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.
‘We used to spray 12 times in a year. It is now at most four times’: Kenyan farmers reap benefits of embracing genetically modified pest resistant Bt cotton
In Embu and Kirinyaga counties, Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) cotton is the most prized arrival since sliced bread ...
FDA issues study guide on how genetically engineered crops impact our world
Many people wonder what impacts GMO crops have on our world. “GMO” (genetically modified organism) is the common term consumers ...
Viewpoint: ‘The fight to save America’s iconic chestnut tree has become a civil war’
For the past two decades, Sara Fern Fitzsimmons has raised seedlings of the American chestnut in research orchards along the ...
Nuisance lawsuits against safe chemicals have soared due to proliferating junk science. Meet one whistleblower trying to change that
A vital battle is being waged daily by researchers like Lonni Besançon, who devote their spare time to fighting scientific ...
Pink pineapples? Tobacco and tangerine genes help make this juicy fruit more antioxidant-packed
At a time when orange cauliflower and white strawberries are now common sights in American grocery stores, a non-yellow pineapple ...
Viewpoint: Organic food certification is nothing more than a ‘belief system’ — Here’s how it went from a ‘weird cult to a $135 billion business’
If you buy kosher food, how do you know it is really created using a special process? The same goes ...
Here is how genetically engineered crops can aid in the quest for food security amid a changing climate
Many food crops can only grow under certain climate conditions, which means too little or too much heat or rainfall ...
GMOs and gene-edited foods: Can these fast-evolving technologies help make crops more climate-change resilient while boosting food security?
In this Q&A, Carbon Brief looks at the difference between GMOs and gene-edited foods and whether these technologies can help ...
Bayer begins push for nationwide legislative protection against what it believes are unfair suits against needed crop protection tools like glyphosate
After failing in several U.S. states this year, global chemical manufacturer Bayer said May 21 that it plans to amplify ...
In quest to help small-plot farmers, ‘precision agriculture’ may become as important as genetic modification
Genetically modified crops and biotechnology have substantially benefitted farmers in recent decades, however, the next agricultural revolution will be driven ...
Scientists in Uruguay investigate deployment of gene drives to eradicate screwworms devastating cattle
When a female screwworm fly attacks cattle, it lays eggs, which hatch and turn into worm-like larvae that screw down ...
Divide emerges between supporters of organic labels vs regenerative ag claims in battle for ‘sustainably-conscious’ consumers
USDA Certified Organic has taken a defensive position in recent years against the proliferation of eco-claims, many of which are ...
‘Thousands of children could die’: Far left The Guardian joins chorus criticizing Greenpeace’s ‘catastrophic’ plan to block Golden Rice rollout in the Philippines
Scientists have warned that a court decision to block the growing of the genetically modified (GM) crop Golden Rice in ...
Immaculate cow-ception? Synthetic embryos for cattle and pigs stir fears that humans are next
An experiment, at the University of Florida, is an attempt to create a large animal starting only from stem cells—no ...
Gene edited wheat planted in test plots for the first time in Canada
Agriculture Canada has planted its first research plots of gene-edited wheat ...
CRISPR potatoes that cook as fast as pasta or rice and resist bruising? They’re in development
They're a versatile dinner option and are packed full of fibre. But waiting for the humble potato to cook must ...
Pros and cons of the ‘carnivore’ diet?
Breakfast: Bacon with eggs. Lunch: Ground beef cooked in tallow. Dinner: Venison steak with a side of bone marrow ...
With climate change exacerbating threats to growing coffee, expensive no-bean alternatives hit the markets
Your morning cup of joe might be missing a key ingredient in the future: coffee beans. Coffee is so popular ...
With the end of the EU parliamentary year less than two months away and gene editing regulatory reform stalled, Belgium proposes reform of EU patent requirements
Belgium is looking to break a deadlock among EU governments over a proposed easing of regulation for GMO crops produced ...
How mushroom-based mycelium could replace some of the world’s most polluting products
Netherlands-based Loop Biotech says it is helping people enrich nature upon their death rather than increase their carbon footprint through ...
Eating french fries is as unhealthy as smoking 25 cigarettes? Pseudoscience on health and food abounds
I had never heard of psychiatrist Dr. Paul Saladino, which is somewhat surprising because he is quite frisky in the ...
Vermont’s Republican governor vetoes bill severely restricting use of neonicotinoid insecticides
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott has vetoed a proposal to restrict the use of toxic pesticides for agriculture, saying it would ...
Bayer’s efforts to convince state legislatures to block glyphosate class action suits that contradict ‘sound science’ run into political buzzsaw
On the merits, Bayer has a strong case: important regulators don’t believe that glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, causes ...
Organically-grown genetically modified crops? Scientists unveil plan to bridge the ideological gap
Highlights Current regulations do not permit GM food be labeled organic or GM content be used in certified organic products ...
‘Tool of major corporations’? CRISPR gene editing and other new breeding techniques are improving yields and climate resiliency, but opposition from environmental advocacy groups slows adoption
While genetically modified crops may still provoke fear and uncertainty, some scientists argue that not only can they help to ...
Viewpoint: Mother Jones takes stand against American Academy of Pediatrics’s misguided case against GM crops and glyphosate
The American Academy of Pediatrics issued new guidelines for doctors fielding parents’ questions about the risks of foods containing genetically modified ...
Organic soil conditioners deadly to beneficial, soil-enhancing worms widely used and unlabeled
Gardeners are inadvertently killing scores of earthworms with soil conditioners marketed as “organic”, experts fear, as they call for tighter ...
