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.
Chlamydia is killing koalas—will genetics find a cure?
The following is an excerpt. Why do some koalas die from chlamydia and an AIDS-like retrovirus whereas others manage to ...
Vermont lawmakers unlikely to resolve GMO labeling this year
The following is an excerpt. MONTPELIER, Vt. - Sen. David Zuckerman first proposed labeling requirements for food products containing genetically modified ...
Report on U.S. meat sounds alarm on resistant bacteria
The following is an excerpt. More than half of samples of ground turkey, pork chops and ground beef collected from ...
Could peaches hold the secret to biofuel?
The following is an edited excerpt. Humans are attempting a second massive transformation of the plant kingdom. The first was ...
Vermont food co-ops push for GMO labeling
The following is an excerpt. One of the most common questions these days among customers at Vermont’s food cooperatives is ...
Farmers would welcome policy on genetically modified seed
The following is an excerpt. The Bermuda Farmers Association has called for a new policy on genetically modified seeds following ...
Genetically modified animals could boost UK food security
The following is an excerpt. Professor Helen Sang and Prof Bruce Whitelaw from the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute, who ...
Tesco poultry feed decision ‘misleading consumers’, say campaigners
The following is an excerpt. Tesco is “misleading” consumers over its scrapping of a pledge to only rear poultry on ...
GMOs: Why so controversial?
The following is an excerpt. “There’s no evidence that it’s harmful,” said Steven Strauss, a biotechnology professor at Oregon State ...
Canada: Protests over genetically modified alfalfa hit Waterloo
The following is an excerpt. About 100 protestors marched outside the office of Kitchener-Waterloo MP Peter Braid on Tuesday to ...
Here we go again? Mandatory biotech food labeling initiative moves forward in Washington (state)
The following is an excerpt. Not even a year after fighting a bruising and costly battle over the “California Right ...
UK envoy champions GM crops
The following is an excerpt. Community attitudes towards cropping biotechnology are shifting in the European region, where resistance has been ...
Seeds without sex – some racy findings on the cloning of plants
The following is an excerpt. Sex without seed. Seed without sex. It’s been said that the greatest gift of science ...
Frankenfoods: The debate over GM foods
The following is an excerpt. Also known as genetically engineered (GE), genetically modified (GM) foods have passionate opponents as well ...
Will Monsanto ties influence nutritionists’ stance on GMOs?
The following is an excerpt. The GMO seed giant Monsanto recently flexed its muscles in Congress, working with a senator ...
GMO labels: What’s the use?
The following is an edited excerpt. A local example is House Bill 2532 in the Oregon Legislature. The bill calls ...
Why labels on GE foods won’t cost consumers a dime
The following is an edited excerpt. The biotech industry, led by Monsanto, will soon descend on the state of Washington ...
Tesco drops resistance to GM feed for poultry
The following is an excerpt. Tesco has caved in to pressure from farmers and will allow the use of GM ...
The world needs genetically modified foods
The following is an excerpt. The Whole Foods grocery chain recently announced its intent by 2018 to require labels on ...
GMO Free Connecticut spouts myths and misinformation at library talk
The following is an excerpt. Tara Cook-Littman and Christine O’Day of GMO Free Connecticut gave a presentation titled “Genetically Modified Organisms: Are ...
GMO labeling forces look for a win after two defeats
The following is an excerpt. With the defeat of California’s Proposition 37 last November and the recent signing of House ...
GM maize move leaves UK ‘cold’
The following is an excerpt. The annoucement that Italy intends to ban the cultivation of GM grown maize following a ...
Protests across Ontario against genetically-modified alfalfa
The following is an excerpt. Farmers and concerned residents took to the streets in a number of Ontario municipalities, as ...
Do we need synthetic fertilizers?
The following is an excerpt. According to organic advocates Tom Philpott and Barry Estabrook, we don’t need synthetic fertilizers at all. Both argue ...
Argentina accelerates approval process for biotech crops
The following is an excerpt. It took 20 years for Argentina to approve commercial planting of 13 biotech crops, and 15 more ...
GMO labeling forces look for a win after two defeats
The following is an excerpt. With the defeat of California’s Proposition 37 last November and the recent signing of House ...
Disease-resistant tomatoes fight lethal pests
The following is an excerpt. In the battle against thrips, Cornell breeder Martha Mutschler-Chu has developed a new weapon: a ...
