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.
Video: Viewpoint—The opportunism of anti-chemical crusaders
Unless you think plants are little people, so you don't understand any science, it is impossible to believe a weedkiller ...
Exploring the sustainability challenges of genetically modified crops
Genetically modified (GM) crops are widely used around the world, but their effects on the environment need to be explored ...
Why bottled water is a bad choice for your health and the environment
When it comes to getting your daily fill of water, the safest option is from a store-bought bottle, right? Well, ...
Asteroids could make a ‘tasty treat’ in space
Astronauts embarking on long-haul journeys in deep space can’t pack all the calories they will need in the form of ...
Scientists racing to save disease-threatened bananas see potential in genetically modified varieties
Chiquita Brands International [has] bred a new banana called the Yelloway 1 that is resistant to [Tropical Race 4 disease] ...
Industrial intelligence: ‘A paradigm shift comparable to historic innovations like the horse-drawn seed drill in agriculture’
Industries across the board are on the cusp of a revolution driven by technological changes like AI, analytics and digital ...
Africa fights rising hunger by looking to foods of the past
In Africa, like anywhere, hunger is driven by many interwoven factors, not all of which are a consequence of farming ...
A call to lift Switzerland’s moratorium on genetically modified crops
The moratorium banning the commercial cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Switzerland will expire at the end of 2025 ...
On agricultural tech innovation and agro-chemical regulations, Canada has it right while the European Union is still flailing
Earlier [in 2024], Brussels was rocked by the publication of a secret legal opinion written by advisers to the European ...
Are weeds destined to win their escalating assault on agriculture?
Since the 1980s, more and more plants have evolved to become immune to the biochemical mechanisms that herbicides leverage to ...
Prawn lover? Gene edited giant crustacean should soon be widespread
Researchers in Israel claim to have bred the world's first gene-edited giant river prawn. The breakthrough was made by researchers ...
Salinity crisis: With salt affecting 30% of arable land worldwide, salt-loving plants may help enhance production
Budding new plant biology research is paving the potential to produce food crops that not only survive but thrive in ...
How AI is already optimizing food production
[A]rtificial intelligence, or AI, is already being harnessed to optimize food production. Technology products that are currently on the market ...
New Zealand poised to soften restrictions on genetically modified crops by the end of the year, green light gene editing
For nearly three decades, New Zealand’s strict regulations around genetic modification have more or less confined research opportunities to the ...
What can farmers do to mitigate the impact of rising global temperatures
Dire warnings of the terrible effects of changes in our global climate seem to be all around us these days ...
AI is helping farmers sequester more carbon in soil, improving agriculture’s sustainability profile
Our soil ... holds about double the amount of carbon that’s in the atmosphere, and almost three times the volume ...
Viewpoint: Activist superstition drives the opposition to genetically modified and gene edited crops
GMO opponents in the United States and worldwide are not concerned with rationally managing risks to minimize potential concerns and ...
Viewpoint: The FDA should not be bullied into taking away consumer’s choice to eat cell-grown meat
Consumers might already be weirded out by the prospect of eating lab-grown animal products, so the ideal product should taste ...
Viewpoint: Africa’s opportunity to develop crops that can weather climate change depends whether it embraces gene editing
South Africa’s agriculture faces increasing climate challenges, particularly for vulnerable crops such as fruit. Dr Peter Johnston, a climate scientist, highlights ...
What’s regenerative agriculture and what are its market prospects?
Regenerative agriculture focuses on improving soil health, increasing biodiversity, and enhancing ecosystem services while also producing food and fiber. This ...
Threat assessment that US could fall behind China in developing cell-based meat prompts some Republicans to reverse opposition
What would it take for a Republican to support cultivated meat? Could it be China’s progress in the sector? That’s ...
How do farmers in Bangladesh feel about genetically modified crops?—A survey
GM ... crops play a crucial role in feeding the global population and ensuring food security for a larger number ...
Top 10 countries growing genetically modified (GM) crops
The United States had the largest area of genetically modified crops worldwide in 2023, at 74.4 million hectares, followed by ...
Viewpoint: Organic agriculture grain crisis?—What might be the impact if farming goes fully chemical-free organic?
[A] number of papers on going totally chemical-free suggest a significant impact. For instance, a meta-analysis from Nature concluded that ...
Will lab-based meat upend the trillion dollar global meat industry? Would it be any better for our health?
Worldwide, 80 billion animals are slaughtered every year for meat. Raising all those animals has already claimed most of the ...
‘I would never serve that slop to my kids’—Bipartisan support for Pennsylvania bill to ban cell-based meat
Seeking to protect the livelihood of farmers who produce meat products for Pennsylvania consumers, Rep. Tina Pickett (R-Bradford/Wyoming) is the ...
Soil footprint: Measuring soil degradation caused by farming
The “soil footprint” is emerging as a crucial concept in sustainable farming, measuring the impact of agriculture on soil erosion ...
