dumps his radio show, replaces him with Sanjay Gupta
The Dr. Oz media empire just took a blow from the woman who helped make him famous: Oprah Winfrey. According ...
Reporter at Mother Jones, usually virulently anti-GMO, declares GMO’s ‘totally safe to eat’
Chipotle announced this week that it will stop serving food made with genetically modified organisms. The company wants you to ...
What’s unintended consequence of companies removing GMOs on customers whim? Lost trust
Diet Pepsi is removing aspartame, Ben and Jerry's and Chipotle are removing GMOs. Pepsi dropping high fructose corn syrup in some ...
5 questions answered on glyphosate
The world’s most widely-used herbicide has been getting a lot of attention lately. Last month, an international agency declared glyphosate, ...
Chipotle’s non-GMO announcement overshadows some facts
When fast-food chain Chipotle announced yesterday that it had ditched ingredients containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs), you may have looked at ...
Why young Americans are cynical about GMOs, climate change
The growing distrust among Americans towards scientists and their work is well documented. In an era in which scientific output ...
PepsiCo targeted in campaign by GM labeling proponents
Backers of mandatory labeling for genetically modified foods launched a campaign aimed at turning back food company lobbying against labeling, ...
U.S. defends Greenpeace India’s right to campaign against GMOs, energy projects
The United States has expressed concern that India's crackdown on the activities of the Ford Foundation and Greenpeace India could ...
Federal court upholds Vermont GMO labeling law while case continues
A Vermont law that could make the state the first in the country to require labeling of genetically modified food ...
Anti-GMO activists misusing FOIA chills science debate, research
One morning in early February I received an unusual email. It was from my colleague here at University of Florida, ...
Video: Canadian scientists say glyphosate hazard but not health risk
In March, the World Health Organization released a report that listed glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic to humans." Glyphosate is widely used ...
China tightens GMO research safety protocols
China plans to increase its oversight of genetically modified crops due to heightened public concern over Beijing's ability to keep ...
Gluten-free fits food myth narrative about eating ‘unnatural’ foods
There is a growing sense that people — in particular those who don't suffer from celiac disease — are being a ...
Beyond familiar GMOs: How biotech is improving other products
Most everyone knows that biotechnology produces cures and therapies for healthcare; but not everyone knows that biotechnology is also applied ...
Letter to Dr. Oz: ‘Your rebuttal full of logical fallacies’
Dear Dr. Oz, As a TV host, book author, and "America's Doctor," you hold a powerful and privileged position to ...
HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on Oz: ‘Worst person in scrubs that has ever been on television’
John Oliver outlines what, exactly is problematic about Dr. Oz and the nutrition supplement industry. He calls out Dr. Oz, who ...
Chipotle caught lying on GMO-free claim
The fear of ‘Frankenfoods’ remains so widespread, so deeply—if wrongly—embedded in the popular ‘natural’ foods movement that Chipotle stands to ...
