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.
‘People always have, and likely always will, fear new things’: Why we still can’t buy AquaBounty’s GM salmon
An ordinary salmon could take three years to grow, while AquaBounty’s fish grows to full size in just eighteen months. What ...
Sweeping glyphosate-cancer settlement could leave many plaintiffs with just ‘a few thousand dollars’
Monsanto owner Bayer AG is making progress toward a sweeping settlement of thousands of U.S. lawsuits brought by people alleging ...
Philippines’ progress on biotech crop and animal approvals slowed by COVID pandemic
The Philippines is a biotechnology leader in Southeast Asia, highlighted by its co-sponsorship of the International Statement on Agricultural Applications ...
Gene editing could fight deadly diseases in fish, boosting sustainable aquaculture
Developing effective treatments – like vaccines – can be challenging, take many years and can be difficult to manufacture and ...
‘Unlikely alliance’: Farm Bureau joins green advocacy groups to tackle climate change
What if the best way to get Western farmers to reduce their carbon emissions and adopt greener practices was to ...
Africa’s biotech acceptance grows as 3 more countries begin cultivating GM crops
Africa leads the progress among the regions of the world in adopting biotech crops by doubling the number of adopting ...
Viewpoint: GM crops could help slow climate change. Will environmental groups block their development?
A lot of environmentalists raise money talking about climate change, but their energy recommendations - mitigation, rationing, high cost - ...
Viewpoint: 3 anti-GMO myths that hinder Nigeria’s adoption of biotech crops
[Here are some] top GMO myths especially prevalent in Nigeria. Myth 1: GMOs are unnatural, playing God and cause wrath ...
Mexico’s cotton production could ‘disappear’ in 2021 with GM, insect-resistant Bt seed banned
Cotton cultivation in Mexico could disappear next year, given the prohibition of SEMARNAT to use transgenic seed, warned the National ...
Pandemic food shortages could boost Ghana’s acceptance of insect-resistant GM Bt cowpea
The Covid-19 pandemic is increasing public interest in local food production, which may boost consumer acceptance of the insect-resistant genetically ...
‘Highly unusual’ apple variety discovered in the UK
Archie Thomas, from the Nadder Valley in Wiltshire, came across across a windfall apple on a wooded trackway near his ...
5 foods that have shaped landscape, culture and politics throughout history
As the World Economic Forum features its Bold Actions for Food as a Force for Good virtual event from 23-24 November 2020, ...
Seaweed could ‘neutralize’ stubborn methane emissions from cows, slowing climate change
Reducing methane from livestock, and cows in particular, has long been a goal of scientists and policymakers but is especially ...
Non-farming glyphosate weedkiller uses likely harm endangered species, EPA finds
More than 90% of endangered species are “likely to be adversely affected” by use of glyphosate, but mostly through non-agricultural uses, ...
UK doesn’t want to ‘slavishly follow’ Europe’s pesticide, gene-edited crop rules, secretary of state says
Rural industries such as sheep farming are seeking answers as to what Brexit will mean for them. The implications of ...
Viewpoint: ‘More marketing than science’—Why the case against GM crops is built on misinformation
Consumer Reports, a nonprofit better known for rating cars and dishwashers, wrote about GMOs in its 2014 article “Where GMOs ...
Nematode that liquefies pests could cut insecticide use, study shows
The parasitic nematode, Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita, can significantly reduce losses from invasive slugs. It has been used in Europe as a ...
Gene-edited potato could allow farmers to use ‘less—or even no—insecticide’
A PhD candidate at Michigan State University (MSU), Natalie [Kaiser] specializes in potatoes – in particular, looking at which genes ...
Viewpoint: Biotechnology gave us a COVID vaccine. Could that end the anti-GMO movement?
[T]he anti-GMO movement had been growing ever stronger over the years. But, if the reliably anti-GMO organization U.S. Right to ...
GM Golden Rice commercialization in Philippines ‘far from reality,’ may be delayed until 2023
At a virtual news briefing on [Nov. 23], PhilRice Healthier Rice Project Leader Dr. Renante L. Ordonio said everyone has ...
Lab-grown meat requires fewer farm inputs than livestock, but more energy. Is it really better for the planet?
Cultured meat doesn't require grazing land or tons of feed. Instead it's grown in bioreactors like those already used to ...
Nigeria has approved GM insect-resistant Bt cotton and cowpea. Could drought-tolerant rice and disease-resistant cassava be next?
Patience Koku knows better than most the damage that bollworms can cause to a textile industry. A former fashion entrepreneur, ...
Glyphosate: Deadly ‘poison,’ or biodiversity protection tool? Environmentalists split over controversial weedkiller
.... [A]way from lawsuits and petitions, there are concerns among some opponents of Australia’s invasive weeds that glyphosate – a ...
Ninth Circuit Court refuses to reexamine lawsuit alleging Enlist Duo herbicide approval violated federal law
Enlist Duo’s registration has survived another legal challenge, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit declined to ...
UK extends license for glyphosate 5 years, will put in place post-Brexit review process
Speaking at the virtual British Crop Production Council (BCPC) 2020 congress, Darren Flynn, head of active substances delivery for the ...
Viewpoint: There’s no such thing as a ‘toxic’ chemical (it’s all based on dose and exposure)—and 4 other common food marketing myths busted
[H]ere are five common “healthy halo” buzzwords to look out for. … 1) Clean Everything from “clean ingredients” to “clean ...
Global crop yields projected to drop as temperatures rise, new study finds
The warmer temperatures associated with climate change are projected to significantly reduce yields of the world’s staple food crops, a ...
