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.
Organic farming can never feed the world
Organic food has become the fastest-growing sector of the U.S. food industry. . . . Buying it makes us feel like we’re ...
Organic farming key to feeding the world
Organic agriculture occupies only 1% of global agricultural land, making it a relatively untapped resource for one of the greatest ...
GMO vs. non-GMO: How farmers decide which crops to grow
. . . . Choosing different varieties of corn or soybeans, some with and some without GM traits is one of ...
Kenya to begin testing GMO maize, commercialization expected by 2018
The performance-testing of GM maize will start in October in Kitale. This comes after the National Biosafety Authority early this year ...
Ontario’s honeybees flourishing but not because of neonicotinoid restrictions
This year in Ontario, [honey bee] losses were below 18 per cent during the moderate winter. . . . Bee health ...
Facing feed shortage, Brazil moves to allow import of GMO corn from U.S.
A lower than anticipated domestic corn supply is forcing prices up, putting pressure on the pork and poultry sectors, and forcing ...
New Zealand’s EPA finds glyphosate ‘unlikely to be carcinogenic’
The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) commissioned Dr Wayne Temple, a toxicologist and former Director of the New Zealand National Poisons ...
USDA set to approve GMO, non-browning Fuji apple
USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service plans to approve a new “non-browning” variety of Fuji apple after concluding it does not ...
Nigeria’s biotech agency says anti-GMO activists circulating unscientific propaganda
Nigerians have been asked to stop seeking sensitive information especially on genetically modified organisms from unscientific quarters. Dr Rufus Ebegba, Director ...
Why has agricultural reform dropped off the Democratic agenda?
Why did the issue of agricultural reform slide off the national stage . . .? The ultimate answer . ...
Costs to develop GMO potato comparable to conventional varieties
A recent study published in the International Journal of Biotechnology demystifies the belief that releasing a GM crop costs tens, if not hundreds, of ...
China aims to commercially produce GMO soybeans in next 5 years
China will push for the commercialisation of genetically modified soya beans over the next five years as it seeks to ...
Vermont’s short-lived GMO law cost state $2 million, retailers $5 million
Vermont's first-in-the-nation GMO labeling law lasted all of three weeks, but now a new federal law voids Vermont state regulations ...
Video: Bangladeshi GMO eggplant farmer disputes activist claims of failed crop
Mohammad Hafizur Rahman, a farmer. . . north of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, gave an on-camera interview to the BBC's Panorama ...
China’s Agricultural Ministry rejects proposal for ‘non-GMO soy-only’ cultivation zones
China's agricultural authority announced [August 9] that it has rejected the national legislature's proposal to set aside special zones for the ...
GMO seeds not yet sold in Ghana but products are
Seed traders are allaying fears of presence of Genetically Modified Organism planting materials are already on the local market. "There ...
Progressive political commentator: Jill Stein’s anti-science views extend to GMOs
Green Party pandering for media attention has begun to take a more dangerous turn as Stein winks at dangerous conspiracy ...
Wisconsin farmer explains why she grows GMOs
. . . [W]e make our livelihood growing soybeans, field corn and wheat. All of these crops are grown using ...
Could African farmers double maize yield by using hybrid, GMO seeds?
DuPont Co.’s Pioneer unit. . . said farmers of the grain on the continent could more than double productivity over the ...
Claims organic food safer than conventional ‘not scientifically sound’
. . . [C]onsumers often have incorrect perceptions about organic food and National Organic Program (NOP) Certification. Many people associate ...
Regulatory uncertainty strangling India’s domestic development of agricultural biotech
. . . . There are very few companies in India engaged in genetic engineering to improve the yields of crops ...
Court clears way for lawsuit against EPA over exemptions for neonicotinoid seed treatments
A motion by the . . .EPA asking for the immediate dismissal of a case that alleges the EPA erroneously ...
Human selection has narrowed apple varieties to a pitiful few
About 7,500 commercial apple producers in 36 states harvest 48,000 tons of fruit, second in production only to China. The ...
University of Michigan professor disputes Nobel Laureates on why Golden Rice not yet commercialized
The Nobel Laureates argue that the reason this innovation has not started saving lives yet is Greenpeace’s criminal opposition. This ...
EU’s new glyphosate restrictions enforced differently throughout Europe
Glyphosate use in parks and public spaces in the UK is likely to be little affected by a recent EU ...
Poll suggests US shoppers unlikely at first to widely use QR code for GMO information
Most consumers likely wouldn't use scannable codes to find out if food they're buying contains genetically modified ingredients, a new poll says. Forty ...
Big Data romances Big Ag: The future of precision agriculture may be in drones
At first glance, Silicon Valley and the vast cornfields of the U.S. Midwest may appear to have little in common ...
