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.
East Africa faces two plagues: Once-in-a-generation insect infestation and swarms of European activists trying to block the only effective tool, pesticides
European activists are putting lives at risk in East Africa, turning a plague of insects into a real prospect of ...
Meat takes a toll on the planet, but these vegan favorites come at a ‘heavy’ environmental price, too
It has all the makings of a delicious smoothie – a dollop of almond butter, an avocado, a few slices ...
Public views pesticides as ‘bad industrial chemicals’. Here’s how farmers can turn that fear into support for sustainable farming
The online conversation around pesticides is expected to explode by 212 percent over the next two years, despite the fact ...
Expert answers to 11 questions about Beyond Burgers, Impossible Whoppers and other plant-based meats
Bruce Friedrich is cofounder and executive director of The Good Food Institute (GFI), an international non-profit organization that .... is ...
Bayer and BASF hit with $265 million verdict for damages jury concludes were caused by dicamba weedkiller
A jury ruled against Bayer and BASF SE in a crop-damage case, awarding $265 million to a Missouri peach farmer ...
Climate change could increase productive farmland more than 30%—and boost carbon emissions 177 gigatons
Future farming in regions that were previously unsuitable for agriculture could significantly impact biodiversity, water resources, and greenhouse gas emissions ...
Impossible Foods touts eco-benefits of its GMO plant-based burger to win over skeptical consumers
Impossible Foods has claimed a spot on the menus of fast-food chains like Restaurant Brands International’s Burger King and White ...
Weedkiller breakthrough? Bayer developing new herbicide to help farmers tackle glyphosate-resistant weeds
With stakes in the fight against tough-to-control and resistant weeds at an all-time high, Bayer is adding a new tool ...
Drought-tolerant GMO wheat boosts yields up to 22% in field trials, while drought-tolerant soy could launch in 2020
During the latest harvest, drought-tolerant wheat yielded up to 22.1% more, according to tests conducted on 395 hectares, [the biotech ...
Bayer faces ‘almost impossible’ task of ending glyphosate-cancer litigation while its Roundup herbicide remains in stores
Bayer faces an extraordinary challenge as it tries to settle tens of thousands of claims that its Roundup weedkiller causes ...
California attorney general sides with Bayer glyphosate cancer plaintiffs, challenges appeal of $78.5 million verdict
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed an amicus brief in Johnson v. Monsanto, arguing against preemption of state laws requiring ...
Burger King plans expansion of plant-based meat options following booming sales of GMO Impossible Burger
Burger King has been a pioneer among fast-food chains when it comes to offering plant-based meat alternatives. In August, it ...
Viewpoint: How the rural-urban divide helps ‘anti-farming groups’ spread myths about agriculture
Farmers are arguably the best environmental stewards we have in our economy .... With livestock, it makes little sense to ...
Australia’s stingless bees: Beekeepers’ best defense against deadly varroa mite?
Australia’s native stingless bees could be a key line of defense for the nation’s horticulture industry against the dangerous bee ...
CRISPR could help immunize Africa’s staple crop sorghum against destructive witchweed parasite
Sorghum crops in areas where the agricultural parasite striga, also known as witchweed, is common are more likely to have ...
Podcast: ‘There’s no safe level of pesticides’? ‘Don’t eat what you can’t pronounce’? Food Science Babe takes on popular nutrition tropes
“Don’t eat what you can’t pronounce… Synthetic chemicals are more dangerous than natural chemicals… Chemicals in food are killing us… ...
GMO cotton, corn have increased farmer incomes in Colombia more than $300 million since 2003
This study assesses the economic and environmental impacts that have arisen from the adoption and use of genetically modified (GM) ...
Scientists call for innovation in fight against destructive locust pests
Cautioning the current dependence on chemical pesticides is harming the environment, scientists are calling for innovation, including the use of ...
Insect extinctions happen every day, studies suggest, threatening food security and ecosystem functions
Humanity is pushing many ecosystems beyond recovery. As a consequence, unquantified and unquantifiable insect extinctions are happening every day. Two ...
Bayer appeals last year’s $86 million California Monsanto Roundup glyphosate-cancer trial verdict
Bayer AG has asked a California appeals court to overturn an $86 million verdict that found it was responsible for ...
GMO ‘fusion protein’ technology could expand genetic diversity in food crops, increasing farm sustainability
For many years, the only way to improve characteristics such as yield and nutritional value of crops was through selective ...
Biotech sugar substitute that improves gut health could be coming soon
Cuba's Center of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) announced it has developed a biotech sweetener that the country can sell ...
How synthetic biology in farming could slow climate change: ‘Supercharged’ photosynthesis, increased CO2 storage and more are in the works
Efforts to improve the genetics of food crops are as old as agriculture .... but synthetic biology techniques, including CRISPR-Cas9 ...
Palm trees grown from 2,000-year-old date seeds reinforce existence of ancient Judea’s ‘sophisticated’ crop domestication culture
In ancient times, the region of Judea was known for its plump, delicious dates, which delighted the palates of classical ...
As many as 85,000 glyphosate-cancer lawsuits ‘significantly’ closer to settlement after federal trials suspended
Bayer AG’s federal court cases in the U.S. about the Roundup weedkiller have been pushed back at the request of ...
French court rules sweet grapefruit, barley, wheat and 2500 crops, developed by mutagenizing seeds with toxic chemicals or gamma rays yet often sold as organic, are GMO, must be labeled and cultivation banned
Mutagenesis is a process where new strains of food and products are created using chemicals and radiation in the lab ...
Consumers who reject CRISPR fear that gene-edited crops cause allergies and only benefit food companies, survey shows
Recent gene editing technologies advances, such as CRISPR/Cas9, will continue to shape the future of agriculture and genetically engineered crops ...
