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.
Viewpoint: Anti-GMO arguments seem silly after 28 years of false narratives about health harms and and genetic contamination
Since the first genetically engineered or modified crops or organisms (GMO) were approved for commercial production in 1995, no new ...
Coming era of cattle farming: Genetically engineered dairy cow produces human insulin in milk
Scientists generated a transgenic cow that produces milk with human insulin. Their research may help patients with diabetes ...
Viewpoint: Food Network experts blast organic-funded ‘Dirty Dozen’ list for misleading consumers about trace pesticides on crops
Every year the Environmental Working Group (EWG) releases its list of the Dirty Dozen, a group of 12 fruits and vegetables ...
‘Over a million seeds are safely locked away here’: Remote Norwegian island keeps Earth’s plant diversity safe in case of disaster
“Over a million seeds are safely locked away here,” Ola Westengen says. He is a researcher and former head of ...
Viewpoint: Will European farmer protests drag the EU into the 21st century on biotechnology and AI in agriculture?
Among all the demands that European farmers are making (claims of an economic nature, which have to do with imports, ...
Viewpoint: ‘Flashy junk science tort lawyer ads’ that claim glyphosate causes cancer warp public’s view about weedkiller dangers
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates the nation’s tort system cost the U.S. economy $443 billion in 2020, a sum equivalent ...
Here are the states trying to ban cell-based meat, and why
Months in jail and thousands of dollars in fines and legal fees—those are the consequences Alabamians and Arizonans could soon ...
Study: What does ‘ultra-processed’ food do to our brains and capacity to learn?
Ultra-processed foods may not only affect our bodies, but our brains too. New research suggests links between ultra-processed foods—such as chips, many ...
Organic production in France slides as focus shifts to climate change and organic yield lag
The 21st Agence Bio barometer sheds new light on the causes of France's disenchantment with organic products ...
Methane is 28 times more powerful than CO2, and it’s increasing in the atmosphere. Here’s why and what must be done
The greenhouse gas methane is 28 times more powerful than CO2, and its presence is increasing in the atmosphere ...
Green activist setbacks — Internal divisions and zero-compromise approach to biotechnology highlights recent campaign failures by European environmental activists
2023 marked a tumultuous year for European environmental activists, witnessing significant setbacks in their long-standing campaigns against pesticides and genetically ...
Viewpoint: Despite a sea of environmental activist disinformation, GMO plants have more than lived up to the hype
There is a great deal of misinformation out there regarding genetically modified organisms (GMOs). From monikers like "Frankenfoods" to general skepticism, there has ...
Viewpoint: The Europe’s anti-pesticide fearmongering continues to cripple African food security hopes
As farmers protest across Europe, blockading cities, smashing through police barricades, and dumping manure, European politicians are falling over themselves ...
Food security challenged Pakistan reevaluating benefits of currently-banned GMO crops
For the last two decades, Pakistan has faced several challenges, such as drought, salinity, temperature, climate change, and an increasing ...
‘Science proves GM corn and the herbicide glyphosate are harmful to human health and native crop varieties’: US claims Mexico ignores ‘decades’ worth of evidence demonstrating their safety
In a written submission to a panel of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, Mexico, the top buyer of U.S. corn, argued ...
‘Texas Two-Step’ — Bayer weighs new Roundup suit strategy as costs of cancer litigation mount
Bayer AG is weighing whether to use a controversial legal maneuver known as the Texas Two-Step bankruptcy to try to resolve ...
Scammy food allergy test? Why the most prominent US allergy association recommends against relying on popular IgG serological panels
A test that claims to be able to diagnose food sensitivities and is commonly available is the food IgG test. ...
Viewpoint: Proposed Vermont bill follows New York in banning neonic pesticides — a move that lacks evidence and will hurt farmers
A new bill in the Vermont House would ban the use of certain insecticides by the state’s agricultural sector. Bill ...
How are we feeding a global population that has tripled since 1940? Propelled by genetic tinkering, crop production takes up 8 to 11 times less land while maintaining yields
The impacts of climate change, particularly extreme weather events, will increase the likelihood of crop failure in the future. As ...
Viewpoint — Part III: Claimed side-effects of GM crops from GMO corn rebuked by scientists
In their crusade against PBR-Cowpea, anti-GM activists cite articles written by Vendomes et al. (2009)... and an article published by ...
Here are 5 new biotech ag products that consumers might fall in love with
After almost three decades of providing solutions to farmers’ concerns, biotech experts are now releasing and developing a new set ...
Viewpoint: Court rulings and science are increasingly at odds when it comes to evaluating crop chemicals
In early February, dicamba once again found itself on the wrong side of the law. A federal court in Arizona vacated EPA’s ...
Viewpoint: Part II — Anti-GMO arguments rest entirely on botched studies
GMO food and feed have more than twenty years of safety record. During these twenty years, each day hundreds of ...
When can plant-based foods be described as ‘meaty’? France cracks down on plant based meat claims
In three months’ time, France will enforce a ban on the use of ‘meaty’ terminology for plant-based products ...
Viewpoint: Part I — Behind the anti-crop biotechnology crusade in Nigeria and across Africa
Before any GM crop is released, it is intensively analysed for human, animal and environment safety. Despite their historical high ...
What role can gene editing play in neutralizing the global devastation caused by papaya viruses?
Amidst a backdrop of devastating viral attacks on papaya crops worldwide, scientific innovation emerges as a beacon of hope. Gene ...
The dark side of convenient foods: 32 health problems from heart disease to depression are associated with ultra-processed foods, new study claims
Many studies have indicated that ultra-processed foods are uniquely bad for our health. But the authors of this latest research, published ...
