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.
New Zealand: ‘GE Jamboree’ upsets the Greens
The Greens are outraged by the Government spending $100,000 to host an international agricultural biotechnology conference ...
Gene helps rice grow in phosphorus-poor soils
Rice, like all plants, needs phosphorus to grow. But there's a problem for this crop, the most important calorie source ...
As climate hurts cattle, ranchers turn to genetics
For years researchers have been studying how to develop cattle that are heat and drought tolerant. And while crossbreeding isn't ...
Genetically altered corn targets worldwide food demand
Purdue researchers aim to ensure global food security by genetically altering corn to be more drought resistant ...
Plant genetics’ role in challenging year
The cold, wet weather has affected both early and late-sown crops across the varietal spectrum. In 2011, most crops were ...
Brazil court supports consumers’ resistance to GMO in food items
A Brazilian court has demanded that multi-billion dollar food giant Nestle label all of its products as genetically modified that ...
Monsanto eyes 2013 launch for new soybean seeds in Argentina
Monsanto aims to start selling the new seeds--which have the combined traits of resistance to insects and the herbicide glyphosate--in ...
Controversy simmers over allergies and genetically modified food
Over the last 18 years, genetically modified food has become quite common in the United States. During that same period, ...
GMO crops: To label or not to label?
This fall, California voters will be asked to vote on Proposition 37, a law which would require that all foods ...
Anti-GM acitivists say spread of genes from GM rice “slow but unavoidable”
GM crop genes, such as those designed for insect resistance, can spread through cross-pollination with wild plants surrounding farmers' fields ...
U-turn on GM in Turkey
Turkey's Food and Beverage Associations Federation (TGDF) has withdrawn applications to import 29 genetically modified (GM) food items due to ...
New research shows more approval of GM food consumption
Genetically Modified Organisms are playing a major role in the economic transformation of developing countries despite the emergence of pest-resistant ...
Australian anti-GM acitivists demand GMO labeling
Food Standards Australia New Zealand has approved 43 varieties of genetically modified canola, corn, potato, rice, soybean and sugarbeet for ...
Shoddy drafting or part of the plan?: The “natural” problem in California’s biotech food labeling initiative, according to pro-biotech commenter
The “California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act,” also known as Proposition 37 (“Prop 37″), advances the deeply misguided ...
GM labeling debate goes to Germany: WWF demands action on GM soy
Although genetically modified food is banned in Germany, nearly all the eggs, chicken and pork produced here is based on ...
Orange sweet potatos and golden rice: Biofortified foods in Africa
One of the important ways that plant scientists are working to improve the lives of malnourished people in developing countries ...
Genetically engineered algae for biofuel could pose potential risks
Algae are high on the genetic engineering agenda as a potential source for biofuel, and they should be subjected to ...
Frankenfood or crops of the future? Gaps in the perception of GM food safety
Humans have always faced tricky safety problems with food because we eat plants, which are the most ingenious pesticide chemists ...
Investment goes into new bioenergy crop research
A $1.37 million (€1.1 million) grant is set to allow researchers to study and potentially develop shrub willow as a ...
Genetically modified crops and livestock: Support divided
North American regulatory agencies have not yet approved genetically modified livestock for human consumption. The Enviropig project has ground to ...
Complaint against EU authorisation of GM soybeans
Several organisations such as the European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility (ENSSER) are filing a complaint against ...
What if India says ‘no’ to GE food? Anti-biotech activist speaks out aginst GM food
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture, made up of members of parliament (MPs) from across party lines, tabled its latest ...
Anti-GM activists win in Oregon: GE canola planting stopped
The Center for Food Safety, an anti-GM organization reports that the planting of GE canola in the Willamette Valley of ...
Europe: Need for educational program on GM food
IF a recent a survey on food is to be believed we are producing BMWs and Mercedes, when what consumers ...
Prop 37: Pro-GM writer calls the California GMO labeling initiative a “misleading campaign”
The race is on to define Proposition 37, the ballot initiative that would require labels for most genetically modified foods ...
Human-assisted evolution to help animals survive a human-dominated age
UK-based photographer Vincent Fournier collaborated with scientists to create his digitally enhanced photographs of genetically modified animals better suited to ...
Monsanto’s defense: The safety of GM crops: The case of Africa
We’re often criticized for supposedly ignoring studies that say genetically modified (GM) crops have safety or performance issues. The fact ...
