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.
Del Monte launches GM pineapple with pink flesh and sweeter flavor, 15 years in the making
The rosy pineapple is now available nationwide for purchase online in its own individual box at pinkglowpineapple.com, but it doesn’t ...
Philippines poised to embrace gene-edited animals? Lawmakers debate rules for ‘safe’ use of modern biotech
Masbate Rep. Elisa “Olga” Kho has cited the importance of animal biotechnology in improving the health and welfare of animals ...
Nitrogen fertilizers are jeopardizing climate goals, new study finds
The expanding use of nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture is pushing nitrous oxide emissions to levels that jeopardize climate goals and ...
European countries can ban pesticides even if approved by EU, continent’s highest court rules
Europe’s highest court [European Court of Justice, ECJ] has concluded that member states have the right to ban pesticides even ...
‘Farmers aren’t stupid.’ If ‘regenerative agriculture’ worked, they’d embrace it, New Zealand dairy scientist says
This is a call to make it clear that what is being suggested by environmentalists will limit our ability to ...
Plant-breeding tool leaps major hurdle to enhancing more crops with CRISPR gene editing
Researchers know how to make precise genetic changes within the genomes of crops, but the transformed cells often refuse to ...
Viewpoint: We have a food-waste problem, but cutting meat consumption won’t solve it
Most commercial produce is bought and discarded within two days. It can't even be given to food shelters or homeless ...
France enacts more glyphosate weedkiller restrictions as it moves toward full ‘phase out’ by 2021
France’s health and environment agency announced restrictions on weedkiller glyphosate in farming, but stopped short of a full ban in ...
Ethiopia faces confluence of crises: Locust outbreaks, flooding and COVID-fueled food shortages
COVID-19, flooding and the locusts outbreak are creating a humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia with many people unable to meet their ...
Europe’s pro-organic ‘green deal’ threatens US farmers who sustainably grow GM crops, USDA claims
Washington could complain to the World Trade Organization if the European Union goes ahead with a farming strategy that it ...
GM crops can slash Africa’s pesticide use: Insect-resistant cowpea field trial shows farmers how
A team of scientists developing Bt Cowpea at CSIR-SARI organized a field day at its confined field trial site in ...
France poised to suspend neonics pesticide ban to help farmers, over objections from Greenpeace
French lawmakers on Tuesday (6 October) approved a draft bill allowing sugar beet growers to use pesticides that are banned ...
Biotech milestone: Argentina could be first nation to approve GM drought-tolerant wheat
The Argentine government will approve drought-tolerant transgenic wheat variety HB4 from biotechnology company Bioceres, according to an official resolution to ...
Regulate all chemicals in food? Two experts say that’s an ‘absurd (and impossible) exercise’
A recent CNN article about the FDA oversight of chemicals in foods is puzzling. Author Sandee LaMotte regurgitates a ludicrous demand by ...
CRISPR-edited poplar trees could cut carbon emissions during paper production
Researchers led by prof. Wout Boerjan (VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology) have discovered a way to stably finetune the ...
Goodbye gin and tonics? Invasive plant disease threatens juniper berries used to make gin
The gin industry, which is worth £3.2bn to the UK economy, has the potential to be devastated by an invasive ...
Fraud investigation reveals 3-continent-wide organic fruit trading ‘scam’
In January 2017, Chilean customs inspectors acted on a tip from a whistleblower: The country's prized crop of raspberries was ...
Generation Z accepts GMOs, but 72% not ready to eat lab-grown meat, survey shows
It wasn’t long ago that a U.S.-based study found that 77 percent of Generation Z are just fine with food ...
Pesticide safety basics: How does the EPA protect consumers from harmful chemicals?
In our blogs, we often reference Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) safety levels or “tolerances” when discussing [pesticide] residues. But how ...
Gene-edited plants and animals: Our secret weapons in the battle to slow climate change?
Nearly 200 nations signed on to the Paris Agreement in 2016, pledging to reduce their countries’ greenhouse gas emissions. By ...
Viewpoint: EU approves new herbicide resistant GMO soy for human and feed consumption, but won’t allow its farmers to grow it
[EU regulators recently] approved Bayer’s new XtendFlex soybeans for food and animal-feed use. Bayer’s latest GMO is resistant to three ...
Spillover effect: Could GMO disinformation shake public trust in other scientific innovations?
In 2016, the World Economic Forum listed online digital misinformation as one of the leading threats to modern societies. Campaigns ...
Cuban president says GM crops and agroecology can help sustainably boost food production
One of the Cuban government’s priorities is to achieve the highest possible agricultural production with the decisive contribution of science ...
Viewpoint: Pesticide residues on food could be 100,000 times higher—and still wouldn’t harm your health
The idea that “nonorganic” produce, typically referred to as “conventional” produce, is unsafe to eat is pervasive, and it largely ...
No evidence GMO chestnut trees harm humans, animals or the environment, developers tell USDA
Researchers at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) have developed Darling 58 American ...
Neonicotinoids pesticide ban decimates UK canola yields—encouraging imports of neonics-treated canola
UK oilseed rape yields and crop area have declined dramatically after a year of extreme weather and uncontrollable crop decimation ...
GM insect-resistant Bt eggplant could help Philippines prevent as much as 73% crop losses, cut ‘almost daily’ pesticide use
Eggplant production in the Philippines suffers severe yield losses from insect pests, diseases, and extreme environmental conditions. The most destructive ...
