Sustainability & Climate Change
Food production needs are expected to roughly double over the next 35 years as the world population grows and people in under developed countries become more affluent and demand more calories. Healthy ecosystems are vital to the survival of all organisms. How can we grow crops without harming the environment? How can we balance technology and global food security? What is the right balance of organic and conventional farming? What role can genetics and biotechnology play without compromising the needs of tomorrow?
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Viewpoint: As meat consumption reaches record highs, it’s clear that substituting plants for meat won’t help address climate concerns. Here’s what will
[G]lobal emissions from food production are expected to rise 60% by 2050, in large part because of increased livestock production ...
Convenience – not sustainability – is major driving factor behind US consumer food purchases, study finds
[An] American Food Journey report sheds light on a long-standing knowledge gap between producers and consumers around their expectations for food. It ...
China to restrict reliance on foreign seed companies to foster lagging innovation in genetic engineering and advanced breeding
China will encourage technological innovation to boost domestic supplies of high-quality seeds, dubbed "agriculture microchips," officials said at a seed ...
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 — ‘We’re trying to mimic mother nature’: Why healthy soil is key to cutting back on pesticides and growing climate-resilient crops
[Les Seiler and his brother] have been practicing “no-till” farming [in Ohio] for 36 years and counting. That means they ...
Viewpoint — ‘It is wrong to leave Africans at the mercy of organic farming’: Western activists should not force ‘unproductive agroecology’ on developing farmers
Because of GM technology, crop-protection tools, and more, farmers are growing more food and cotton on less land than ever ...
Viewpoint: ‘Is an ethical diet enough?’ Veganism has become mainstream — but is it really more sustainable?
A vegan diet contains very low amounts of saturated fats and cholesterol, high amounts of micronutrients such as vitamins, minerals, ...
Podcast: ‘GMOs’ are more natural than you think; CRISPR mosquitoes fight malaria; Dating apps and syphilis
A growing body of research shows that dozens of naturally transgenic plants have existed for millions of years, undermining a ...
‘It’s simply difficult to grow crops organically, on a large scale’: Gigantic organic farm failure in South Dakota underscores challenge of scaling up production
The food company General Mills, maker of Cheerios, announced in 2018 that it would convert [Gunsmoke Farms, located northwest of Pierre, ...
A race against time: One biologist’s mission to ‘fight climate change with plant genetics’ before her Parkinson’s disease advances
People needed to find new ways to grow plants — and soon. The scientist’s urgency came not only from what ...
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 ...
Over 2,000 Nigerian farmers ready to grow GM cowpea this year
More than 2,000 Nigerian farmers are planning to plant Bt cowpea, the country’s first genetically modified food crop, in July ...
Viewpoint: ‘Genetically modified crops are not deadly mutants produced in a lab. Consider them pest-resistant, famine-fighting Avengers’
The wild version of the banana plant had inedible fruit filled with tons of seeds. Humans have, through a meticulous ...
‘Alternative proteins doesn’t mean adopting a vegan diet’: A vegan makes the case for the meatless meat revolution
About a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions are traceable to the food supply chain. Animal agriculture accounts for about three-quarters of those emissions ...
Viewpoint: Why technology alone cannot solve world hunger and food insecurity
Among technologies expected to aid the production of more and safer food in the future are cultured meat, precision agriculture, ...
Viewpoint: ‘Regenerate or die?’ Fashion industry co-opts sustainability buzzwords like ‘regenerative’ and ‘circular’ — but what do they really mean?
The North Face and Patagonia now tout clothing made of regenerative cotton. And Secteur 6, a new Indian-American brand that ...
Viewpoint: Higher food prices, increased food insecurity, trade impacts? The EU’s Farm to Fork strategy has devastating potential outcomes
A recent study by the USDA Economic Research Service shows potential negative impacts to the global market if the European ...
‘Little crop of horrors’? Genes harvested from carnivorous plants and genetically engineered into tomatoes and other crops could fend off pests
They won’t devour insects with leafy jaws, but with help from carnivorous plant genes, tomatoes, tobacco and other crops could ...
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 ...
Some Florida Key residents incensed about pending release of Zika- and malaria-stopping GMO mosquitoes, but others believe cutting-edge science will help control health menace
Oxitec will release half a billion gene-hacked mosquitoes, engineered to kill off the local bloodsucker population along a lengthy swathe ...
‘Current GMO legislation not fit for innovative technologies’: European Commission calls for revamp of agricultural biotechnology rules to allow gene editing, promote sustainable farming
The European Commission published, at the request of the Council, a study on New Genomic Techniques (NGTs). The study shows ...
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 ...
800 million undernourished people: UN says we need ‘overhaul of the world’s food systems’ as COVID highlights devastating and ongoing hunger
The COVID-19 crisis has added between 83 and 132 million to the 690 million people worldwide who were already undernourished, ...
GM crops are not a ‘magic fix to climate change,’ but they are key to keeping us fed as temperatures rise
Future farmers face a big challenge: feeding everyone on Earth while being kind to the planet. Could genetically modified food ...
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 ...
Can CRISPR gene editing help address climate change while producing lower impact biofuels?
Biofuels have long been proposed as the alternative fuel source of the future. Despite these high hopes, the commercialisation of ...
Kenyan farmers reap bountiful first harvest of GM cotton
Winfred Kasambu, a 50-year-old farmer and a grandmother of two from Kenya’s Eastern region, is cherishing high hopes of prosperity ...
