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.
The good and problematic elements of the ‘Green Revolution’ — and prospects for genetics-driven version 2.0
The Green Revolution led to a significant increase in agricultural productivity. New high-yielding crop varieties, such as dwarf wheat and ...
Viewpoint: Anti-pesticide hysteria brings together conspiracy theorists and science-illiterate people on the left and right
he list of opponents to pesticides is long and diverse: It includes conservative health nuts and very online paleo types, ...
Viewpoint: Why a glyphosate ban would lead to use of ineffective and more toxic alternatives
A complete ban on the use of glyphosate in agriculture in the short term will lead to farmers more frequently ...
‘Beer is so old that we don’t know how old it is’: Brewing evolution from the Stone Age to the era of craft beers
Beer is so old that we don’t know how old it is. Most of the earliest known cultures brewed it, ...
Viewpoint: Is organic food worth higher prices? A Harvard researcher advises on how to sidestep the con, save money and eat healthier
Organic foods, valued at over $75 billion, have long been touted as superior to conventionally grown foods, with some studies ...
Genetically-modified industrial hemp cleared for commercialization in US
A hemp plant genetically engineered to produce lower levels of the cannabinoids THC and cannabichromene (CBC) “may be safely grown ...
Are you trying to become a vegetarian? Genetics may influence whether you stick with it
Have you ever tried to be vegetarian but found it too difficult to stop eating meat? Your genes could be ...
Viewpoint: Why Cuba’s turn toward organic farming succeeded while Sri Lanka’s collapsed
Cuba is now a laboratory and research field for US experiments in organic food production. The United States hopes to ...
Tiger steaks and lion burgers? Cell-cultivated exotic meats open new market possibilities but raise controversial questions
Which animals we find acceptable to eat vary from person to person, according to our values, palates, and upbringing ...
China poised for new great leap forward on backs of new generation of biotech crops
A trial planting of genetically modified corn and soybean crops outside lab settings in multiple sites across China is projected ...
Viewpoint: GMO mustard crops newly approved in India enable farmer self-reliance and provide food oil sorely needed for growing population
India faces a major deficit in edible oils, with 60% of its demand being met by imports. Mustard is one ...
Food, serotonin and mood: Can your diet help combat seasonal slumps?
The following nutrition tips can help banish the seasonal slump and keep your spirits high: Salmon for anxiety relief Salmon ...
Animal-free cheese and other high tech foods taking page out of electric car industry’s financial strategies to grow in a highly-competitive market
"We need to meet people where they are today," said Magi Richani, founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Nobell Foods ...
‘Upside’ and ‘Goodmeat’: Two cell-cultured chicken companies take different paths in long road to consumer acceptance
No one knows yet what approach to cell-cultivated meat will ultimately resonate with consumers, which probably explains why Upside and ...
Will 2023 US ‘Farm Bill’ address escalating issues of agricultural innovation, climate change and exports?
With Congress back in full swing, agriculture advocates and policymakers are staring down a fast approaching deadline. On September 30, ...
Viewpoint: Misguided attacks on glyphosate ‘dangers’ ignore how the weedkiller enables sustainable soil systems in prairies and grasslands
Glyphosate is Canada’s top-selling pesticide, mostly used in agriculture as a herbicide and to desiccate crops for harvest. While it ...
Monsanto wins 9th consecutive court case in glyphosate litigation
St. Louis 21st Judicial Court Judge Brian May granted defendant's motion for a directed verdict at the close of plaintiff's evidence in Barbara ...
China’s CRISPR gene-edited silkworms spin fibers 6 times tougher than Kevlar
Scientists in China have synthesized spider silk from genetically modified silkworms, producing fibers six times tougher than the Kevlar used ...
With sustainability and productivity challenges mounting, South African farmers warm to agro-technology
Farmers have now found ways to improve the basic farming methods with state-of-the-art agritech ...
While advocates for lab-grown protein see a solution to America’s meat addiction, many chefs give hearty ‘no’ to what they call ‘fake meat’
Lab-grown meat, heralded by proponents as the next big thing in food, has appeared on select restaurant menus around the ...
Viewpoint: In a world of dysfunctional food systems, is it realistic to hope for CRISPR gene editing to save agriculture?
Considering that farmers already lose 20-40 percent of their crop yields to pests, which costs them $200 million per year, they can’t ...
How Dolly, the first cloned sheep, sparked bioethical debate over ‘creating life’
Perhaps more than any other biotech advance, Dolly, the first cloned animal, symbolized growing human power over nature. But the ...
Viewpoint: 126 million Africans are vulnerable to malaria. Bill Gates explains why gene drive mosquitoes may be the only solution
Since establishing a beachhead in Djibouti, An. stephensi mosquitoes have been detected in Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya and as far away ...
Poverty, food and brain health: Lack of nutritious food leaves multi-generational impact on our bodies and minds
You are what you eat, according to the adage. But it’s not just the body that’s impacted. According to research ...
Viewpoint: Anti-biotech activists claim Gates Foundation-supported plan to embrace crop biotechnology and modernize African agriculture is failing
The persistence of hunger and food crises across the world has spawned some false solutions. One of the most notable ...
Viewpoint: Blame Big Tobacco for helping create junk food industry
For decades, tobacco companies hooked people on cigarettes by making their products more addictive. Now, a new study suggests that tobacco ...
Muslim and Jewish leaders debate whether lab-grown protein is Halal or Kosher
Lab-grown meat has begun getting the green light from regulators and is making its way onto restaurant menus. Still, not ...
