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
Food prices will climb everywhere as temperatures rise due to climate change – new research
Climate change, and specifically rising temperatures, may cause food prices to increase by 3.2% per year, according to a new ...
Australian glyphosate class action suit with 20,000 plaintiffs dismissed, judge says evidence supporting cancer claims lacking
This past July 24, Judge Michael Lee ruled on the carcinogenicity of RoundUp in a class action involving over 20,000 ...
Viewpoint: The EPA just banned a crop chemical. What does that say about activist claims that the agency has become a dupe of the chemical industry?
Last month, the EPA issued an emergency suspension of the herbicide Dacthal and has initiated a process to cancel all ...
Viewpoint: Challenging more misinformation about glyphosate: No, it does not cause Celiac disease or alter gluten structure
I can’t wait for the day when anti-science activists decide to cling to an entirely different pesticide to fixate on ...
Viewpoint: The Greens are wrong — Here’s why humanity is good for nature
Over the past few years, we have been subject to endless media reports on the devastating impact humanity is having ...
Viewpoint: ‘Complaining about failing crop yields in Africa without posing a solution is whining’ — Here’s what’s needed to reverse it
A recent research article— “Crop yields fail to rise in smallholder farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa” — uses 7 models, ...
Viewpoint: Probiotics are not regulated by the FDA. Do they even work?
Probiotics, also referred to as live biotherapeutic products (LBPs), are products that contain live organisms, such as bacteria, that are found naturally ...
Is glyphosate weedkiller a danger to humans, bees and the environment? Addressing 10 controversial claims
Agricultural advances have made farming and our foods safer and more abundant than at any other time in history. Everyone ...
Viewpoint: Science colonialism — Europe and the United Nations are blocking crop biotechnology poised to address global hunger
Wealthy countries with natural 'breadbaskets' - places where it is easy to grow food - have so much abundance they ...
GLP podcast: Hot dogs probably don’t cause dementia; Subsidize plant burgers? Drinking fathers might damage fetal brain development
Processed read meat could increase your risk for dementia, a recent study contends. How robust are the results? Can the ...
Viewpoint: Here’s a reform roadmap to guide regulators as they seek to modernize oversight of the fast-innovating agricultural biotechnology industry
In 1986, the United States established a “Coordinated Framework for the Regulation of Biotechnology.” In the decades since, this policy ...
Reducing the impact of agricultural chemicals: Accelerated adoption of IPM—Integrated Pest Management—reduces the threat of weed resistance and chemical overuse
Modern pesticides have boosted agricultural efficiency and yields, reducing labor while controlling pests. However, regulatory pressures and inevitable pest resistance ...
GLP podcast: Treating brain diseases with parasites; FDA rejects ecstasy treatment for PTSD; $6 billion—the cost of baby powder lawsuits
A parasite that causes deadly infections may help doctors treat Parkinson's Disease. The FDA wants better evidence before it approves ...
Viewpoint: Weaponized incompetence? The ethical and science contradictions of the International Agency for Research on Cancer’s controversial ‘probable carcinogen’ assessment of glyphosate
A plaintiff lawyer in a recent glyphosate litigation produced an International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) document claiming that ...
Debunking the ‘MSG is harmful’ myth: How baseless stories spawn enduring food fears
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is the poster child for food additive fear, chemophobia, and the harms of using anecdotes as evidence ...
Is your cheese GMO? The Non-GMO Project and other activists claim 90% of cheeses in America are ‘tainted’. Here are the facts
In cheese production, the need to use traditional rennet obtained from calf stomachs has largely been removed because of a ...
GLP podcast: China bans ‘irresponsible’ germline editing; losing weight causes cancer? Modern culture could drive mental health issues
China has banned germline gene editing, calling the technology, "irresponsible and not permitted." A recent study suggested that losing weight ...
Hidden threat to wild bees? Honeybees, including those raised by well-meaning suburbanites and city-dweller hobbyists believing they are helping the environment
Canada is home to more than 800 species of wild bees — few may have noticed the diversity of native ...
Viewpoint: How can we dramatically increase agricultural yields sustainably and without using more land?
A 70% increase in global demand for food by 2050, set against urgent biodiversity and climate pressures, requires an unprecedented ...
GLP podcast: Medicinal psychedelics in California? ‘Lead-soaked tampons’ debunked; Why prescription drugs are so costly
California is considering a bill that would legalize psychedelics for medicinal use. Is this a science-based effort to improve health ...
When Greenpeace wins, we all lose: The cynical war on genetically engineered crops grinds on
"Their eyes tell their sad stories as ghostly white irises give way to vacant stares. We can look at them, ...
Viewpoint: Gene-editing roadblocks — Excessive regulations and a ‘guilty until proven innocent’ mindset hamper gene editing’s massive potential to address climate change
Jared Diamond (1997) observed that, "Any society goes through social movements or fads, in which economically useless things become valued ...
Breakthough Institute: Are cover crops the silver bullet to reduce agricultural carbon emissions as regenerative-farming enthusiasts claim? Time for a rethink
Cover cropping, the practice of planting secondary crops during the off-season to improve soil health, has roots stretching back to ...
As the EU’s regulatory stance on gene-edited crops slips back toward ‘precautionary inertia’, Europe’s over-precaution threatens global food security
Despite the much-hyped expectation that Europe was on course to follow other parts of the world in removing GMO-style regulatory ...
GLP podcast: Your brain on ‘magic mushrooms’; WEF v farming; Food ‘sensitivity’ tests are scams
People have been taking LSD recreationally for years, but it might turn out to be an effective treatment for depression ...
Environmental-Industrial Complex: How governments, advocacy groups, ‘progressive’ foundations and industry profit off of climate fears
Is history repeating itself? In 1961, US President Eisenhower gave an alarming farewell address, warning that the military-industrial (Congressional) complex ...
Viewpoint: Scared to Death — How chemophobia endangers public health — and what can be done to address this growing crisis
When I think about science and health disinformation, there are obvious trends. Of course, they exploit health anxiety, which causes ...
