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.
WHO body looks for links between 2,4-D herbicide and cancer
The World Health Organization is set to examine a widely used pesticide and agribusiness is bracing for bad news, less ...
What people around the world are saying about the safety of GMOs
VICE News traveled around the world speaking to people about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and differences in opinion about engineered ...
Jackson County, Oregon GMO ban to take effect in June after federal judge ruling
A federal judge in southern Oregon on May 29 rejected a request by two alfalfa farms to block Jackson County's ban ...
Glyphosate’s environmental and health risks should be addressed by regulators
Monsanto's herbicide glyphosate -- trade name RoundUp -- which is used on most genetically engineered crops (also known as GMOs), ...
Seattle Times: USDA’s GMO verification smarter than mandatory labeling
Many consumers want to know whether their food contains genetically modified ingredients, and some businesses are responding with the help of ...
Cattle breeders develop genetically superior embryos for countries with less productive cows
Cows, like humans, take about nine months to carry a calf to term. But in the 1970s, American cattlemen began ...
Could food companies face class action suits for carrying organic label?
Last month, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (S.D.N.Y.) issued a ruling on a ...
Seed savers bank on genetic diversity for resilience in face of climate change
Hundreds of seed exchanges—in which hobbyists and professional green thumbs share the most resilient plants from their crops—have sprung up ...
Researchers look for genetic clues to combat herbicide resistant weeds
On Colorado’s eastern plains, increasingly resilient strains of kochia have created a headache for both researchers and farmers. At Colorado ...
Will organic farmers embrace precision gene editing if ancient wild traits are restored?
What’s in a name? A lot, if the name is genetically modified organism, which many people are dead set against ...
Critics decry synbio vanillin for its perceived impact on poor farmers
On its journey from the fields in Madagascar to your ice cream, sponge cake and chocolate, the vanilla plant is ...
Why aren’t there any studies proving GMO safety?
When discussing transgenic crops, I regularly get asked to provide a paper that “proves” that GMOs are safe. Whether you ...
Non-GMO labels promote superstition; Scan code labels would provide context
A couple of weeks ago I was deeply disappointed to read that the USDA might get involved in an aspect ...
Non-GMO Similac baby formula to appear in stores soon
The maker of Similac Advance, the top commercial baby formula brand in the United States, says it will begin selling ...
Hungary may be first in Europe to ban GMOs in agriculture
The growing anti-GMO movement has gained traction in Europe as Hungary aims to be the first European Union nation to ...
Indian prime minister breaks silence, calls for introduction of GM crops
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday pushed for technology-driven agriculture, including genetically engineered crops such as pulses, to boost farmer ...
Why a mother changed her mind on GMOs after Monsanto tour
On April 25, I was fortunate enough to tour Monsanto’s research center in St. Louis, Missouri, with a group of ...
GMOs and other agri-tech can help meet increasing global food demand
There’s a dichotomy running through Western society today when it comes to eating food, and producing it. On the one ...
War on Big Food: ‘Natural’ and organic vs. pesticides and GMOs?
Try this simple test. Say the following out loud: Artificial colors and flavors. Pesticides. Preservatives. High-fructose corn syrup. Growth hormones. Antibiotics ...
Chipotle’s GMO-free decision could be beginning of end of GMO era
The decision of the Chipotle restaurant chain to make its product lines GMO-free is not most people's idea of a ...
Pest developing resistance to phased out variety of GMO Bt corn, cotton
A new study from North Carolina State University and Clemson University finds the toxin in a widely used genetically modified ...
Using genetic solutions to make stronger bee
In 2007 reports of “colony collapse disorder”—swift, terrible deaths of entire colonies—suddenly mushroomed across Europe and the Americas. News reports ...
What’s so unnatural about GM foods?
Chipotle hit the headlines last week when the company announced it would no longer serve customers genetically modified foods. Yet ...
Interview: Mary-Dell Chilton on her pioneering work on GMO crops
Mary-Dell Chilton pioneered the field of genetic engineering in agriculture. She has spent most of her decades-long career working for Syngenta, ...
Arctic apple founder proves GM crop can be developed on small budget
The Arctic apple is the creation of Okanagan Specialty Fruits, a eight-person company in Canada that scrimped and saved over ...
Overwrought debate over GMOS diverts Africa from addressing food crisis
Say the words “green revolution,” and people take sides. ... As polarizing ideas go, though, the green revolution’s got nothing on ...
March Against Monsanto activists: ‘Do not use my disability to promote your agenda’
Ignorant people say the recent rise in autism diagnosis is not because of revised diagnostic criteria, or the result of ...
