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.
Why Scotts Miracle-Gro decided to phase out neonicotinoid insecticides
Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. made an unusual move last year when the company announced it would remove a class of insecticides ...
Democratic lawmakers push for stricter GMO labeling
In a recent letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, twenty-two House Democrats urged the department to finalize a federal rule ...
Do organic and conventional farmers use similar amounts of pesticides?
[Editor’s note: This opinion column was written by Jessica Shade, Director of Science Programs for The Organic Center. It was ...
Lab study shows ‘no impact’ of thiamethoxam neonicotinoid pesticide exposure on mature bumblebees
In this experiment, we chronically exposed whole mature bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) colonies to field-realistic levels of the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam (2.4ppb ...
Neil deGrasse Tyson on why we need GMOs
When it comes to food ... there is one topic that Tyson is constantly addressing: GMOs. Most recently, he discussed genetically modified ...
Golden Rice 2.0? New GM variety increases iron, zinc and vitamin A levels to combat malnutrition
ETH researchers have developed a new rice variety that not only has increased levels of the micronutrients iron and zinc ...
Republicans and Democrats agree: Modern agriculture is sustainable
[Editor's note: Mace Thornton is executive director of communications at the American Farm Bureau Federation.] A recent Morning Consult poll ...
Viewpoint: How food manufacturers exploit unregulated ‘natural’ label to increase sales
Browse the shelves at your local grocery store, and you’ll find highly-processed product after highly-processed product marketing itself as a ...
Canadian celebrity chef Michael Smith: Debate over GMOs ‘disingenuous first world problems’
Celebrity chef Michael Smith came out in support of genetically-modified food at a consultation about Canada's Food Policy. ... "This ...
Do pesticide seed treatments inadvertently promote weeds?
A researcher with the NH Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of New Hampshire has received a $474,679 grant to ...
Viewpoint: Glyphosate herbicide a safe method for Pakistani farmers to fend off weeds, boost yields
It is estimated that on an average 20-30 % crop losses are attributable to weed infestation and growth in Pakistan ...
Environmentalist Stewart Brand: Opposing GMOs ‘the biggest mistake the environmental movement has ever made’
If we are serious about curbing climate change, what would actually help? More people in cities, lots of nuclear power ...
Genetic screening of cows could help ease milk drinkers’ indigestion
Dairy makers are hoping puréed fruit and genetically screened cows can help win back consumers who have soured on milk ...
Did Monsanto engineer campaign to get controversial 2012 Seralini rat study retracted?
A trove of internal documents from Monsanto, recently unsealed in a lawsuit against the agricultural biotech giant, has revealed the ...
Video: How are GMO plants made?
How are genetically modified organisms (GMOs) made? Are they safe to eat? Molly heads to the Van Eck Lab at ...
The Impossible Burger wouldn’t be possible without genetic engineering
[Editor's note: Read a San Francisco Chronicle article about this controversy and letter from the CEO of Impossible Foods here.] ...
First US genetically engineered tree, freeze-tolerant eucalyptus, near approval—but opponents claim environmental concerns
A genetically engineered, freeze-tolerant eucalyptus tree is moving closer to receiving approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, amid concerns ...
Monsanto played role in ‘independent’ safety review of glyphosate herbicide, emails show
Dozens of internal Monsanto emails, released on Aug. 1 by plaintiffs’ lawyers who are suing the company, reveal how Monsanto worked ...
Monsanto barred university researchers from testing ‘drift’ of its new dicamba herbicide — now accused of damaging crops
New versions of the herbicide dicamba developed by Monsanto and BASF, according to farmers, have drifted across fields to crops ...
Study: Food products from livestock raised on GMO feed no different than those fed conventional grain
This review summarizes the available scientific literature on the detection of dietary DNA and protein in animal products and briefly ...
Impossible Burger blowback: Will irrational fears of biotechnology block introduction of sustainable foods?
Two entities that seem like they should be on the same page — a coalition of environmental groups and a ...
Conventional and biotech breeding methods together could revive the American chestnut tree
American chestnuts once dominated the Eastern woodlands. They were beautiful, tall trees with wide canopies and large white flowers. ...
FDA questions safety of Impossible Burger’s veggie patties made with genetically engineered yeast
One of the chief selling points of the Impossible Burger, a much ballyhooed plant-based burger patty, is its resemblance to ...
Did the National Cancer Institute withhold data showing no links between glyphosate and cancer?
The chairman of a congressional committee has asked the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to explain why its National ...
Why do consumers prefer organic to conventional produce when both use pesticides?
What gets overlooked by [activist] groups are the reports from the USDA itself that show that even organic foods have ...
Controversy over GMO labeling has not increased public health concerns, survey finds
The Food Demand Survey has been conducted nationwide and monthly since May of 2013. In November of 2014, two states ...
Kenya to provide farmers with insect resistant Bt cotton seeds in pilot trials
A genetically modified cotton seed variety with high resistance to the Boll worm infestation is due to be released to ...
