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.
Genetically modified AquaBounty salmon hits US markets after two decades of regulatory delays — and it’s already sold out
Way back in 1995, biotech company AquaBounty began the process of seeking regulatory approval from the Food and Drug Administration ...
Mexican judge upholds 2024 ban of GMO corn and glyphosate, threatening to upend US trade relationship
A Mexican federal judge ruled against a request by the [Mexico] National Farm Council (CNA) to freeze a government plan ...
Viewpoint: 2,000 Nigerian farmers are reaping benefits from genetically modified Bt cowpea. Other African countries could leverage similar biotechnology tools
A number of African countries have begun to take advantage of agricultural biotechnology to overcome crop production challenges. The last ...
3 key ways to turn agricultural biotechnology skeptics into science advocates
Activist groups around the world are still fighting against GMOs, despite what has now been more than 20 years of ...
Hardier rice crops without genetic modification? Tweaking its microbiome is one option
Yes, plants have microbiomes, too, and those billions of tiny hitchhikers can help them grow and fight off invading pathogens ...
Roundup regulation revision? Biden EPA asks federal court to allow it to reassess glyphosate, weighing ‘ecological risks and benefits’
The Biden EPA has asked a federal court for a chance to review and possibly revise parts of the agency's ...
The younger you are, the more likely you are open to trying cell-based protein like cultured meat, survey shows
The cultured meat market is poised to take off, evidenced by new research affirming that many consumers are willing to ...
‘Devastating repercussions’: Sri Lanka’s plan to ban agrochemicals and go 100% organic could result in famine, expert says
Can Sri Lanka with a population of nearly 22 million and a landmass of 65,000 square kms and a per ...
Edible wood? By tapping into the ‘natural genetic potential of microorganisms’, tree waste can be transformed into food-grade protein
The protein sector is squeezed between the drive to reach net zero emissions by 2050 – required if global warming ...
As Bayer awaits ruling on its $2 billion glyphosate settlement proposal, judge floats idea of adding controversial safety warning label
A U.S. judge suggested on [May 19] that Bayer include a warning label on Roundup as part of a proposed ...
Reach for ice cream when you’re feeling down? Sugar-laden, high-fat foods are comforting, but least likely to benefit mental health
[O]ver the years, a growing body of research has provided intriguing hints about the ways in which foods may affect ...
‘Just because it’s vegan doesn’t mean it’s sustainable or biodegradable’: Here’s the complicated truth behind plant-based materials — the latest eco fashion fad
In the accelerated push for mitigating the plastic crisis and exhaustive raw material use while appeasing a new guard of ...
Seafood distributors welcome AquaBounty’s sustainable GM salmon
AquaBounty will mark a new milestone for truly sustainable seafood this month with the first commercial harvest of fast-growing genetically ...
Viewpoint: Foods made from genetically engineered crops must be labelled by 2022, but USDA guidance is confusing. Here’s how the new administration and food producers can address that
When the [National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Law] is implemented in 2022, will it provide information useful to consumers or will ...
Viewpoint: ‘What’s the difference between a GM vaccine and a GM crop?’ Key to developing COVID shots, biotechnology could boost Europe’s farm yields and lower costs — if the public will accept it
Millions of Europeans have been happy to receive a coronavirus vaccine, which relies on genetic engineering, prompting the question: What’s the ...
‘Risks are acceptable’: On verge of banning neonicotinoid imidacloprid, Canada reverses course, says bees will not be adversely impacted
Canada’s pesticide regulator said on [May 18] that farmers could keep using the chemical imidacloprid to control crop-destroying insects under ...
Viewpoint: How should EPA regulate next-generation GMO Bt insect resistant crops? Proposals left over from Trump Administration don’t all align with the science
[T]he Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued two proposals that would modify its oversight of plant incorporated protectants (PIPs), which are ...
‘Last and only hope’: With global banana crop under siege from fungal disease, CRISPR may be only remaining solution
The banana as we know it is in trouble. Emerging reports suggest the fruit’s deadliest disease has been spotted in ...
Can the Biden Administration challenge Mexico’s decision to ban glyphosate weedkiller and GMO corn?
Mexico may be one of the U.S.’s top agricultural trading partners, but this relationship has plenty of problems. Consider the ...
Viewpoint: Cell-based meat on sale in Europe within 3-5 years? While the rest of the world innovates in food technology, politics and bureaucracy paralyze EU
[In December 2020,] Singapore became the first country to authorise the commercialisation of cultivated meat. Understandably, Europeans want to know ...
Kenya looks to gene editing to grow its key food crops
Kenya’s agriculture is set to benefit from several gene-editing projects that target some of the country’s key food crops and ...
Are dairy products made from animal-free sources vegan? Green adherents grapple with whether they should embrace cheese and other ‘precision fermentation’ foods
We are entering a brand new era of slaughter-free menus and products, which includes everything from mycelium steak to cell-cultured ...
The US military has polluted 25 million acres of prairie grass-filled land used for target practice. Now there is a GMO solution to detoxify it
Genetically modified (GM) switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) can be used to purge soils of RDX residues, according to new research. RDX ...
Citrus disease threatens $17 billion in annual sales of fresh fruit and juice. Early detection using CRISPR gene editing could help isolate infected trees and prop up an industry in economic free fall
Penn State and U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists have used cutting-edge CRISPR/Cas technology to develop a diagnostic test that could ...
Hermès’ eco-revolutionary new handbags: How agricultural leftovers and mushrooms could fuel a switch to sustainable leather alternatives
MycoWorks certainly made headlines in the fashion world in March when it announced a collaboration with Hermès on the creation ...
Viewpoint: ‘No one really agrees on what “regenerative agriculture” means.’ Is it merely a marketing buzzword or a genuine revolution in how we produce food?
A growing movement harbors a secret: No one really agrees on what “regenerative agriculture” should mean. That lack of consensus ...
Viewpoint: ‘Things only got worse’ — DDT bug spray curbed malaria-spreading mosquitoes but led to a host of unintended consequences. Here’s how to understand risk and environmental ‘trade offs’
DDT is a bug spray [used to kill malaria-spreading mosquitoes]. It was outlawed in many countries because once you spray ...
