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.
Impossible Foods seeks approval for GMO plant-based burgers in biotech-wary Europe
Impossible Foods Inc. has applied to start selling its plant-based burgers in the European Union as it looks to expand ...
Battle over sugar’s health effects spurs development of new biotech-based sweeteners
The idea that, beyond their ability to inflate the calories of food, added sugars are uniquely bad for us is ...
Viewpoint: Experts urge India to embrace technology in pursuit of food security
In India, farming is being held back by the efforts of activists like philosopher Vandana Shiva, Ph.D., who charge $40,000 ...
Thailand bans glyphosate weed killer as Roundup-cancer legal debate rages in US, Europe
Thailand’s government agreed [October 22] to ban the use of three farming chemicals widely regarded as dangerous to human health ...
If Britain and Wales went 100% organic, crop yields would crash by half and carbon emissions would double, UK study shows
Greenhouse gas emissions would go up if all farms in England and Wales went organic. Though the emissions of individual ...
Dunkin’ launching Beyond Meat breakfast sandwich at more than 9,000 US stores in November 2019
Dunkin' is launching its Beyond Meat breakfast sandwich nationally in November, two months ahead of schedule, after a highly successful ...
Viewpoint: From biofuels to food flavorings, here’s 10 ways biotechnology boosts sustainability
As climate change looms over our future, many industries are turning to biology for solutions to make all aspects of ...
Argentina approves GMO virus-resistant potato expected to save farmers $45 million annually
After being de-regulated [in] August 2018, the National Council of Technical and Scientific Research (CONICET) [began] the formal process [of ...
EU bans neonic insecticide thiacloprid after 2020, citing threats to human reproductive health, bees
EU countries [Ocotber 22] voted not to extend the license of the insecticide thiacloprid when it expires at the end ...
‘The Martian’: More science than fiction? Crops could grow in space, study suggests
Whoever is going to survive on the Moon and Mars is going to have to eat. There’s just one problem ...
Beyond Meat pea supplier mulls lentils, oats, rice as beef substitutes to meet plant-based burger demand
One of the world’s biggest pea processors is considering expanding into fava beans as the boom in alternative proteins fuels ...
Nigerian scientists call for biotech to address food security in Africa
“We need to do more advocacy for biotechnology in Nigeria and ensure accurate dissemination of scientific information." ...
Viewpoint: New Zealand’s ‘archaic’ GMO laws hold back research that could boost sustainable farming
New Zealand's archaic GMO laws heavily regulate the research and release of genetically engineered organisms. Those wanting to test on ...
Avoid produce because of pesticides? No ‘sound science’ behind that recommendation, new report says
A new report from the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology aims to reduce consumers’ worries by describing how information ...
Viewpoint: Golden Rice—how ‘stultifying overregulation, fear and hostility’ kept a GMO superfood off the market
The superfood thus seemed to have everything going for it: It would be the basis for a sea change in ...
Canadian contractor alleges glyphosate caused his cancer in new suit against Bayer
[Cliff] Sissons, a 57-year-old man from Cranbrook, B.C., is trying to stay positive after a battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He ...
Bolivia expects up to 30% yield increase following 2021 release of new GMO soy
Following government approval of two new transgenic soybean traits, Bolivia's oil sector expects to see approximately 30 percent yield increases, ...
Farm biodiversity helps control pests without chemicals, boosts crop yields, study shows
Ecologists and biologists compared data of about 1,500 agricultural fields around the world, including corn fields in the American plains, ...
California chlorpyrifos insecticide ban will harm alfalfa growers, UC Davis researchers warn
Integrated pest management of alfalfa in California will be “profoundly” impacted by the loss of the pesticide chlorpyrifos next year, ...
Synthesized ‘natural’ insecticide perseanol could cut use of harsher pesticides
First discovered back in the 1990s, perseanol exerts its insecticidal effects by paralyzing the muscular tissues of pests, in the ...
New ‘superfood’ makes bees better pollinators—boosting crop yields up to 90%
Argentina-based startup Beeflow has developed a special nutrient-packed formula for bees meant to boost their immune systems and make them ...
Bayer, BASF must defend against dicamba herbicide drift lawsuit in Missouri state court
Monsanto Co. and BASF Corp. must defend in state court allegations that dicamba herbicides drifted onto a Tennessee tobacco farm, ...
Will glyphosate-cancer legal battle slow plant-based meat industry’s rapid growth?
Farmers around the world have watched with concern as .... claims against glyphosate and its manufacturers first turned up in ...
Video: Naturopathic doctor challenges Environmental Working Group’s ‘Dirty Dozen’ scare campaign, says don’t fear trace pesticides on food
Today, I want to talk to you about something I recently changed my mind about. This .... might come off ...
Newly identified protein could help safeguard plants against climate change
A team of scientists from the United States announced that they have identified the protein in plants responsible for its ...
United Nations FAO: 14 percent of food wasted before it reaches consumers
Around 14 percent of global food goes to waste after harvesting and before reaching the retail level, including through on-farm ...
Bayer could face over 45,000 glyphosate-cancer cases as settlement talks continue
Bayer expects the number of claims in the United States related to Roundup herbicide to have surged in the third ...
