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.
100 percent boost in tomato yields with new genetic toolkit
Tomatoes are some of the most genetically modified foods in history. What were tiny, strangely-shaped fruits the size of a ...
$25 million for “Factor GMO” study—Are the results pre-determined?
What anti-GMO activists are billing as the most expensive and comprehensive longterm study of the impact of GMO crops and ...
Why support erodes for GMO labeling (Hint: It’s not because of spending by Big Ag)
As happened in both California and Washington state, what seemed like an easy path to victory for supporters of a ...
Two-faced anti-GMO groups: Block crop and food innovations then claim Big Ag prevents GMO innovations
Thailand appears poised to move ahead with growing test plots of a genetically modified papaya, modeled after the GMO Hawaiian papaya, ...
Downside to GMOs: Yields have become so good, they exceed processing capacity
Organic food should catapult itself to being a $105 billion industry by next year. Times are good, they have a ...
Vermont Rube Goldberg-like GMO labeling law exempts GMO filled natural supplements
During the 1920s, the cartoonist Rube Goldberg became immensely popular churning out cartoons that depicted devices that performed simple tasks in ...
Agricultural science is back in fashion for college students: Here’s why
Michigan State University is reporting something this fall that hasn't been the case for 40 years: Agriculture is back, and ...
Consumers will pay more to avoid GMOs–If labeling is mandatory rather than voluntary
Will consumers pay more to avoid GMOs and if so, how much? Apparently it depends in part on whether labeling ...
Kenya paying steep price for precipitous ban on GMO
In 2011, Kenya was poised to enter the club of GMO growing nations when the National Biosafety Authority affirmed the safety ...
Battle of Britain: NGOs and scientists clash over proposal to loosen EU GMO restrictions
Britain has emerged as the key battleground that could determine whether the European Union relaxes its tight restrictions on GMOs ...
Cropland expansion in China has led to dramatic rise in carbon emissions
Over the last 300 years, the population of China has expanded and so has cropland to feed her people. To ...
Challenging tired arguments against GMOs
Steven Novella of the New England Skeptical Society has a thoughtful and entertaining piece on his Neurologica blog on the seven ...
Two Oregon papers join most others in urging “no” on mandatory GMO label vote
Two more Oregon papers, both conservative leaning, are urging votes to reject the Oregon GMO labelling initiative. Most of the ...
One week before vote, Oregon GMO labeling law appears headed for defeat
Following a similar script from California and Washington state, support for the mandatory GMO labeling initiative is losing support as ...
Scientists rebuff Center for Food Safety report alleging chemicals in infant soy milk
Just days before the mandatory labeling votes in Oregon and Colorado, the anti-GMO activist group Center for Food Safety injected ...
Citizen scientists embrace urban agriculture
City life may not seem conducive to agriculture but all across America, citizen scientists are learning about the latest methods ...
Clothing may soon be made from plants rather than petrol based sources
Companies from Invista to Genomatica from BASF to Cargill and Novozymes are making biopased polymers designed to replace the synthetic materials used to make clothing, shoes, diapers and a ...
Pest odor science is a citrus disease cure environmentalists can embrace
The Asian citrus psyllid carrying the huanglongbing bacterium is a devastating combination vector that causes a lethal citrus disease which is a threat ...
Anti-GMO forces leveraging September Montana GE wheat find
Last July, the Agriculture Department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service found unapproved GMO wheat at Montana State University. The government ...
Can we ever have a civil debate about GMOs?
Every few years, it seems, there is a hot button issue that divides people in a way that goes far ...
Molokai, another Hawaii GMO battleground, rallies around farmers
It's often said that Hawaii is Ground Zero for the anti-GMO movement. However, as GLP contributing writer Joni Kamiya has written, ...
Animated infographic: Story of biotech seeds
Crop Life International presents the "story of seeds"--an animated look at the evolution of germination. Seeds are the basis for ...
Nina Fedoroff’s Ted Talk: How to feed 10 billion dinner guests
How can we hope to feed a world population that is expected to reach 10 billion or more by 2050? That's ...
3 biggest truths about modern agriculture
Farming and food conjure up many images in people's minds: romantic visions of hardworking family farmers toiling away on behalf ...
Will Hawaii County judge follow Kauai’s lead in invalidating anti-GMO law?
In August, a United States magistrate through out a Kauai law that required seed and chemical companies operating in the ...
Wall Street Journal: GMO label promoters are ‘organic protectonists’
Many commentators frame the various state fights between those who support GMO labeling and opponents as a 'David versus Goliath' battles ...
As EU pesticide ban to ‘save bees’ backfires, focus of failure turns to activist politicians
Within only 10 months of the precautionary ban on neonicotinoid pesticides, farmers in the UK are reporting significant crop losses for ...
