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.
Milestone reached: 4 billionth acre of biotech crops planted globally
It’s no small number - four billion acres of biotech crops have now been planted globally. The impressive mark was met and ...
Los Angeles Times editorial: California GMO labeling bill promotes “scare campaign”
The scientific evidence on genetically engineered food, which has been around for two decades, indicates that it is as safe ...
eBook Lowdown on GMOs: What it’s like not to know anything about GMOs
This article is adapted from the chapter “On What It’s Like Not To Know Squat about GMOs” from the ebook ...
No right to deprive someone of safety tested, life-saving, vitamin-enhanced Golden Rice
The blind girl lurched toward me across the parking lot at Tirta Empul temple, mewling. A whitish haze coated her eyes, ...
Monsanto using biotech methods to speed up traditional breeding
Say the term “genetically modified organism,” or GMO, and you’re bound to get some strong opinions. But what is it? And should ...
Black Swan author’s paper on precautionary GM food risks indulges in “fear mongering”
Recently, a paper on the precautionary principle in relation to genetically modified foods has been making rounds in the anti-GMO social media ...
GMO labeling would jack prices and costs with farmers and food producers hit worst
Even though labeling food with genetically modified ingredients is creating a distinction without a difference, the costs would be real ...
Plant geneticist Paul Gepts says polarized GM discussion endangers innovation
Whether you call them transgenic, genetically engineered or GMO crops, the fever-pitched debate about Monsanto misses the bigger picture by ...
Cell biologist Rebecca Rupp: I’m pro-GMO and here’s why
We all know that there are topics that are best to avoid at public dinners. Religion and politics usually top ...
Similac baby formula will not get GMO label as Abbott rejects shareholder call
An Abbott Laboratories shareholder proposal to label genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in its Similac infant formula range received about 5 ...
US at final stages of approving next generation GM herbicide-resistant crops, galvanizing activists
Two key federal agencies are in the final stages of approving a new herbicide-resistant crop “system” that would constitute the ...
GMO debate in infographics and charts
One of the most debated subjects involving agriculture today is the production of genetically modified crops or (GMOs). Although these ...
Vegans and vegetarians embrace simplistic anti-GMO propaganda, eschew debate, at Canadian expo
Kevin M. Folta, who describes himself as “a scientist in a scientifically illiterate nation at a time when we need science ...
If you believe GMOs are bad, read this
Agriculture might not strike you as humanity’s first scientific endeavor. Familiar images of farmers tilling their fields or cowboys tending ...
Hawaii ‘grassroots’ anti-GMO rebellion run by Washington-based Center for Food Safety
On the 11th floor of the Gold Bond Building, on the edge downtown Honolulu, is the brain trust of Hawaii’s ...
20 breaking stories about GMOs
Genetically modified (GM) food and crop stories continue to appear in the popular media across the globe. In the United ...
Five reasons why you sound crazy when denouncing GMOs
(1) Words and linguistic distinction matters. There is a tendency to either ignore, mutilate or warp the meaning of terms like ...
Scientific American: ‘Environmentalists’ have opposed genetically improving crops as ‘unnatural’ for a century
The May 2014 issue of Scientific American, called Scientific American Classics, looks at "The Birth of the GMO Debate." It ...
GMO growers and organic farmers can coexist in Australia
Coexistence between organic farmers and those that grow genetically modified crops is a big challenge but it is possible in ...
GMKnow responds to mutagenesis challenge, claiming process is ‘natural’
The proudly anti-GMO group, GMKnow, responded to the question I posed to them two days ago. I asked them why mutagenetic ...
New media group Vox stands up to GMO ‘test’
Vox.com is a new news site that aims to do things a bit differently. Led by Ezra Klein, formerly of ...
Anti-GMO consumer claims there’s ‘no watchdog’ over GMOs, advocates for labeling
When you cross a horse with a donkey, the offspring is neither a horse or a donkey. The resultant hybrid ...
Philippines-based activist group urges Asian governments to halt field trials of Golden Rice
A Philippines-based farmer-scientist group, MASIPAG, along with its regional network, has called on governments to immediately halt all planned field ...
Vermont senator describes consumers as ‘guinea pigs’ when ramifications of GMOs are not well-understood
Vermont is poised to become the first state to require the labeling of genetically modified organisms in food products. We speak ...
Organic label creates brand perceptions of “healthier” and “safer,” even when untrue
There are many public debates raging that are essentially dueling narratives, both sides claiming to have science, evidence, and logic ...
Activists made genetic modification a bogeyman with no scientific validity
Millions know him simply as “Dr. Joe,” the McGill University chemistry professor who has spent the last 30 years popularizing ...
Patchwork of GMO labeling laws like Vermont’s would force food manufacturers to label all products
Look under the hood of every movement to forestall the use of genetically-modified grains and you’ll find a preponderance of ...
