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.
Brazil reevaluating sterile seed technology; Anti-GMO groups hype ‘terminator’ scare
Brazil reconsidering its ban on so-called “terminator” seeds, which are genetically modified to be sterile and cannot produce offspring. Under ...
EU court annuls approval of paper-making Amflora GMO potato
Europe's second-highest court overturned a decision by the European Commission to allow the cultivation and sale of the Amflora genetically ...
Anti-GMO bill puts Connecticut in scientific ‘Hall of Shame’
Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy celebrated the signing of Connecticut’s bill that could eventually require the labeling of foods containing GMO ...
Venezuela targeted in activist fight against GM crops in South America
Venezuela is on the “front lines” of a significant resistance in South America to genetically modified crops. While several South ...
Hawaii County’s Bill 113 ‘needlessly stigmatizes’ papaya farmers
“Bill 113 needlessly stigmatizes our papaya farmers…it penalizes them as well,” writes Michael Shintaku, professor of plant pathology at the ...
Farmers say they do not feel ‘forced’ to buy GM seeds
Farmers do feel that they have a choice whether to buy GM seeds or not. A popular argument used by ...
Are GM foods with ‘foreign’ genes still vegan?
An issue in relation to genetic modified of crops often brought up by vegans and vegetarians is “What about inserting ...
Russia to allow cultivation of GM crops
The first harvest of genetically modified seeds in Russia will take place in 2016. In September of this year, Russian ...
How to write like an angry internet ‘expert’ on GMOs
Researching genetically modified food “gave me so many examples of bad science that I could have spoken for three hours ...
‘Mommy blogs’ and parenting sites take over the fight against GMOs
Radical environmental groups initially led the charge against genetically modified food, but today, some of the most vocal and influential ...
Nobel Laureate Richard Roberts: protesting GM crops is a ‘crime against humanity’
Nobel Laureate Richard J. Roberts said that protesting the use of genetically modified crops is a “crime against humanity" while ...
Hawaii weed lovers alert: Anti-GMO bills threaten ‘Maui gold’ marijuana growers with up to $25,000 per day fine
If Maui County follows the trend of anti-GMO legislation that is sweeping across Hawaii, marijuana growers will be vulnerable to ...
Pakistan: Yields on Bt cotton 20 percent higher despite lower pesticide use
Researchers in Pakistan published a study that showed that Bt cotton, which is genetically modified to produce a protein that ...
NYU’s Marion Nestle promotes anti-GMO book, slams ‘corporate control’ of food supply
Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University and author of “Eat, Drink, Vote,” ...
London School of Economics report: Loosen restrictions on GM crops to help feed malnourished
A report released by the London School of Economics recommends that in order to feed the world amid climate change ...
Agriculture industry ‘under assault’ by anti-GMO movement
The agriculture industry in America, “a vital piece of this economy,” is “under assault in a way that will harm ...
Is mandatory GMO food labeling a subsidy for the organic food industry?
A national, mandatory GM-food label that is being pushed by anti-GMO activists is said to be about “the right to ...
Podcast: Kevin Folta discusses Don Huber’s dubious claim of new superbug created by GM corn
The Food and Farm host Ray Bowman interviews Dr. Kevin Folta, associate professor and interim chair at the University of ...
Research on poplar clones reveals insights into plant epigenetics
A team of researchers led by Sherosha Raj of the University of Toronto found that some clones of poplar trees ...
Are GMOs necessary to end world hunger?
Biology graduate student Amber Gabb analyses the role of GMOs in the future of food security. She writes that GMOs ...
A world without GMO crops poses greater risks
Despite the endorsements from scientific organizations and the hundreds of studies showing no adverse environmental or human health effects from ...
US federal official suggests farmers pursue international standards for GM crops
Richard Fisher, Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President, recently suggested to a gathering of farmers that they should begin to consider ...
Economist editorial: ‘Green” anti-GMO activists are like ‘climate deniers’
The Economist has come out with a stinging editorial [article access requires free registration], "Fields of Beaten Gold," attacking the ...
Serbia blocks cultivation, import of GMOs
Serbia’s Ministry of Agriculture has announced that it will not allow the cultivation or import of genetically modified crops for ...
Honey and GMOs: Greens celebrate EU decision to keep GM pollen label
The European Parliament’s environment committee recently voted on a proposal to revise the EU rules on honey. A majority of ...
India GMO fight: ‘Crop does not become harmful after it is genetically modified’
Many states within India are opposing the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill, which would set up an independent ...
Does glyphosate (Roundup) lead to superweeds?
In 2004, farmers in Georgia discovered a weed that was resistant to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Round Up ...
