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
Africa cracks down on ravenous locust swarms by ignoring Greenpeace’s anti-pesticide rhetoric
As nations around the world struggle with COVID-19 and related economic lockdowns, African countries are fighting another plague: swarms of ...
Banned in Uganda: While the Irish potato faces disease and climate change, politics stymie farmers eager to adopt still unapproved GM seeds
It's a five-hour drive into the western part of Uganda to Kachwekano Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute (KaZARDI), where ...
Viewpoint: Mexico’s ‘cut-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face’ glyphosate ban — Why prohibiting one of the safest herbicides in the world will dramatically increase the use of a demonstrably more harmful alternative
It appears that the proposed Mexican government plan to ban all genetically engineered corn and the widely used herbicide glyphosate ...
‘Flawed process leads to flawed science’: Why the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer claims glyphosate causes cancer
The recent excellent article by Josh Bloom, “NYC Pol Uses Phony Cancer Scare & ‘Children’ to Ban Glyphosate in Parks,” ...
How CRISPR and other gene-edited crops are regulated in the United States and around the world: A scholarly review
Genome editing in agriculture and food is leading to new, improved crops and other products. Depending on the regulatory approach ...
Biotech colonialism? Comedian Russell Brand claims Bill Gates is ‘buying up stolen land’ to ‘take over the global food system’. Here’s what he got wrong
"Why Is Bill Gates Buying Up Stolen Native American Land?" British comedian and actor Russell Brand asked in a recent ...
Viewpoint: ‘Killer petunias’? The shameful story of the USDA’s ‘unscientific, innovation-stifling’ process for regulating genetically-engineered flowers
Now that vivid orange, red, and purple genetically engineered petunias are approved for distribution to plant nurseries, it’s time for ...
Viewpoint: Farm-to-Fork plan suggests Europe wants sustainable farming. So why do EU politicians ignore the ‘green’ benefits of GM crops?
There is ongoing disagreement between the popularly elected European Parliament and the executives in the European Commission over approvals of ...
Ideological rigidity is hampering efforts to leverage the regenerative agriculture ‘revolution’. Here are two paths forward
Does regenerative agriculture require a completely new economics of farming to achieve scale? Or should the focus be on the ...
Viewpoint: Battling corporate takeover of agriculture? Activists who oppose GMOs and other forms of farming biotechnology hurt vulnerable populations they claim to want to protect
Activist groups which oppose so-called ‘genetically modified organisms’ (GMOs) frequently affirm that they want to fight corporations and capitalism. While ...
Viewpoint: Advocates for regenerative agriculture greet questions about its viability ‘not with facts or science but with defensive hype’
In Part One of this series, we looked at the historical reasons why interest in regenerative farming has eclipsed organic ...
The central challenge for regenerative agriculture advocates: Not undermining the movement by ‘overselling’ its limited and targeted advantages
The term regenerative farming first popped up in the mainstream media in a 1987 New York Times article about what ...
Regenerative agriculture: The movement dedicated to unseating intensive, ‘industrial farming’ by claiming it has comprehensive sustainability advantages
For the last century, each generation has produced an alternative approach to farming that is aimed at a central challenge ...
Viewpoint: Livestock—an underrated solution to climate change
Climate change is real and in many instances, agriculture’s livestock is often tagged as being a leading emitter, but what if ...
Duckweed to the rescue: How the world’s fasting-growing plant could boost food security despite climate change
Scientists are looking for clues in the genes of the world's fastest-growing plant to help them get a leg up ...
Is there a difference between a gene-edited organism and a ‘GMO’? The question has important implications for regulation
The controversy over genetically engineered organisms (sometimes called “genetically modified organisms,” or “GMOs”) is genuine, not faux — but only ...
Climate change is roiling the African continent. With cutting-edge biotech solutions largely blocked, governments rely on tweaks of more traditional technologies to boost output
While Africa is currently responsible for a negligible amount of total global greenhouse gas emissions, the continent is under significant ...
From lab bench to dinner table — How do you create cell-based prime rib eye?
In March of 2021, researchers at the University of Tokyo announced that they had successfully grown steak in a lab ...
The case for public investment in alternative proteins
The United States currently consumes more meat per capita than any other country. In the past decade, however, the US ...
Viewpoint: Organic farming offers some sustainability benefits, but ‘fear-driven marketing campaigns’ exaggerate advantages and demonize acceptable alternatives
When the “Risk-Monger’s Dirty Dozen” list of pesticides used in organic farming was published, I had broken a taboo. Before ...
The Green Revolution was built on manipulating genes to breed higher-yielding, disease resistant crops. Here’s an ode to one of its pioneers, Sanjaya Rajaram
Few people are aware of the heroes behind the surge in yields of wheat and other crops that began in ...
Viewpoint: Advocacy disguised as journalism? Meet Carey Gillam, the prolific purveyor of crop biotechnology and agri-chemical disinformation
When it comes to science, how much do media narratives influence public opinion and policy? The answer is, a lot ...
Viewpoint: Can European Commission reverse 20 years of backward, precautionary regulation of crop biotechnology? CRISPR presents an opportunity
The expected report of the European Commission on “new genomic techniques” was published as announced before the end of April ...
Blocking innovation: How Canada’s novel plant-breeding rules hinder progress in food production
You’ve heard it before on SAIFood: Canada’s plant breeding sector is facing regulatory barriers to innovation. Today’s blog provides further ...
Organic farming has a sustainability problem — and now the EU is in a dilemma of their own making
European Union (EU) agricultural scientists are in a bit of a pickle. I’m not sure to what extent it is ...
Sierra Club endorsement of disease-resistant chestnut tree divides the anti-GMO movement
Across the eastern seaboard, the majestic American Chestnut tree once dominated forests. A main source of timber for cabins, shipbuilding, and ...
Viewpoint: ‘The Dirty 8’ — Which are the most notorious advocacy groups spreading disinformation about food, farming, biotechnology and agricultural sustainability
When it comes to food safety, there's no shortage of well-funded advocacy groups stirring up public concern. Under the guise ...
