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.
British Medical Journal: Sri Lanka’s organic extremism led to an economic collapse and ‘devastating health consequences’
On 20 May 2022, Sri Lanka failed to make £63m ($77m, €73m) of foreign debt repayments. The default has made ...
Viewpoint: Another science review challenges activist claim that glyphosate in urine poses heath dangers
CBS News recently reported on a new government study that found glyphosate in more than 80% of urine tested from a representative ...
Lab-grown oysters? Here’s why seafood of the future will be cell-based and sustainable
Pearlita Foods has set out to make the first cultivated oyster meat. Its mission is to “harvest the ocean's finest ...
By 2050, there will be 10 billion people to feed. To meet the challenge, we need all technologies on deck — including molecular biology and genetic engineering
30 years of scientific progress on gene editing, countless studies involving dialogue with society, thousands of forums and debates for ...
Viewpoint: Green groups urge ending biofuel use to address global food shortages
Biofuel is derived from food crops, including wheat, maize and edible oils. The World Food Programme has warned that the rising prices ...
Food out of thin air: How this startup transforms carbon dioxide into protein
A few years ago, Dr. Peter Rowe began to explore ways to produce single-cell protein from carbon dioxide (CO2). Rowe ...
Powering plants with solar panels instead of photosynthesis might increase crop efficiency. But are companies overhyping potential?
The researchers used solar panels to run a machine that converts carbon dioxide, electricity, and water into acetate—a molecule that ...
Viewpoint: Sri Lankan organic farming disaster foreshadows what could unfold if Europe moves ahead with Green Deal Farm to Fork plan
Sri Lanka adopted the first 100% organic farming program and imposed a national ban on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The consequence ...
Viewpoint: Why we must ‘learn to love genetically modified crops’
For decades, human consumption of genetically modified organisms has inspired misbegotten fear in consumers because few of us understand the ...
Podcast: Agricultural scientist Jayson Lusk on the intersection of biotechnology and sustainability
Agricultural economist Jayson Lusk puts forward a vision of how science, technology and innovation are what we need for a sustainable food ...
‘Mind-boggling’ fruity craft beers produced with GMO yeast finds rapturous fans
About 250 breweries throughout the country have used Berkeley Yeast’s genetically modified strains, and some insiders herald its scientific breakthroughs ...
European Parliament: Global meat consumption has doubled in two decades, exacerbating climate change. Sustainably growing animal protein with yeast and bacteria could help
The amount of meat consumed per capita levels has nearly doubled since 1990 and meat production has more than quadrupled ...
Orange and grapefruit growers devastated by citrus diseases have new hope: CRISPR gene editing
In the past few decades, two bacterial diseases — Huanglongbing (HLB) and citrus canker— have decimated the Florida citrus industry ...
‘Lose-lose situation’: Mexico’s ban on genetically modified corn worsening food security and increasing inflation
A new economic impact report shows Mexico’s looming ban on GM corn and agricultural biotechnology policy will harm economies on both sides ...
How biotechnology can protect indigenous ‘orphan crops’ from disease and boost economic growth
Despite their critical local importance, orphan, underutilized, and neglected crops tend to receive relatively limited attention in agricultural R&D initiatives ...
Survey: Younger consumers open to trying foods crafted by gene editing
Consumers under age 30 and consumers with incomes above $125,000 a year are less likely to avoid gene-edited foods, meaning ...
Viewpoint: Millions face food insecurity. Following ‘green hysteria’ in rejecting pesticides and fertilizers will make this crisis worse
From 2023, the European Union will allocate 25 per cent of its direct agriculture payment budget to “eco-payments” for carbon ...
Viewpoint: Cost of misinformation — Nigeria spends over 40 million dollars a year importing cowpea. A GMO insect resistant version could save money and lives
Nigeria spends almost 40 million USD annually on the importation of cowpea. Beans farmers have been struggling with how to ...
Fighting climate change: How modifying this one plant gene could help crops absorb 30% more CO2
Plants already pull significant weight in removing carbon dioxide from the air, but a new study out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison ...
Mexico’s glyphosate and GMO corn ban overturned by federal judge
A federal judge declared the 2020 Presidential Decree to eliminate the use of the herbicide glyphosate and transgenic corn in ...
Nigeria is ready to meet strong farmer demand for GMO cowpea seeds
Nigerian farmers should have ample access to insect-resistant genetically modified (GM) cowpea seeds for this summer’s planting season, scientists say ...
‘Oversimplification or outright falsehood?’: ‘Banned in Europe’ and 9 other anti-pesticide factoids that are short on science
Organic activist group Slow Food recently released its list of “10 Key Facts on Pesticides," a post designed to “raise awareness about ...
Viewpoint: What the war in Ukraine tells us about global limitations of organic farming
The nascent food crisis now reveals a hard truth: organic agriculture cannot feed the world and could even worsen future ...
Viewpoint: ‘Microbes and plants can be altered to increase to carbon capture’ — Biophysicist lays out pathway for net-zero emissions
The same genetic engineering tools used for climate change adaptation are now being used for carbon capture ...
Nigeria moves to import GM wheat to lower local food prices
In a bid to drive down high food prices, Nigeria has launched the process to permit the importation of genetically ...
Viewpoint: Environmental Working Group’s ‘Dirty Dozen’ scaremongering — Consumers reject fear-based environmentalist disinformation
Consumers encounter so many mixed messages on produce, ranging from the Dirty Dozen‘s disinformation to the just-eat-your-veggies slogan. How do we ...
Viewpoint: ‘Optimizing nature’ — How gene editing can help grow crops in unstable climates using less water
As global policy conversations continue to shine the spotlight on sustainability, the scope of these discussions also focusses on agriculture, ...
