Food & Ag 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
Old Fashioned or aspartame sweetener: Which contains more dangerous chemicals?
Have you ever been to a snooty cocktail partyย and ordered a Diet Coke from the bar only to getย the look? ...
Viewpoint: What is sustainability? What are pesticides? The way media and politicians define ideologically diffuse words shape policy โ often for the worse
Reality is perceived by the definitions we give; the black and white lines we draw upon a grey canvas. So ...
Ideological scienceโHow the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) promotes unscientific hysteria about red meat
In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization (WHO) designated processedย meats (hot dogs, ...
Viewpoint: Africa needs to reject commercial agriculture and embrace small farms if it hopes to address food insecurity
Rates of hunger in Africa are unacceptably high and getting worse. The UNย State of Food Security and Nutrition in the ...
GLP podcast: AI chatbot convinces student to commit suicide. ‘Smart’ agriculture isn’t so smart; Will alcohol warning labels save lives?
Another teenager has committed suicide following some horrifying encouragement from an AI chatbot to "please die." Who's at fault when ...
Biotechnology led to dramatic innovations in agriculture and human health in 2024
As 2024 fades into the rearview, it's a good time to reflect on the year that wasโand what it might ...
European farmers concerned about climate change push to ground EU’s ‘Green Deal’ because of it restricts crop gene editing
Leveraging the proposed European Green Deal (EGD) announced in December 2019, the EU aims to become the first climate-neutral continent ...
Breakthrough Institute report: โWhy genetically engineered microbes need a pathway to marketโ
Genetically engineered microbes need a pathway to market. Fertilizer runoff and nitrous oxide emissions remain massive issues for agricultural climate ...
Viewpoint: Agroecology and other variations on organic farming that seek to mimic nature are doomed to fail
Organic farming, regenerative agriculture, and agroecology all aim to mimic nature under the assumption that natural systems offer the best ...
MAHA v. Big Food: Will a left-MAGA coalition crystallize to fundamentally change the US food system?
The new Trump administration could be coming for your snacks. For years, the federal government has steered clear of regulating ...
Vertical farming wonโt feed the world or even the poor. So what are its advantages?
Vertical farms look hi-tech and sophisticated, but the premise is simple โ plants are grown without soil, with their roots ...
RFK Jr. claims to want healthy food, but demonizes the science that makes it possible
Itโs been an... interesting couple of weeks, to put it mildly. Donald Trump nominated RFK Jr. as Secretary of the ...
To help with climate change, carbon capture will have to evolve
More than 200 kilometers off Norwayโs coast in the North Sea sits the worldโs first offshore carbon-capture-and-storage project. Built in ...
GLP podcast: Modern farmingโ’a miracle of science’; extreme weather threatens our food supply? Activists promote retracted pesticide study
Food production has absolutely exploded since the 1960s, feeding billions more people while innovative technologies reduced the environmental impact of ...
Are plant-based meats healthier?
Unless you live in isolation from supermarkets, you've likely heard of plant-based meats โ products made from plant-derived ingredients like ...
Should agriculture get the blame for antibiotic resistance?
Journalists are an easily spooked bunch. Where scientists see a problem in need of a solution, the press often sees ...
How GMO tobacco can improve infant formula and dairy-free plant-based milk
In an eclectic application of transgenic technology, researchers at the University of California at Berkeley and Davis describe retooling cells ...
Viewpoint: Canadaโs new greenwashing bill that bans deliberately misleading information will require anti-GM activists to take down or radically revise their websites
On June 20th, 2024,ย The Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023 (Bill C-59) came into effect. The Bill covers a wide ...
Ignore the click bait. Despite the headlines, seed oils do not cause colorectal cancer
The fear-baiting is truly out of control these days. I canโt open a web browser or social media app without ...
Viewpoint: 15 explanations for why activists lie and try to scare people about โkillerโ chemicals, genetically engineered crops and nuclear energy
We always hear NGOs saying that we cannot trust industry, that we have to exclude industry evidence or that industry ...
Cow burps are one of the biggest contributors to global warming, Here is what farmers are doing to curtail methane release
The Dirt Did you know cattle can play a positive role in climate change? Farmers and ranchers are proactively working ...
Why bananas are the original โfrankenfoodโ
The banana has shaped civilizations and sparked scientific inquiry. From its origins in the lush forests of New Guinea to ...
Viewpoint: Want to stay well? Avoid every product sold by the wellness industry
In the health and wellness space fear is often used as a marketing technique, with patent medicine salesmen, pharmaceutical companies, ...
Viewpoint: RFK, Jr., Vani Hari and the Environmental Working Group are trying to dupe youโHow the organic movement built its reputation on chemophobia
There is a LOT of misinformation out there when it comes to our foods, including how our foods are grown ...
Hereโs how the organic industry greenwashes its commitment to regenerative agriculture
Think-tank reports Soil Association โgreenwashingโ claims to advertising watchdog Pro-innovation think-tank Science for Sustainable Agriculture (SSA) has writtenย to the Advertising ...
Roadmap for the incoming Trump administration: Friend or foe of US agriculture?
President-elect Trump has promised his second administration will move aggressively to deliver relief from regulatory burdens in a number of ...
Viewpoint: Lower-yield agroecology promises ignore evidence that advanced plant breeding, modern fertilizers and other inputs needed to grow more food on less land
Calls for transforming food systems have grown over the past several years. International governance organizations, such as the Food and ...
