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.
Vermont’s law requiring GMO labels could trigger nationwide rules
Under a law signed this month, the tiny New England state, population 626,000, will soon require that food companies tell ...
Indian scientists form high tech group to educate politicians on GM crops
Stung by adverse political reactions on genetically modified crops, agriculture scientists have formed a 12-member pressure group comprising top scientists ...
GMO fears in needy Zambia result in destruction of 1,000 lbs of safe corn flakes
A combined team of Luanshya Municipal Council Health Inspectors and Court officials swung into action and destroyed more than 700 Bokomo Corn Flakes ...
Trade politics, not health concerns, driving Russia’s anti-GMO stance
The Russian government’s most public reason for banning GMOs—its citizens’ health—may not be its primary reason. During President Putin’s recent meeting with ...
Widespread confusion among Canadians over what foods are genetically modified
Genetic modification has been a polarizing issue since genetically modified seeds were first approved and planted in Canada in the ...
Monarch butterfly decline linked loss of milkweed: Are GMO crops to blame?
The main cause of the monarch butterfly's decline is the loss of milkweed — its food — in its U.S ...
Bt eggplant farmers in Bangladesh target of anti-GMO “green” groups
Farmers growing a landmark genetically modified food crop in Bangladesh – Bt brinjal, or aubergine – have found themselves at the centre of a ...
GM crops safe but ecological concerns need to be examined, regulated
Scientists have demonstrated that genetically modified organisms have no measurable negative impacts on human health. Indeed, they may hold the key ...
‘Homemade herbicide’ of salt, vinegar and soap more expensive and toxic than glyphosate in Roundup
The question I get most often about this homemade herbicide mixture is “how does it compare to commercial herbicides?” In particular, how ...
Whirlwind tour of career of Bruce Ames, inventor of test to determine chemical toxicity
On an otherwise ordinary day in 1964, Bruce Ames picked up a box of potato chips and read the list of ingredients ...
Plant scientist Pamela Ronald developing GMO bananas that could save millions of lives
Bananas are delicious. But bananas aren’t just some tasty delicacy, they’re actually a staple crop for millions of people, just ...
Poorly written GM ban in Oregon opens door to lawsuits against non-GMO farmers
An ordinance that prohibits biotech crops in Oregon's Jackson County is vague enough to encompass some conventionally bred crops, according ...
Kenyans face danger from aflatoxin contamination in crops, biotechnology can mitigate problem
Most Kenyans are at high risk of aflatoxin contamination due to lack of monitoring and evaluation on the harvested and ...
Anti-GMO journalist, Maharishi Institute follower calls anti-GMO journalist, Reuters’ Carey Gillam, “balanced”
Reuters' journalist Carey Gillam has covered issues surrounding genetically modified foods for the past 16 years, no easy task with ...
GM not just about commodity farming: How it can rescue threatened coffee, chocolate, wine, bananas and OJ
Many anti-GM campaigners lambast crop biotechnology because the first generation of genetic modification focused on commodity crops such as corn, ...
Arguments against GM crops riddled with problems including vested interests and romanticizing hunger
The year 2013 marked the 18th consecutive year of commercial cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or now commonly referred to as ...
Lack of funding in Nigeria hindering biotechnology research efforts
A professor, Olufunmilayo Adebambo, has said that the country is missing in the development and utilisation of its biotechnological potential. Adebambo, ...
Fear of GMOs prevent GM barley resistant to ‘vomitoxin’-producing fungi from reaching beers
This past summer, exceptionally hot and humid for many, was brutal for the small-scale barley farmers who have been cropping ...
AUDIO: Yale neurologist Steven Novella challenges fears of GMOs, industrial agriculture
For Medium's Inquiring Minds, Indre Viskontas spoke with Dr. Steven Novella, a neurologist at Yale University. Novella is a prominent voice ...
‘Significant majority’ of consumers support status quo on GMO labeling, new survey reports
Despite contentious debate in some states regarding mandatory labeling of foods produced with biotechnology or genetically modified organisms (GMO) crops, ...
Italian farmer crusades for GMO corn cultivation, faces opposition from anti-GMO activists and government
“This stuff, with the same light, water and fertilizer, produces 10 times more than the other kind,” says farmer Giorgio ...
Vitamin enrichment focus of Philippines GM development initiatives
Scientists in the Philippines are focusing on biotechnology to improve agricultural productivity, promote food security and sustainable development. Dr. Antonio Alfonso, ...
Many organic seeds genetically altered through hybridization
We have some vague awareness that GMOs are bad and organic is good, but few of us could say exactly ...
Oregon GMO bans go against principles of organic farming, could hurt organic industry
The vote in Jackson County, Ore., to ban genetically modified organisms marks a huge setback for the organic community across ...
Compromise by pro- and anti-GMO countries opens door to GM crop cultivation in European Union
An unholy alliance of pro- and anti-GMO countries have struck a deal that will sweep away the obstacles to genetically ...
Hawaii island GMO ban threatens future of university-based independent research
Hawaii County set itself apart from much of the rest of the state in December by effectively banning the large ...
Bt cotton huge success in India defies anti-GMO conspiracy theories
In disputes around Bt cotton, a “triumph narrative” is alleged to have emerged from researchers - mainly economists - catering ...
