Daily Food & Ag Digest
Every day, the staff of the Genetic Literacy Project scours the Web for stories on a range of agricultural and food issues, including the GMO debate, conventional and organic farming, regulations, new breeding technologies and sustainability. We publish excerpts of those stories and encourage our readers to visit the original publications for the complete stories.
Viewpoint: The messy details of how lab-grown meat is made
Lab meat—flesh grown in massive tanks instead of in the bodies of sentient animals—offers the promise of having our steak ...
2.5 billion gene altered mosquitoes — designed to end spread of Zika, dengue and malaria — to be released in two-year experiment in California and Florida, EPA decides
Genetically modified mosquitoes might soon be whining on both U.S. coasts. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved two more years of ...
Future bakery: Genetically edited grains, artificial intelligence and novel ingredients poised to bring sustainable practices and healthier tastier, foods
Novel ingredients, genetically edited grains and artificial intelligence could play an integral role in the future of the baking industry, ...
Viewpoint: Food activists lobbied for an organic-only, no synthetic pesticide model in Sri Lanka. Here’s why it went so catastrophically wrong
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa promised in his 2019 election campaign to transition the country’s farmers to organic agriculture over a period of years. The ...
Viewpoint: Human activity and modern agriculture are threatening pollinators
The arrival of the Anthropocene has brought with it considerable challenges for wild bees. In particular, the spread of industrial ...
Ghana closer to commercializing disease-resistant GMO cowpeas
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has submitted an application to the National Biosafety Authority (NBA) requesting for ...
Brazilian researcher exposes ‘magical thinking’ of agroecology advocates and GMO opponents
When I did field research to understand the reasons why rural workers preferred to plant GM soy (year 2003), the ...
Opinion: Synthetic biology can help protect Africa’s biodiversity
Despite contributing the least to the climate crisis, Africa is experiencing the worst effects of climate change. Our successful adaptation ...
Will climate change threats force crop biotechnology skeptics to rethink opposition to food innovation?
Some might argue that [CRISPR] could help alleviate some of the carbon emissions from agriculture and reduce some types of ...
Viewpoint: How precision fermentation is changing the food system — and what you should know
Precision fermentation is a relatively new food technology that is rapidly entering the mainstream. Products such as milk protein, animal fats, collagen, honey, ...
‘Window to act is closing’: Climate change is already devastating our global food system, UN report co-author says
In a cautionary tale to the world, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – a group organized by the ...
Viewpoint: Food advocate makes plea for increased commitment to agroecology
To truly understand the dynamism of food systems and catalyze meaningful change, diverse forms of evidence, knowledge and expertise, including ...
Genetically modified crops pose unique dangers? We’ve used nuclear energy to improve fruits, vegetables and grains for almost a century–including organic foods
Getting fruits and vegetables from seed to plate is an obstacle course that involves navigating climate changes, pests and diseases, ...
Here’s how climate change is poised to devastate the most productive agricultural region in the world
The San Joaquin Valley – the most profitable agricultural region in the United States, with eight million acres of farmland ...
Nigerian companies ramp up production to meet high demand for GMO cowpea seeds
Nigeria’s private local seed companies are expanding production of genetically modified (GM) cowpea seeds to supply farmers eager to grow ...
Viewpoint: Are we overusing agricultural chemicals? Not if we we want increased yields, lower prices and more sustainable practices
We would be remiss to ignore the positive effects that modern crop protection has had for us. Without pesticides, crop losses ...
Is organic food healthier or just a lifestyle buzzword? A nutritionist weighs in
“Organic” has become a buzzword, and these products are marketed as a healthier alternative to conventional options. An important question ...
Purple tomatoes? Superfood genetically engineered tomato rich in antioxidants nearing United States rollout
The purple tomato was created by Cathie Martin at the John Innes Centre in the UK. In 2008, her team reported that ...
Viewpoint: EPA wants to ban Enlist herbicides in certain areas to protect beetles. Here’s why one farmer believes that’s misguided
Soybean farmers like myself rely on special seeds and herbicides to help us grow crops more efficiently and make environmentally ...
RNA vaccines for plants?
The threat of COVID-19 spurred innovation at unprecedented rates. Moderna and Pfizer’s RNA vaccines were approved in about a year ...
Kenya debates final approval of genetically engineered corn
The approval for commercialisation of genetically modified maize now lies with the Cabinet after scientists concluded field trials and handed ...
Viewpoint: Why it’s reasonable to question if regenerative agriculture is really more sustainable than conventional farming
Scientists have been accused of mounting a sustained attack on regenerative agriculture and splitting the science community. Not all, but ...
Living Carbon has engineered a poplar tree that soaks up carbon and fights climate change. What are the barriers to rolling this out?
A California biotech company seeking to create fast-growing trees that can rapidly soak up atmospheric carbon dioxide has announced its ...
Viewpoint: ‘I live in India and I am launching a civil disobedience movement against the moratorium on GMO insect resistant eggplant.’ Here’s why
India’s farmers... need technological freedom. In my letter, I asked PM Modi to lift the 2010 moratorium on genetically modified (GM) ...
Viewpoint: ‘Sanctimonious’ biodynamic farming promoted by rockstar ‘Sting’ rebuffed by Italy’s president and Nobel laureates
Sting may swear by it, but the rock star’s trick of using dung, animal intestines and cow horns to get ...
Viewpoint: German science communicator says EU cannot reach sustainability goals without plant based diets and crop biotechnology
There is a simple solution to quickly reducing the climate-damaging greenhouse gases from agriculture: everyone should stop eating meat and ...
Gene editing can increase yields, improve nutrition, fight climate change — and bring native species back to African agriculture
Gene editing is making it easier for researchers to help local plants varieties adapt to changes in the local environments ...
