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.
Rejection of cheese as ‘dangerous’ shows why fanatical anti-GMO groups are like homeopaths
Would opponents of GMO technology object to eating cheese made with chymosin from genetically engineered microbes? Avoiding it might be ...
Scientific articles counter common misconceptions on Internet condemning GMOs
A member of Skepti-Forum, Ethan Kessler, provides links to several scientific studies countering many of the common misconceptions we often ...
War in South Australia over future of GMO trials
South Australian Agriculture Minister Leon Bignell’s staunch opposition to genetically modified (GM) crop biotechnology has raised fears multi-million dollar research ...
Vermont farmers disagree on GMO safety, environmental impact and labeling issues
There was a celebration on the Statehouse steps in May when Gov. Peter Shumlin signed a bill into law that ...
Editorial: GMOs safe to eat while more research in farming practices needed
The use of science to enhance agricultural output has been attacked on nearly every front for quite some time. There ...
Iowa governor calls for ‘vigilant’ defense of modern agriculture, including GMOs
Gov. Terry Branstad said Monday that state officials need to remain vigilant in their defense of modern agriculture, but he ...
‘Organic’ label does not guarantee healthier or more sustainable food
Buying organic food is an exercise in personal virtue: You pay more to consume food that's healthier for you and ...
Vermont’s law requiring GMO labels could trigger nationwide rules
Under a law signed this month, the tiny New England state, population 626,000, will soon require that food companies tell ...
Indian scientists form high tech group to educate politicians on GM crops
Stung by adverse political reactions on genetically modified crops, agriculture scientists have formed a 12-member pressure group comprising top scientists ...
GMO fears in needy Zambia result in destruction of 1,000 lbs of safe corn flakes
A combined team of Luanshya Municipal Council Health Inspectors and Court officials swung into action and destroyed more than 700 Bokomo Corn Flakes ...
Trade politics, not health concerns, driving Russia’s anti-GMO stance
The Russian government’s most public reason for banning GMOs—its citizens’ health—may not be its primary reason. During President Putin’s recent meeting with ...
Widespread confusion among Canadians over what foods are genetically modified
Genetic modification has been a polarizing issue since genetically modified seeds were first approved and planted in Canada in the ...
Monarch butterfly decline linked loss of milkweed: Are GMO crops to blame?
The main cause of the monarch butterfly's decline is the loss of milkweed — its food — in its U.S ...
Bt eggplant farmers in Bangladesh target of anti-GMO “green” groups
Farmers growing a landmark genetically modified food crop in Bangladesh – Bt brinjal, or aubergine – have found themselves at the centre of a ...
GM crops safe but ecological concerns need to be examined, regulated
Scientists have demonstrated that genetically modified organisms have no measurable negative impacts on human health. Indeed, they may hold the key ...
‘Homemade herbicide’ of salt, vinegar and soap more expensive and toxic than glyphosate in Roundup
The question I get most often about this homemade herbicide mixture is “how does it compare to commercial herbicides?” In particular, how ...
Whirlwind tour of career of Bruce Ames, inventor of test to determine chemical toxicity
On an otherwise ordinary day in 1964, Bruce Ames picked up a box of potato chips and read the list of ingredients ...
Plant scientist Pamela Ronald developing GMO bananas that could save millions of lives
Bananas are delicious. But bananas aren’t just some tasty delicacy, they’re actually a staple crop for millions of people, just ...
GM not just about commodity farming: How it can rescue threatened coffee, chocolate, wine, bananas and OJ
Many anti-GM campaigners lambast crop biotechnology because the first generation of genetic modification focused on commodity crops such as corn, ...
Arguments against GM crops riddled with problems including vested interests and romanticizing hunger
The year 2013 marked the 18th consecutive year of commercial cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or now commonly referred to as ...
Lack of funding in Nigeria hindering biotechnology research efforts
A professor, Olufunmilayo Adebambo, has said that the country is missing in the development and utilisation of its biotechnological potential. Adebambo, ...
Poorly written GM ban in Oregon opens door to lawsuits against non-GMO farmers
An ordinance that prohibits biotech crops in Oregon's Jackson County is vague enough to encompass some conventionally bred crops, according ...
Kenyans face danger from aflatoxin contamination in crops, biotechnology can mitigate problem
Most Kenyans are at high risk of aflatoxin contamination due to lack of monitoring and evaluation on the harvested and ...
Anti-GMO journalist, Maharishi Institute follower calls anti-GMO journalist, Reuters’ Carey Gillam, “balanced”
Reuters' journalist Carey Gillam has covered issues surrounding genetically modified foods for the past 16 years, no easy task with ...
Fear of GMOs prevent GM barley resistant to ‘vomitoxin’-producing fungi from reaching beers
This past summer, exceptionally hot and humid for many, was brutal for the small-scale barley farmers who have been cropping ...
AUDIO: Yale neurologist Steven Novella challenges fears of GMOs, industrial agriculture
For Medium's Inquiring Minds, Indre Viskontas spoke with Dr. Steven Novella, a neurologist at Yale University. Novella is a prominent voice ...
‘Significant majority’ of consumers support status quo on GMO labeling, new survey reports
Despite contentious debate in some states regarding mandatory labeling of foods produced with biotechnology or genetically modified organisms (GMO) crops, ...
