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.
Investigation: ‘Everything is made by hand’ — Lab grown meat startup Upside Foods presents high-tech facade, but its ‘futuristic factory’ is a lie
“We’re starting to show, from day one, what this whole industry is about,” Upside Foods cofounder and CEO Uma Valeti ...
Viewpoint: European concessions to green activists undermine their own technology-rejectionist agenda, opening door to CRISPR and other new breeding techniques
Legislation in Europe either dies a quiet death or goes out with a lot of fanfare. The “Farm to Fork” ...
Reshuffling the deck: How agro-chemical suppliers are repositioning weed-killing products
There is a new king of soybeans on the American farm—for now. ...
Why does cilantro taste like soap to some people? Tracking genes that predispose taste for bitter beer, grapefruit and kale
Between 3% and 21% of people, depending on their location in the world, dislike cilantro for its soapiness. But how can ...
How reviving ancient heat-resistant proteins could help plants survive rising temperatures
After what NASA says was the hottest three-month period ever recorded on Earth, people in the Northern Hemisphere in particular ...
‘It’s just hard to be profitable’: Indoor farming is a booming industry — so why are so many farms failing?
Eden Green Technology is one of the latest crop of indoor farming companies seeking their fortunes with green factories meant ...
As federal agencies prepare to deregulate transgenic chestnuts, Indigenous nations assert right to access and care for them
The American chestnut tree, or číhtkęr in Tuscarora, once grew across what is currently the eastern United States, from Mississippi ...
Heat waves, forest fires and new temperature records: This summer was the hottest in recorded history
Southern Europe has seen constant heat waves, forest fires and new heat records, and Tromsø in northern Norway has had ...
War and agriculture: GMO foods now legal to produce in Ukraine, Zelenskyy determines
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a law regarding state control over the placement of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and ...
Measuring the addictive potential of ‘ultra-processed foods’
Given the option, most rats will choose sugar instead of cocaine. Their lust for the carbohydrate is so intense that they ...
Despite shouldering some of the blame for climate change, could agricultural technology actually cut emissions?
As the Earth’s human population grows, greenhouse gas emissions from the world’s food system are on track to expand ...
Gene editing legislation on horizon may signal new dawn for EU’s sustainability and food security potential
On July 5, 2023, the European Commission presented a bill aimed at the partial deregulation of plant varieties resulting from ...
Viewpoint: Why we should be skeptical of ‘climate-friendly’ grocery store claims
Meat eaters are about to have a new option in the beef aisle. Along with cuts of meat labeled as ...
Nocturnal farming: How climate change might force farmers to rethink their early-to-rise schedule
Rising temperatures in key agricultural regions across the United States are leading more farmers to harvest in the middle of ...
‘Industrial’ seed oils are killing you? Here’s the health story behind cooking oils
There’s a new bogeyman in the nutrition world: vegetable oil, especially so-called “industrial seed oils” like canola, corn, and soybean ...
Viewpoint: ‘Activists are tireless’ — 30 years of global genetically modified crop use has proven they are safe and sustainable, but GMOs remain under assault
Literally trillions of animals have been fed with GMO feed without any detectable negative health effect ...
Can lab-grown fruit reduce hunger and methane-generating waste?
Scientists in New Zealand are attempting to create lab-grown fruit from plant cells, without the parts that are usually thrown ...
GMOs aren’t increasing food allergies? 10 common misconceptions about genetic modification, debunked
Confused about GMOs? There is no question GMOs (Soy, corn, cotton, canola, sugar beets, alfalfa, papaya, squash, apples, potatoes) are ...
Rediscovering lost Indonesian rice varieties: Hundreds of indigenous crops at risk of extinction could resist climate change
For three months in 2006, Mdm Hilman visited one remote village after the other, providing free consultations to farmers who ...
Viewpoint: Uganda drags its feet while other African countries begin embracing genetic revolution in food and farming
It is still a mystery why it has taken so long for agriculture in Uganda to have a clear regulatory ...
Viewpoint: Why fellow moms shouldn’t succumb to anti-GMO information when making family food choices
One comment I hear over and over is GMOs are poison. But when you look at the research, over 2 trillion meals ...
German Liberals break from Green Party, advocate for anti-biotechnology policy rethink as coalition totters
The Greens, a partner in Germany’s three-party coalition, must tear down internal walls to overcome the tug-of-war over genetic engineering ...
Podcast: How synthetic biology can tweak DNA in viruses, plants or even animals to improve the environment, health, agriculture and industrial processes
Welcome back to Dirt to Dinner: Digging In, where we dig into what’s going on in the food and ag world ...
‘It’s now a jungle’: Take a look at what happened after an English seaside town banned glyphosate
Brighton has become the perfect example of how quickly nature reclaims the street if weeds are left unchecked ...
Where did wheat come from? Uncovering the grain’s genetic genesis at the dawn of agriculture
From the dawn of agriculture, about 10,000 years ago, to modern genetic improvement techniques, wheat has been a key witness and ...
Sustainable fashion’s next frontier: Fabric made from bacteria, waste, and carbon
Scientists are hoping to start a fashion trend: making clothes from materials that reduce environmental harm ...
Environmentally-friendly GMO bioplastics favored by consumers despite prevailing negative sentiment on GMO foods
The technology of genetically modified organisms (GMO) and especially genetically modified plants (GMP) applied in agriculture is a key element ...
