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.
USDA lacks authority to regulate GM pine
The genetically modified variety of pine developed by Arborgen cannot be restricted by USDA, the agency has determined. A pine ...
GMO plant oil could be healthy, sustainable alternative for feeding salmon
Genetically modified plants created by British scientists to contain health boosting Omega-3 have been declared a safe alternative to fish ...
Gene silencing technology boosts levels of monounsaturated fats in flax
Amid increasing use of RNAi as a crop-modification technology, a research team led by scientists at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and ...
Mapping marijuana’s genome could lead to medical discoveries
The history of marijuana is being mapped in Portland, Ore. For 10,000 years, humans have carried this plant everywhere, but ...
Urban consumers should pay more for lower-yielding non-GMO crops
Washington Farm Bureau first vice president Aaron Golladay lives on a family run farming operation in central Washington State, near ...
Science literacy doesn’t change minds about GMOs
In an excellent meeting at the National Academy of Sciences last week, there was a lot of discussion of science ...
Are genomically recoded organisms needed to keep GMOs on a leash?
Let’s talk about the latest news. Last week we reported on two papers in Nature describing breakthrough techniques in modifying ...
Improved wheat varieties on horizon to address drought, flooding pests and stresses
After years of research efforts worldwide, researchers have finally identified a draft sequence of the bread wheat genome - an ...
Arizona next to propose GM labeling
Advocates for GMO labeling are getting another shot in the Arizona Legislature. Six representatives submitted a bill to require food ...
Kevin Folta deconstructs Food Babe’s response to students in scathing fashion
Last week, a group of food science students from the IFT Student Association (IFTSA) wrote a letter to the "Food Babe", Vani ...
Will new Innate potato, with no ‘foreign’ DNA, satisfy anti-GMO critics?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in November approved for commercial planting a potato genetically engineered to have reduced bruising ...
Recent “win” opening door to growing GM crops in Britain not really a victory
The European Parliament's decision on GM in January was hailed by the pro-GM campaign in the UK as a great victory ...
US consumers say they want GMO labelling but only 56 percent trust labels
The dots don’t seem to connect: Consumers cast a dubious, untrusting eye about the legitimacy of packaged-food labels, and yet ...
TEDx talk: How the organic movement became anti-GMO
Rob Saik, professional agrologist, certified agriculture consultant and founder of Agri-Trend, spoke at TEDx Red Deer, Alberta on GMOs. “Do ...
Antibiotic-resistant DNA sequences found downwind of feedlots
There have been many concerns raised in recent years about the overuse of antibiotics on farms, but the effect such ...
Climate change could cripple Midwest but genetic technologies could offset damage
Climate change could hammer the Des Moines and Iowa economies in the decades ahead, as spiking temperatures dramatically reduce crop ...
Two markets for dietary supplements: Non-GMO and ‘made with genetic technology’
Opponents of the labeling of genetically modified ingredients have spent millions to defeat the various state ballot measures on the ...
Breeders work to mainstream genetic diversity of potato
Around the country, determined plant breeders, farmers, and chefs are joining forces to reinvent the potato and the transform the ...
Biology of flavorful orange juice
A “so what” story. That’s how I would label the enticingly titled “Juicy Secrets” investigation of “premium” orange juice by ...
Ex Food Babe staffer exposé? Does Vani Hari admit to spinning science for money and fame?
An interesting and revealing exchange with Vani Hari, the self-proclaimed Food Babe, began with an open letter published last week ...
Cheap food? Thank GMOs
Today, about one-in-eight people across the world do not have enough food to eat. Addressing this problem of food insecurity ...
False balance between public scientists and non-expert activists on orange crisis and GMOs
I'm so grateful to any author that takes the time to write about citrus greening disease and its potential solutions ...
Oregon governor seeks authority to establish ‘control areas’ for GMO crops
A bill proposed by Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber seeks to expand the authority of state farm regulators over genetically engineered ...
Video: Bill Gates advocates for GMOs in Brussels
Bill and Melinda Gates spoke to a Brussels audience, which didn’t appear shocked by their endorsement of GMO crops. The ...
Moms learn about GMOs on Illinois farm tours
When she read about an Illinois Farm Families field tour, Heather Guido applied. In May, she and other women in ...
Biotech crops show global promise but suffer from restrictive regulations
A paper by Calestous Juma and Katherine Gordon at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs argues that although many transgenic crops ...
Trade complicates handling of GMO crops, GM labeling could, too
The use of biotechnology has made things more complicated for seed companies, grain handlers and farmers. Charles Hurburgh, Iowa State ...
