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.
Why Vandana Shiva is so right and yet so wrong
Romantic environmentalists tend to get the big-picture problems right, while fudging the details. Rationalists nail the details, but sometimes become ...
Marxist Counterpunch calls Specter New Yorker Shiva profile ‘meretricious hatchet job’
Perhaps nothing symbolizes the decline of the New Yorker magazine more than the hatchet job on Vandana Shiva that appears in the latest ...
Monsanto likely to appeal Mexican ruling blocking GMO soy planting
A small group of beekeepers in Mexico has inflicted a blow on biotech giant Monsanto, which has halted the company’s ...
Tom Philpott on genetically engineered ice cream: Synbio-created vanilla bean improves flavor
In an article in Mother Jones, food writer Tom Philpott reports on the use of synthetic biology to make vanilla ...
Meet Brett Begemann, the ‘evil wizard’ behind Monsanto
Before you can finish typing "Monsanto employees" into Google, the search engine suggests "Monsanto evil." The world's largest-grossing seed seller ranks between one ...
On GMOs, Union of Concerned Scientists skips the science
Several weeks ago, the Union of Concerned Scientists posted a hard-hitting rebuttal to a famous environmentalist, someone who is normally an ally ...
Tasmanian farmers group responds to government’s GMO ban, wants discussion
The Tasmanian Farmers and Growers Association responded this week to the State government’s continuation of the moratorium on the use ...
Hawaii’s anti-GMO SHAKA movement not disclosing campaign donations
While the issue of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture has been a highly charged political issue in Hawaii for ...
Indian government decides to allow GM crop field trials
The NDA government has decided to allow scientific trials of some GM crops, which it had put on hold, but ...
Editorial: GMO labels ‘make sense’ for Colorado’s concerned consumers
On Wednesday, a proposition over the labeling of genetically modified foods in Colorado was approved for the November ballot. Backers of ...
Vietnam likely to approve commercial growing of GM crops
Vietnam has approved the importation of several genetically-modified (GM) corn varieties and left it to the environment ministry to decide ...
US and Brazil move into ‘final stages’ of approving GE trees for commercial growing
The U.S. and Brazilian governments are moving into the final stages of weighing approval for the commercialisation of genetically engineered ...
Zimbabwe imports almost 121,000 tons of GM maize illegally
Zimbabwe imported nearly 121 000 metric tonnes of genetically modified (GM) maize from Saouth Africa between February and July this ...
China decides against renewing GM permits, raises questions about future for research
China’s Ministry of Agriculture has decided not to renew biosafety certificates that allowed research groups to grow genetically modified (GM) ...
GMO labeling on November ballot in Colorado
A proposition seeking the labeling of foods containing genetically modified organisms will be on the November ballot, the Colorado Secretary ...
Kenya ‘not ready’ for GM crops
Is Kenya ready for genetically modified crops? No. Going by the findings of the task force appointed by Health Secretary ...
Vandana Shiva is no Ghandi, does the impoverished no favors
There have been several Indian pretenders to the Mahatma Gandhi legacy in the 66 years since his assassination, but only ...
Most GMO label supporters don’t really support ‘right to know’
Editor's Note: Readers might also want to read the GLP infographic: Is labeling GMOs really about our “Right to Know”? *** ...
Most of Hawaii’s anti-GMO candidates defeated in primary, despite attention, controversy
Despite the attention and controversy generated by anti-GMO (genetically modified organisms) activists in the months leading up to the August ...
Anti-GMO ‘paranoia’ hindering China’s progress towards food security
One of China’s major genetically modified food projects is now to all intents and purposes dead and buried. The expiry on ...
MIT prof Nicholas Negroponte: GM food is ‘very important future’
Recent studies by KPMG, the UK Government Office of Science, and now the U.S. National Science Foundation-supported National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center claim that civilization ...
Inside look at growing Bt cotton with Indian farmer
Is Bt cotton good or bad? But this type of question might confuse matters more than illuminate them. A better question might ...
Tasmania extends long-standing GMO ban to 2019
Tasmania agriculture is set to remain free of genetically modified organisms for at least five more years, with the State ...
New Zealand environment minister rejects proposed GM-free growing region
Environment Minister Amy Adams has told Hawke's Bay growers they already have the ability to market their produce as free ...
First four GM corn varieties approved in Vietnam
The Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) granted licenses to four GM corn varieties, including Bt 11 and ...
Russia approves heavy fines for violation of GMO labeling rules
The Russian cabinet has approved the bill introducing heavy fines for businessmen who violate the rules on obligatory marking of ...
Safety certificates for Chinese GM crops expire, with no sign of renewal
Safety certificates for the only homegrown experimental genetically modified staple food crops to have the credentials expired yesterday, with no ...
