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.
India needs GMOs to be sustainable and resilient to climate change
The popular backlash to genetically modified crops ignores the fact that the ability to add value to agricultural produce is ...
Anti-GMO group Earthjustice offers to represent Hawaii County in suit despite conflict of interest
Attorneys representing groups suing Hawaii County over its restrictions on genetically modified crops want the county to defend itself without ...
Consumers should consider GMOs on case-by-case basis
Public awareness about bio-engineering is creating concern, confusion and fear, when such technology produces higher crop yields and helps the ...
Modern genetics (not necessarily GMOs) can help spur next Green Revolution
The green revolution transformed global agriculture. Through selective breeding, Norman Borlaug, an American biologist, created a dwarf variety of wheat ...
Greenpeace, activist groups call on tight regulation of new genetic engineering methods
In a joint open letter to the European Commission, eight farmers', environmental and food safety organisations demand that products derived ...
India stalls trials of genetically modified mustard
The pull of a technology that boosts mustard yield by between a fifth and a third should have been as ...
Money talks: Some farmers go non-GMO because of price premiums, not rejection of biotech
A small but growing number of Midwestern farmers in the United States are moving away from biotech seeds, drawn by the premium price non-GMO crops ...
Korea expands GMO labeling requirements
In the future, companies that use genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, as ingredients in their products will have to label ...
EU to consider new channels for scientific advice
There have been hesitant celebrations from scientists following the announcement that the European Commission has kick-started the process of establishing ...
DNA sequencing of 100 melon varieties could lead to improved taste, shelf life
Smart new combinations of state-of-the-art molecular techniques mean that breeding programmes can be accelerated dramatically: it may soon take only ...
Harvard’s George Church: ‘Gene leakage research will blunt anti-GMO activist scares’
Since the 1970s we've been ushering in the next era of breeding by physically lifting individual genes from one species ...
India introducing new GM crops
The pro-technology Modi government is desperate to introduce genetically modified (GM) crops. It is now holding closed-door meetings with the ...
“No consensus on GMO safety”? University of Florida’s Kevin Folta claims activist scientists spin facts
The world's esteemed scientific organizations have made bold statements regarding the scientific consensus on transgenic crops. The National Academies of ...
India surpasses China in GMO hectacres grown
Are genetically-modified crops on course to being the future of food despite the opposition? Evidence suggests they may well be, ...
New York Times’ writer addresses GMO labeling issue, leaves out the science
There are few industry debates as heated these days as the one about labeling foods that contain genetically modified ingredients ...
IBM, Mars collaborate to figure out what makes food safe
Is your food safe? Protecting the global food supply is a monumental public health challenge. In the U.S. alone, one ...
Does Monsanto deserve reputation as an “evil” company?
Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, have caused increasing controversy in recent years with various experts and non-experts alike weighing in ...
Public skepticism on GMOs, climate change reflect misunderstandings of risk
The Pew Research Center released their annual Science and Society report (PDF), where they asked over 2,000 members of the ...
Former Greenpeace UK bucks NGOs opposition to GM crops, endorses some GMOs
One month after taking office, the Juncker Commission reached an agreement with the European Council and the European Parliament on ...
Pew fumbles survey on science literacy, overstates public opposition to GMOs
So here’s a follow-up on “grading of Pew's public attitudes toward science report”--& why I awarded it a “C-” in promoting ...
China’s GM crop production drops in 2014 amid safety concerns
China's genetically modified (GM) crop planting areas declined in 2014 amid heated discussions over safety concerns, a study revealed on ...
Will benefits of nanopesticides outweigh costs?
Stacey Harper is doggedly researching tiny, human-made substances called nanoparticles. The scientist at Oregon State University in Corvallis hopes to be ...
Vermont ruling on GM labeling case expected this spring; final court decision, end of year
Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell said Wednesday that he expects a judge to rule on dueling motions in the GMO ...
GMO fix for California’s drought-stricken almonds will not come easy
The current drought hitting the west coast of America is giving the nation’s almond growers a particular headache Last week, ...
Neither environmentalists nor industry happy with EU rules on GMOs
Campaign groups and the biotech industry are digging in for a new round of conflict, following the European Union's decision ...
Florida bills re-introduced to label GMOs and rBGH dairy
Two Florida Democrats are again trying to pass bills to label some foods containing genetically modified organisms. Similar efforts died last ...
Record acreage of GMOs grown globally
Biotech crops were grown on a record 448 million acres in 2014, a group that promotes the use of these ...
