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.
80 percent of Americans prefer organic produce, but are they healthier for it?
A whopping 82.3 percent of American households stock up on organic food .... But what if everything we know—or think we know—about ...
With 40 percent of seeds in Uganda counterfeit, farmers struggle to increase yields
Farmers in [the] Lango, Teso and Karamoja sub-regions [in Uganda] have expressed concern over counterfeit seeds that are widely available ...
Scientists could save American Chestnut Tree with genetic engineering—if regulators let them
Two deer-fenced plots here contain some of the world’s most highly regulated trees. Each summer researchers double-bag every flower the ...
Roundup on trial: Everything you need to know about the glyphosate herbicide controversy
[A] California jury awarded two hundred and eighty nine million dollars .... to a former groundskeeper for a California school ...
GMO omega-3 canola cleared by USDA, on its way to consumers
Nuseed, a subsidiary of Nufarm, Ltd. of Australia, has received approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to start planting its ...
South Africa urges neighboring countries to learn from its success with biotech
South Africa is urging other African countries to learn from its latest strategy and adopt more holistic policies around biotechnology ...
Climate change makes bugs hungrier, which could threaten our food supply
Climate change is already threatening our food supply by raising temperatures and causing wildfires, but as a new study in ...
France’s neonicotinoid ban just took effect. How will it impact farmers?
A ban on five neonicotinoid pesticides [entered] into force in France on [August 31], placing the country at the forefront ...
Viewpoint: Want to slash pesticide use? Stop trying to ban GMOs
On Aug. 20, I gave a speech in Dublin, Ireland, at the International Association for Plant Biotechnology Congress .... where ...
Dead Sea plant genes could boost efforts to cope with drought, climate change
The biblical Joseph foresaw in a dream a seven-year drought and subsequently guided Egypt’s rulers to set aside enough stores ...
Why are some people still afraid of GMOs?
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have been a source of controversy in recent years. As products advertised as “natural”, “clean” and ...
Brazilian judge overturns glyphosate ban, citing ‘serious impacts’ to nation’s economy
A Brazilian court on [September 3rd] overturned an injunction banning products containing the popular weed-killer glyphosate, knocking down a previous ...
Scientists could use CRISPR gene editing to combat ‘superweeds’ when herbicides fail
There is a pressing need for novel control techniques in agricultural weed management. Direct genetic control of agricultural pests encompasses ...
Researchers turn genetic corner in fight against devastating wheat disease
Researchers from the University of Sydney, CSIRO, the United Kingdom's John Innes Centre, Limagrain UK and the National Institute of ...
Podcast: Why glyphosate-cancer news stories could push consumers away from healthy foods
On [this] episode, we explore one of the most important topics in nutrition: produce and pesticides. Health experts, the government ...
‘Smart plants’? Newly discovered genetic ‘messaging system’ could get us there
University of British Columbia researchers have discovered an internal messaging system that plants use to manage the growth and division ...
Has the anti-GMO movement ‘hijacked’ sustainable agriculture?
The hijacking of the terms ‘green’ and ‘sustainable’ by anti-genetically modified organism (GMO) groups is misleading, according scientists at University ...
Agricultural drones offer high-tech relief for struggling farms
The next generation farmhand in Japan's aging rural heartland may be a drone. For several months, developers and farmers in ...
Dicamba controversy: EPA’s decision on herbicide’s future expected by end of September
Throughout this year, EPA has been monitoring reports during the application season and it’s expected the agency will announce its ...
Resignation of French environmental minister could be a win for glyphosate supporters
The surprise announcement of the resignation of Nicolas Hulot .... is part of .... a series of .... big differences ...
New hybrid sugar beet could boost Europe’s sugar industry
Plant biotechnologists from the Ryan Institute at NUI Galway [Ireland] have identified genetic breeding strategies to develop bigger and better ...
What is a GMO? That’s a question with many answers
Nothing seems to upset those arguing about GMOs more than debating the definition of the term “GMO” itself. Most proponents ...
All-veggie ‘Impossible burger’ targeted by PETA’s cancer claims
Imagine sinking your teeth into a nice, juicy hamburger. Then, imagine being told that the hamburger isn't made from beef ...
Will glyphosate’s legal troubles pave the way for greater use of robots in agriculture?
Following a major blow in Californian courts recently, widely-used herbicide glyphosate has continued to take a battering, as industry professionals ...
Viewpoint: Public’s support for Canadian neonicotinoid ban obscures bigger threats to bee health
On Aug. 15 .... Health Canada held a news conference to explain why it was banning neonicotinoid insecticides .... Health ...
USDA: New US-Mexico trade agreement supports crop biotechnology previously blocked by Mexico
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue ... issued the following statement regarding the announcement on trade between the United States ...
Anti-GMO ‘Russian trolls’ also spread vaccine myths on social media, study finds
A new study showing that Russian-linked trolls and social media bots have been heavily promoting misinformation on vaccines shows just how far ...
