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.
Farming of the future: Can precision indoor farming create an alternative food system?
A precision indoor farming system [PIFS] comprises numerous interrelated components, from the plants and animals to the enclosing structure(s), growing ...
Partnership on track to give Bangladeshi and Indonesian farmers disease-resistant GMO potatoes
Researchers will be testing genetically modified potatoes in Bangladesh and Indonesia this year in hopes of providing farmers with an ...
$87 million judgment holding Bayer liable for cancer allegedly caused by Roundup glyphosate weedkiller upheld by Supreme Court
The US Supreme Court let stand an $87 million award against Bayer AG, rejecting the company for the second time in a week ...
With fertilizer shortage threatening to cripple agriculture, farmers in Niger turn to nutrient-rich human urine
In a bid to revive dying crops in Niger Republic, scientists are using a mineral-rich, low-cost and easily accessible fertilizer ...
Viewpoint: What are the keys to full consumer acceptance of food grown from genetically modified seeds?
“Bioengineered and gene-edited foods might be more successful in the marketplace if they have visual disclosure on the package (the ...
Viewpoint: DNA diets—Can knowing your genes help you nutritionally optimize your meal choices?
Recently several companies have been offering to examine your genome and figure out what you should eat based on your ...
Viewpoint: Regenerative agriculture has become a popular buzzword. Here’s what needs to be done for it to become a transformative, sustainable movement
There isn’t a standard definition for regenerative agriculture, but it represents a holistic framework to understand and respond to global ...
Digital biology: What is it, and what is its role in advancing sustainable farming?
Preparing for a future of resilient and sustainable agriculture that produces nutritious calories for the globe’s growing population requires a ...
Viewpoint: No, trace pesticides do not make fruits and vegetables unhealthy
A recent article in the French daily Le Monde speaks of a study with “impressive” conclusions. Reading it, there is reason to ...
Hate brussels sprouts but love potato chips? Your genes shape what your taste buds like
Scientists have been studying the way genetics influence perception of taste for years, but they are getting closer to understanding ...
CRISPR crops: Can carbon-sucking gene edited crops help address climate change? Jennifer Doudna thinks so
The Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI), a research group in Berkeley, California, founded by CRISPR co-inventor Jennifer Doudna, has announced a new program to ...
How mushroom waste can be turned into eco-friendly styrofoam packaging replacements
Styrofoam has become ubiquitous in the modern age of consumerism, and even synonymous with packaging. But containing toxic chemicals such ...
Viewpoint: ‘Double advantage’ — Why organic farmers should be allowed to grow GMO seeds to pursue sustainability objectives
In recent years, with the expectation of quality life, human beings have turned to organic foods with 30-40% less product ...
Video: As Ghana appears poised to approve its first GMO — a insect-resistant cowpea — here’s the story of the country’s science journey
Ghana is on the verge of approving its first genetically modified crop, the pod borer resistant (PBR) cowpea. In this ...
With August decision date to approve GMO insect-resistant cowpea in sight, Ghanaian scientist stresses role in reducing chemical usage and ensuring food security
Ghana’s food security will receive a good boost if the country’s first genetically modified crop gets environmental release approval from ...
Appeal to nature: Daily Kos Logical Fallacies Bootcamp dismantles myth that natural products are automatically better for us
The argument is a simple one, and one that you’ve probably come across before. It runs along these lines: X is ...
Viewpoint: Innovation vs. ideology — How the US and Europe differ on the goal of ‘green’, sustainable farming
With its new Farm to Fork (F2F) strategy, the EU plans to expand organic farming, an approach that rules out ...
Not getting enough sunlight? Vitamin D-boosted gene edited tomatoes could improve nutrition for a billion nutrient-deficient people
Tomatoes (yes, they’re technically a fruit, though the U.S. government considers them a vegetable for “nutritional and culinary purposes”) can be genetically-engineered to ...
Bayer’s appeal to set aside suits alleging it‘s liable for deaths linked to glyphosate weedkiller rejected by US Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court on [June 21] rejected Bayer AG's bid to dismiss legal claims by customers who contend its ...
Viewpoint: USDA poised to spend $300 million to help farmers transition to organic to shore up supply chains. Here’s why that’s a bad idea for food security and the environment
[The USDA] plans on spending $300 million to help farmers transition to organic production. What?? USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack defended ...
Public comments reveal overwhelming support for GM cowpea in Ghana
Public comments submitted to Ghana’s National Biosafety Authority (NBA) show overwhelming support for approving pod borer-resistant cowpea, the country’s first ...
With climate change accelerating spread of aflatoxin mold in Midwest corn, farmers look to genetically modified seeds as key solution
Climate change is expanding the reach of aflatoxin, a chemical produced by a gray-green mold that infects corn crops and ...
Federal appeals court rules EPA must reconsider safety of Bayer’s glyphosate weedkiller under Endangered Species Act
A federal appeals court on [June 17] rejected a Trump administration finding that the active ingredient in the weed killer ...
Lab-grown seafood: Here’s a taste test and roadmap of its path to approval
Wildtype, a cell-cultured meat company pioneering the field of cellular agriculture to grow cuts of seafood, without fishing or fish ...
Viewpoint: Green technology-rejectionist Vandana Shiva at center of Sri Lanka’s disastrous organic farming embrace and crop protection chemical rejection
The unprecedented economic crisis in Sri Lanka has been doing the rounds across mainstream media, academia, policy circles as well ...
Viewpoint: ‘Defenders of modern agriculture should vehemently push back against the notion that today’s food model undermines bee health or human health’
Since the introduction of neonicotinoid insecticides – the pesticides blamed for bee death – in the mid-90s, bee populations have ...
African scientists launch biodiversity genomics revolution
Though Africa is home to the second largest collection of biodiversity on earth, many of its unique plants, animals and ...
