Breakthrough Institute
Outdated agricultural biotechnology regulations are slowing innovation. Trump could change that for the better
In late 2024, the result of a decades-long process to update U.S. biotechnology regulation was undone when a judge ordered ...
Viewpoint: The health and environmental impacts of glyphosate
A federal reckoning over glyphosate is imminent as the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement gains a foothold with Secretary ...
Viewpoint: Is Trump’s embrace of nuclear energy a game changer?
President Trump [recently] signed four executive orders aimed at moving the United States’ nuclear industry forward. The executive orders (EOs) ...
Viewpoint: Indiscriminate cuts of agricultural climate programs undercut American productivity
As the Trump administration reviews federal programs, reduces the federal workforce, and prepares its 2026 budget proposal, cuts to climate-related ...
RFK, Jr.’s food and farming revamp is ‘based on thin scientific evidence’ that will make the food less healthy and more expensive
With the establishment of the President’s Make America Healthy Again Commission, the MAHA movement is taking aim squarely at industrial ...
Viewpoint: Trump’s announced “much-needed” agricultural ‘reforms’ are ‘indiscriminate’, ‘contradict the administration’s stated priorities’ and ‘undermine American innovation’
The early days of Donald Trump’s second presidential term saw a record number of executive orders, an almost immediate freeze ...
Viewpoint: The EPA’s current regulatory regime restricts farmers’ ability to fight pests and climate change
Plant pests and disease have a massive global impact, causing the loss of 20–40% of crop production and costing over USD 220 ...
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: What would the sustainability impact be if Europe approves gene-edited crops?
The European Union is currently in the process of reconsidering how to regulate gene-edited crops in agriculture. This month, the European ...
How the America Grows Act will improve agricultural innovation and spur research on climate change crop innovation
Agricultural research is key to ensuring food security, economic stability, and sustainable development. It is the driving force behind advances ...
Letter to the US Department of Agriculture: Look to biotechnology for innovation
To provide input to the federal government as USDA submits its report in March on how to use biotechnology and ...
Soaring seed prices: What role do patents and regulation play?
Agricultural seed prices have soared over the last 20 years. Conventional seed prices have risen 200%, while genetically modified ones ...
Analysis: We can’t limit climate change impact in agriculture unless we embrace biological solutions and move away from outdated farming techniques
In many circles, “biotechnology” is a four-letter word. Whether you’re a Jurassic Park truther, an anti-Monsanto activist, or an anti-Vaxxer, the ...
Viewpoint: ‘Underrated and underfunded’: It’s time for Congress to increase support for biotechnology tools in next farm bill
Biotechnology and breeding are important ways to improve agriculture: they make the plants we grow and animals we raise for ...
Can plant-based meat spur a just environmental transition for animals and food-factory workers alike?
There are plenty of ways in which fake meat is better than animal meat. Getting institutions like schools and hospitals ...
Analysis: Assessing sustainable food production — Certifications like ‘organic’ tell us very little. It’s time to shift focus to outcomes
In 80 years—during which our knowledge of farming’s environmental impacts has grown profoundly—the federal government’s basic approach to agricultural sustainability ...
Viewpoint: Sustainability challenges require us to rethink the role of meat in our world — How we raise livestock and process chicken and beef
Meat is a touchy topic. At the beginning of 2021, right-wing media jumped on a rumor that President Joe Biden ...
Viewpoint: What are the barriers limiting Africa from adopting genetically engineered and hybrid-improved seeds?
Over the last 15 years, development organizations including USAID, the UK’s DFID, and most prominently the Gates Foundation, have invested millions ...
Viewpoint: Public investment in farming technology could cut land use by 63 thousand square miles—’about the size of Iowa’
Using existing research on the relationship between R&D and productivity and SIMPLE, a global economic model of agriculture, we find ...
Viewpoint: FDA’s burdensome animal gene-editing rules hinder innovation. USDA takeover could spur progress
Over the last two months, USDA made two revolutionary moves regarding the regulation of genetically engineered (GE) animals: to take ...
Want fewer pandemics? Intensify agriculture to combat hunger—the root cause of disease spread
A number of activists and opinion writers have recently argued that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can be traced ...
Land use for meat production slashed by 140 million hectares since 2000. Intensive agriculture could keep the decline going
Pastureland is by far the single largest human land use on the planet. Globally, we use twice as much land ...
Viewpoint: Intensive agriculture is the only way to sustainably feed the world
[In December], the World Resources Institute (WRI) released a comprehensive study embracing agricultural intensification as the only way to simultaneously close what ...
‘Ecomodern Eating’: Why agricultural productivity and innovation are key to sustainable food and farming
Sunday, April 22nd, marked nearly 50 years since millions of people gathered for the first Earth Day. Their celebration raised awareness ...
100% organic farming would require ‘Australia-sized amount of extra land’ due to lower yields, no synthetic fertilizer
Organic farming, which prohibits the use of synthetic fertilizers, is often touted as the solution to many of agriculture’s environmental ...
Would switching to organic farming cut greenhouse gas emissions?
A new study, led by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, gives the impression that a large-scale shift to organic farming ...
Viewpoint: Meatless meat could be next environment-saving breakthrough
[Editor's note: Dan Blaustein-Rejto is a food and agriculture analyst at the Breakthrough Institute. He holds a Master’s in public policy from ...
Biodiversity on the farm: It’s more complicated than you might think
[Editor's note: William Price is a statistician in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Idaho ...
