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.
European farming organizations demand greater access to GM crops
The organizations representing farmers in the four countries of the UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal and Romania have written ...
In Europe, debate intensifies over GMO food imports from US
The European Union has some of the strictest regulations in the world for genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, requiring extensive ...
Monsanto once supported GMO food labeling in Europe
The biotech company Monsanto, a major opponent of Washington state’s GMO-labeling Initiative 522, actually once supported the labeling of genetically ...
Washington State University researchers: GMO labeling is ‘useless,’ ‘misleading.’
Researchers at Washington State University’s Agricultural Research Center call an initiative to label genetically modified foods “useless information,” citing a ...
Using GMOs, scientists show how plants tell time
Plants use sugars to tell the time of day, according to research involving a University of York scientist which is ...
Judge rejects request by pro-labeling group to freeze ‘No on I-522’ campaign funds
A Thurston County judge rejected a request by the Moms for Labeling group Wednesday to freeze $3.5 million still unspent ...
Filipino NYU plant geneticist backs Golden Rice
In his latest statement in Rappler, New York University's Dean of Science Michael D. Purugganan writes why he supports Golden Rice and ...
Los Angeles city councilmen propose ban on GMOs
Los Angeles is considering banning the cultivation and sale of genetically modified organisms. If it does, the second-largest U.S. city ...
Nigerian Agriculture Minister urges faster acceptance of biotechnology in Africa
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Akinwumi Adesina, has called for an accelerated pace in Africa's use of biotechnology, ...
Organic industry would reap windfall with passage of I-522
In his blog Edible Intelligence, Sam Vance warns that with the passage of Washington State's I-522, large organic grocers like ...
International scientists challenge Swedish government over funding of Golden Rice trial vandalism
In a statement on Mark Lynas's blog, prominent plant and agriculture scientists called out the Swedish government for funding MASIPAG, ...
Chipotle’s claim of reduced GMO use crumbles under scrutiny
Dana Liebelson of Mother Jones investigates Chipotle's claims of reducing the use of GMOs and using locally sourced, organic ingredients. She ...
Gates Foundation funds biotech banana research
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently committed $10 million to help produce vitamin A enriched bananas in sub-Saharan Africa ...
GMO labeling initiative ‘too close to call’ in Washington state
Initiative 522 opponents in Washington State have apparently shifted some voters against the ballot measure to require labeling of food ...
Labeling campaigners distort facts on GMOs
"The debate over genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is shrill and frequently lacking," writes Parke Wilde, a Professor at the Friedman ...
Catholic leaders: Transgenic plants must be used to feed poor
The Catholic Church supports GMOs, writes William Patenaude, an environmental regulator and author of the Catholic Ecology blog. Dr. Peter Raven, one ...
Key Chinese government officials back GMOs
The Chinese government has been rolling out statements and public events in support of GMOs, writes Wall Street Journal reporter ...
Washington Post editorial: Genetically modified crops should be part of Africa’s food future
(Summary) "Genetic engineering is not a magic bullet for Africa, but it can help battle pests and diseases, improve nutrition ...
Seed companies hoping to end Mexico’s GMO suspension
In a brief interview with Agriculture.com, 2013 World Food Prize Laureate Robert Fraley, Monsanto's Chief Technology Officer, said the he ...
Activist scientists claim “no consensus” on GMO safety
Coming together under the banner of the European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Sustainability, a group of scientific, ...
Argentina: Activist study tries to link agrochemical spraying and health problems to GMOs
Argentine farmworker Fabian Tomasi wasn’t trained to use protective gear as he pumped pesticides into crop dusters. Now at 47, ...
China: GM rice taste test quells doubts
About 260 Chinese volunteers participated in a taste test of genetically modified (GM) rice, hoping to reassure the public about ...
Genes jump between conventional crops, not just from engineered ones
Another ecological worry about GE crops seemed to have come true with a vengeance in 2000. American scientists reported that ...
‘War’ against GM crops worries pioneer in field
The fact opposition to biotechnology, specifically genetically modified organisms (GMOs), remains as strong as it is nearly 20 years after ...
Why biotech developers don’t deserve the World Food Prize
Tom Laskawy, founder and executive director of the Food & Environment Reporting Network, wrote in Civil Eats why the winners of ...
Faux debate over mis-dubbed ‘Monsanto Protection Act’ aside, farmers need regulatory assurance
The Farmer Assurance Provision is formally Section 735 of the Continuing Resolution of 2013, passed in March to fund the ...
Plant disease research experts oppose GMO labels
The American Phytopathological Society, which represents 5,000 scientists who "investigate plant pathogens," came out with a statement paper opposing mandatory ...
