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: Will the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen finally adopt science this year — instead of promoting evidence-free scaremongering?
For over 25 years, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has released its so-called “dirty dozen” list, which inaccurately disparages popular, ...
Viewpoint: Challenging organic advocates’ claims that agroecology and regenerative farming can sustainably feed France
"Organic could satisfy the needs of the French population quite easily if the proportion of animal products in our diet ...
China’s ‘future foods’: Lab grown meat and plant-based eggs on 5-year plan food and agriculture policy table
China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has set the lab-grown meat industry abuzz with the release of its official five-year agricultural plan ...
‘Powerful tool of science to feed the future‘: Philippines poised for the ‘massive production’ of genetically modified, Vitamin A enhanced Golden Rice
To utilize and promote biotechnology in the country, the Department of Agriculture (DA) on [February 2] said this year marks ...
Viewpoint: ‘One-size-fits-all pesticide policy hurts farmers and doesn’t help pollinators’ — Why Boulder, Colorado ignores science in push to ban neonicotinoids
It is commonly cited within the beekeeping community that pesticides called neonics can negatively impact honeybees. An oft-invoked visualization shows ...
Viewpoint: Why organic farming is a climate change disaster
Organic agriculture is highly inefficient, producing roughly 40% less food than conventional farming on the same amount of acreage. One consequence ...
French winegrower pleads for gene editing approval to provide disease and drought resistance
Does genetic innovation have its place in the vineyards of tomorrow? In an open letter, the winegrower and trade unionist ...
Viewpoint: $24 billion in global savings — Here’s why the UK should break from Europe and embrace GMOs, CRISPR crops and other agricultural biotechnologies
As part of the European Union, the UK was a stronghold of anti-GMO opposition. Post-Brexit, however, Britain is changing its ...
Viewpoint: Free speech dustup? Joe Rogan, Spotify, and especially Neil Young — promoting anti-science fear mongering on GMOs — all came away looking foolish
Critics have contended that Joe Rogan’s podcast, hosted by Spotify, promotes vaccine-skeptical guests and boosts the spread of misinformation about ...
We need to double food production by 2050. Here’s how genetically tweaking cowpea, soybean, and potato could help meet that target
AZoCleantech speaks to Amanda Cavanagh from the University of Essex abouth the future of agriculture in a changing climate and ...
Biden Administration has followed Trump’s lead in challenging Europe’s crop biotechnology rejectionism
Biden and Brussels are still at loggerheads over food production, despite a face-saving communiqué in November. Indeed, while the U.S. pleads for moderation, France ...
Viewpoint: Are synthetic pesticides necessary for farming? How agroecology, anti-biotechnology activist groups misrepresent the science and influence government policy
With the clearly stated desire to influence the French presidency of the European Union on the pesticide issue, the CCFD-Terre ...
Viewpoint: Why consumers will ignore new ‘bioengineered’ labels
The USDA’s mandatory labeling for bioengineered crops (f/k/a GMO) went into effect January 1st. But will it actually change consumer ...
Viewpoint: ‘Only GMOs will save the livestock sector’ — Genetically modified crops could lower the cost of feed 20% in Kenya
The rise in cost of raw materials has forced 50 percent of Kenya’s dairy feed manufacturers to close shop or downsize ...
What’s the future of gene edited fish?
CRISPR-Cas9 is a popular and accessible gene editing tool. In aquaculture, it has been used to develop several fishes with ...
Viewpoint: Neil Young’s GMO and biotechnology rejection preceding his Joe Rogan-Spotify awakening featured alliance with notorious anti-vaxxers
Prior to 2021, the demographic that overwhelmingly included vaccine deniers was Neil Young's political tribe. Find a Whole Foods, and ...
Study credits climate, not genetics, for bumper US corn crop
Most of the maize yield improvements seen in the US corn belt state of Nebraska can be attributed to a ...
Video: Will consumers embrace eating insects? 2 billion people globally already do
Around 2 billion people choose to eat insects on regular basis. More than 1,900 species are eaten across 130 countries ...
‘Diminishing yields and foregone production’: European Green Deal Farm to Fork policy favoring organic farming will increase food insecurity for millions, new independent studies show
Members of the European Parliament’s agriculture and environment committees have voiced concern about research indicating the EU’s Farm-to-Fork and Biodiversity ...
Sri Lanka’s failed all-organic experiment has sparked economic and humanitarian crisis
[Sri Lanka] is hit by worsening food shortage brought about by multiple factors, including loss of tourism due to Covid-19, ...
GMOs vs gene edited crops and animals: Are there meaningful distinctions?
Producers have been breeding plants and animals for desired traits, including higher yields, better taste and flavor, and disease resistance ...
Blue steak: Here’s how one start-up believes it can crack the cell-based food market with whole-cut tenderloins and filets
Barcelona-based bioengineering startup Novameat claims to have created the world's first meat substitute composed of ingredients sourced from every one of the ...
‘Eating is believing’: How Nigerian consumers are taking to new GMO cowpeas
"I've tasted the akara GMO," [All Farmers Association of Nigeria Chairman Otunba Oke Babafemi] exclaimed at the inaugural Eating is ...
Why our bodies prefer natural sugar to artificial sweeteners
Your taste buds may or may not be able to tell real sugar from a sugar substitute like Splenda, but ...
China pushes ahead with GMO crops to safeguard food security
As China moves to expand production of genetically modified crops, it’s taking steps to counter pockets of GMO opposition that ...
Viewpoint: Will successful GMO pig heart and kidney transplants challenge anti-biotechnology mindsets?
What if pigs were to grow hearts and save human lives? This dream became a reality earlier this month when ...
Viewpoint: How European activists’ opposition to cutting edge crop technologies undermines global sustainability efforts
Well-funded non-governmental organizations (NGOs) — both in the EU and the U.S. — regularly pour millions of dollars into lobbying ...
