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.
‘Nature is just eroding away very slowly’: Reuters visually illustrates sharp decline in global insect populations
As human activities rapidly transform the planet, the global insect population is declining at an unprecedented rate of up to ...
Viewpoint: Pollinator ecotoxicologist on how much danger current pesticides pose to honeybees
Dan Schmehl is a pollinator ecotoxicologist for Bayer, who has done some incredible work testing the effects of potential new ...
80% of US consumers are willing to try lab grown, cell-cultured meat
“Farm-to-table” has long been a sought-after designation for food—but “lab-to-table” might be the next trend for your favorite animal protein ...
Here’s how a treasure trove of plant genetics helped develop drought-tolerant wheat that farmers in arid countries are ‘falling in love with’
A new drought-tolerant variety of durum wheat has been created as part of an international breeding programme to boost climate ...
Viewpoint: Ensuring sustainable agriculture — Should organic and small farms get special federal tax breaks or subsidies?
Growing political pressures for federal subsidies and regulations to shift food-supply incentives toward favored farms and farm practices may divert ...
Philadelphia Cream Cheese launches plant-based version
Philadelphia Cream Cheese is launching a plant-based version of its original-flavored spread. This is the first time a big brand ...
Developing ‘synthetic’ food for a Mars journey could revolutionize food systems on Earth
In Dinner on Mars, Evan Fraser and co-author Lenore Newman — Canada Research Chair in Food Security and the Environment at ...
Switch to more organic farming would lead to higher food prices, lower profits — California Farm Bureau study
A European Union policy goal to exponentially increase organic farming to 30% of all agricultural production by 2030 is expected ...
‘The supply just isn’t there’: Brazil, Argentina and US push back on Mexico’s looming GMO corn ban
The U.S. corn sector has been adamant that it cannot easily or quickly shift to producing non-GMO corn to comply ...
Finnish green party says restrictions on agricultural gene editing should be relaxed to encourage sustainable farming
The Finnish Green Party council supports the dismantling of the regulation on genetically modified organisms (GMO). The party council approved ...
Viewpoint: California governor Gavin Newsom wants to transform 30% of the state’s agriculture into organic. This study claims that would be a disaster
A new study finds that rapidly converting 30% of California agriculture to organic practices would dramatically increase food prices and ...
Viewpoint: Environmental activists promote myth that farmers over-apply pesticides on US farmland
Activist groups and other organizations that go after conventional agriculture will lead you to believe that farmers are spraying the ...
Viewpoint: Massive drought, population rise, and lack of agricultural land spurred Kenya to embrace GMOs — not ‘corporate greed’
President William Ruto lifted a 10-year ban on Genetically Modified (GM) crops officially allowing the importation of the same into ...
Viewpoint: ‘Prices may rise to the point that eggs become a luxury item’ — Why Mexico’s looming GM corn ban spells economic trouble
“Prices may rise to the point that eggs become a luxury item” for many Mexican consumers, warns a new report ...
Mexican president says ‘no glyphosate ban until scientists come up with safer alternative’
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said December 1 that the use of glyphosate in agribusiness will not be prohibited in ...
Eating flavonols: Antioxidants found in veggies, tea, and wine may help slow down memory loss and cognitive decline
Eating more flavonols, antioxidants found in many vegetables, fruits, tea and wine, may slow your rate of memory loss, a ...
Saffron, the world’s most expensive spice, is under threat by climate change. Here’s how researchers are using genetic modification to build resilience
In order to address climate change impacts on saffron production, particularly the deficit of rainfall, new saffron varieties are needed ...
How do genes interact with culture to shape food preferences?
Two random humans from a single group tend indeed to be more genetically different from each other than two different ...
Viewpoint: A degree in regenerative organic agriculture at a ‘transcendental meditation’ university? What are students actually learning?
Maharishi International University offered to make me one of its referral partners for a new degree program: Regenerative Organic Agriculture. I’d ...
Mosquitoes genetically engineered to kill off their own kind reduce local populations by up to 96%, study shows
In the Brazilian city of Indaiatuba, an effort is underway to eliminate Aedes aegypti mosquitoes before they have a chance ...
Is the Biden administration politicizing agricultural pesticide policy? The GOP believes so, and plans offensive
Republicans plan to use their razor-thin House majority and the committee control it gives them to investigate the Biden administration’s ...
How corruption jeopardizes food security in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation
Today, data shows 7 out of every 10 Nigerians are food insecure. According to a 2021 report by Onyenekenwa Cyprian ...
EU ‘Green Deal’ softens hard-line proposals for extensive restrictions on pesticides as food security concerns escalate
EU countries are pushing back against the European Commission’s plans to radically slash the use of pesticides in the bloc, ...
Viewpoint: Could GMOs that use less pesticides be the ultimate ‘clean’ food that consumers expect?
Can genetic modification and clean label co-exist? ...
An alternative to harvesting environmentally-destructive palm oil? Here’s a biotech solution using soybeans
Plant-based synthetic biology continues to play a role in novel ingredient discovery, which ultimately helps alleviate global food chains from ...
Reversal: As Kenyans face escalating threats of hunger, country’s High Court temporarily suspends import of GM corn
The High Court in Kenya has temporarily suspended the government’s plan to allow importation and distribution of genetically modified organisms ...
Beyond the ‘yuck factor’: Precision fermentation of bacteria could dramatically soften environmental footprint of livestock-linked food production
Precision fermentation is a refined form of brewing, a means of multiplying microbes to create specific products. It has been ...
