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.
Swedes, especially youth, are open to crop gene editing and want regulations relaxed
Gene editing offers the opportunity to breed with precision, adapting crops and farm animals to a changing climate, providing disease ...
Viewpoint: Organic farming is not as sustainable as popularly believed
At the supermarket, you’re often met with a choice: organic or not? Organic foods — largely free of synthetic pesticides, hormones and ...
How plant genetics could dramatically lower the environmental impact of fertilizer use in farming
Beneficial relationships between plants and soil microbes play a critical role in agriculture, providing sustainable solutions to reduce dependency on synthetic ...
Can AI play a signficant role in addressing world hunger?
Achieving zero hunger is a huge task and humanitarians need to use every advantage that is available to them. AI ...
Italy’s ban on cellular meat: Protecting tradition or blocking innovation?
In December 2023, Italy passed Law 172/2023, making it illegal to produce, sell, or distribute cultivated meat. Agriculture Minister Francesco ...
In the developing world, smallholder farms are key to climate resilient, sustainable agriculture
Smallholder farmers are integral to sustainable agriculture, contributing to climate mitigation through soil carbon sequestration, methane reduction, and agroforestry. Techniques ...
Food insecurity crisis intensifies: Almost 300 million people globally face hunger and malnutrition.
In 2024, over 295 million people across 53 countries and territories faced acute hunger—an increase of almost 14 million people ...
90% of new food and beverage products fail. AI is improving the odds
Recent data highlights a striking reality: 90% of new food and beverage products fail. Why? Lengthy product development cycles, outdated consumer ...
Bayer ponders bankruptcy option in renewed push to resolve 60,000 pending glyphosate suits
Bayer is making another push to resolve lawsuits linking the popular weedkiller Roundup to cancer, while exploring a bankruptcy filing ...
AI can play a crucial role in making agrifood more resilient but could lead to increased carbon emissions
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies are offering powerful tools to transform the agrifood system, and new research ...
Nebraska and Montana ban lab grown, cell-based meat
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte announced on [May 13] that he signed House Bill 401 into law. The legislation banned the ...
Public support for CRISPR gene edited food surges in the UK
The UK is backing emerging innovation to protect the future of our food supply, with 69% of UK adults strongly ...
Viewpoint: Agricultural science shouldn’t be partisan but that’s the way we are trending
Science itself is not partisan. It is based on data, evidence, testing and peer review. It does not take sides ...
Kenyan government announces action plan to counter activist GMO misinformation
The government has pledged to strengthen public education and combat widespread misinformation around genetically modified organisms (GMOs), as it launched the ...
Disrupt the global food supply? Trump officials dubious about RFK, Jr.—MAHA plan to ban crop chemicals
A bid by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to label pesticides as a potential cause of U.S. health woes ...
Eating a healthy diet delays puberty in teenage girls
Girls who grow up eating a healthier diet than their peers may be less likely to get their first menstrual ...
CRISPR pig joins a shortlist of genetically modified animals approved by the FDA for human consumption
Most pigs in the US are confined to factory farms where they can be afflicted by a nasty respiratory virus ...
Del Monte threatens suit against Nicaraguan farmer growing its patented genetically engineered Pinkglow pineapple
In the middle of last year [2024], Fresh Del Monte indicated that it would take legal action if it was ...
Fruits and vegetables that stay fresh for weeks? Gene edited ‘super foods’ could be on British supermarket shelves soon
Bananas that don’t go brown, strawberries that last for weeks, tomatoes boosted with vitamin D: gene-edited foods could be on ...
Unlocking the mystery of how plants communicate
Researchers at the Center for Research on Programmable Plant Systems (CROPPS) at Cornell University have taken a huge step toward making plant ...
Viewpoint: RFK, Jr. promises to ban comparatively safe dyes while the administration cuts programs that actually do protect public health
While the decision to remove artificial food dyes is typically something people across the political spectrum can get on board ...
Should the EU grant patent protection to the coming generation of gene edited crops
Some stakeholders are worried that there will be a huge wave of [plant] patents rolling over the European market with ...
Revolutionizing, disrupting or subverting? 100 days in, Trump is upending food, health, and climate policy
The First 100 Days: How Trump and Vance Have Changed Food, Agriculture, Health, and Climate. January 20, 2025: President Donald ...
“Total crackpot” and “talks to trees”: Trump picks ‘functional medicine’ advocate for Surgeon General
President Trump’s selection of Dr. Casey Means, a Stanford-educated wellness specialist and book author, as his next surgeon general [has] ...
Are biological chemicals a promising possible alternative to some crop chemicals?
[A]s consumers grow increasingly concerned about the environmental and health impacts from the chemicals, there’s a pivot toward what the ...
Should the EU ease restrictions on CRISPR and other gene edited crops: ‘Yes’, says a plant researcher vs. No, from a anti-GMO activist scientist
Few topics are as divisive and controversial as genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The same level of contention also characterises new ...
Climate-ready canola: USDA clears two Cibus pest resistant gene-edited seed oil crop for growing
For Cibus, regulatory clarity isn’t just a box to check—it’s a turning point. The San Diego–based agricultural technology company with ...
