Food & Agriculture Features
The GLP explores the role of genetic engineering in food production and the polarized debate surrounding it. We highlight the work of our own writers, as well as that of contributors from around the Web. The GLP does not take a position on genetics-related issues; any opinions expressed belong to the authors.
Categories include:
- Chemicals and pesticides
- Organics
- Conventional crops
- New breeding technologies
- Animal biotechnology
- Food systems
- Sustainability
- Regulations
- Politics
- Ideology
Here’s how AI is protecting bees and helping farmers pollinate crops
Artificial intelligence (AI) offers a new way to track the insect pollinators essential to farming. In a new study, we installed miniature ...
GLP podcast and video: Glyphosate in Goldfish crackers? COVID vaccines are not in our food; Does marijuana cause schizophrenia?
A viral Facebook post recently alleged that Goldfish crackers contain dangerous amounts of the weedkiller glyphosate. Is there any science ...
Ideology-based decision-making and regulatory processes restrict sustainable agricultural innovation in Mexico
The escalating disagreement between Mexico and its two northern partners, the United States and Canada, over the country’s corn ban ...
Viewpoint: ‘Imposing impoverishment’ — How European leadership has failed by promoting ideological solutions to sustainability challenges in farming
It is hard to find anyone with anything positive to say about 2022: economic, social, ethical, political, geopolitical success stories ...
5 influential activist NGOs spreading crop biotechnology misinformation in Latin America
The United States and Europe are home to some of the most influential anti-biotechnology advocacy groups in the world. They ...
Electricity from thin air? Energy-producing bacteria has ‘potential to power small, sustainable air-powered devices in the future’
It may sound surprising, but when times are tough and there is no other food available, some soil bacteria can ...
GLP podcast & video: Harmful chemicals in fish? How your genes affect the drugs you take; 3 pesticide myths debunked
Are you getting a potentially toxic dose of chemicals every time you eat fish? A new study has raised this ...
Cracks appear in Europe’s opposition to CRISPR gene editing and other New Breeding Technologies
Despite what the anti-genetic engineering forces want you to believe, there is growing political, scientific and agricultural support across Europe for ...
Viewpoint: ‘These forests will never recover’ — Climate change-associated fires stump reforestation efforts
On April 6, 2022, a prescribed fire driven by unusually strong spring winds jumped a control line northwest of Las ...
Does GMO corn increase crop yields? More than 20 years of data confirm it does — and provides substantial health and safety benefits
While many studies show that genetically modified crops contribute to yield gains, GMO critics say that they don’t. Such claims, ...
Viewpoint: Green activists claim we can feed the world with organic-grown crops. Here’s a reality check
It is commonly believed that organic farmers do not use pesticides and that organic food is therefore safer to consume ...
Viewpoint: Here’s the wacky formula used by Environmental Working Group to stoke unwarranted fears about safe chemicals
“Eating one bass is equivalent to drinking PFOS-tainted water for a month.” Those are the words of Scott Faber, senior ...
Viewpoint: Social media amplifies misinformation — No, modern pesticides are not the driver of insect declines and no, they are not poisoning us
The aim of the European Seed series on Myths, Fake News, Misinformation and Disinformation is to dive deeper, taking a closer ...
Viewpoint: Do we need to curtail economic expectations to ensure that we have enough food to feed the planet?
A little over 200 years ago, one of the noted economists and philosophers of the day, Thomas Malthus published an essay ...
30 years of waiting for an insect-resistant tomato but questions about taste may limit its market
A tenacious plant breeder has developed more than a dozen new lines of naturally pest-resistant tomatoes — foreshadowing a future in ...
Europe dragging its feet on CRISPR deregulation assessment. Here’s how the process has been politicized
If the European Union wants to fully utilize the genetic potential of crops, new breeding technologies (NBTs) should be treated ...
GLP podcast and video: Golden Rice hits another roadblock; Glyphosate protects endangered species; Growing medicine in GMO crops
The Philippines recently approved the cultivation of Golden Rice to prevent blindness and death caused by vitamin A deficiency (VAD) ...
Viewpoint: Subverting the science of crop biotechnology — Leaked document from German NGO illustrates ‘scandalous’ strategy by anti-biotech activists to manipulate the public
A leaked internal document from the German anti-biotech NGO community recently found its way to the Risk-Monger’s dusty basement. As ...
Viewpoint: Decarbonizing farming — Comparing regenerative agriculture with ‘sustainable intensification’
An interesting report crossed my desk the other day. Entitled ‘Scaling Regenerative Agriculture: An Action Plan’, it came from the Sustainable Markets ...
Viewpoint: Anti-chemical film polemic “Into the Weeds” is wrong on the facts but a tort lawyer’s dream. Did lawyers and the organic industry fund it?
The organic food industry lobby was in full swing in Brussels with their StopGlyphosateWeek. A collective of NGOs ran an ...
Germany is the major obstacle to the adoption of gene editing and other crop biotechnology innovations in the EU. When might that change?
Since 2000, the EU has adopted a very hostile stance towards GMO crops, and it’s carried over into its opposition ...
Viewpoint: Without glyphosate, critical wetlands and wildlife could be strangled by invasive plants
Almost two years ago, I wrote an article hoping “we are finally at a place when a few influential scientists with ...
Viewpoint: Rollout of agricultural gene editing in England is not yet a sure thing. This is what could derail it.
Last month, the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill completed its passage through both Houses of Parliament and received Royal Assent ...
Anti-biotech activists claim biotech crops promote “unsustainable” monoculture? Let’s separate facts from ideology
Biotech critics frequently claim that conventional agriculture and GMOs promote monoculture farming, which is harmful to biodiversity. A closer look ...
Biopharming can help pioneer new treatments but cumbersome, outdated regulations block innovation
Obtaining medicines from plants is not new. Aspirin was first isolated from the bark of the willow tree in the ...
Podcast and video: Animal mRNA vaccines under fire; Too many antibiotics in agriculture? Does ‘Big Ag’ control the global seed market?
The same technology that yielded COVID-19 vaccines could help protect livestock from deadly diseases, but a growing chorus of skeptics ...
Plant microbiomes: Humans are not the only organisms that need healthy biomes. Here is how to grow safer and more nutritious food and feed
A “physical examination” is the standard way to track human health. It involves a variety of measurements such as blood ...
