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.
Viewpoint: Democratic tsunami: As the red tide recedes, here are the most likely shifts in food and agricultural policy
Democrats retook both the House and Senate in Tuesday’s midterms, and the shift could ripple from the farm bill to ...
How climate change is driving increased pesticide usage
Climate change isn’t just stressing crops — it’s giving the insects that eat them a leg up. Warmer temperatures are ...
Farmers are collateral damage in the PFAS “forever chemicals” crossfire. Here’s what they need to know.
Most of the PFAS — or "forever chemicals" — on Minnesota farms came from somewhere else, according to a new ...
Gene editing once viewed with suspicion by UK farmers, upwards of 90% now open to their sustainability benefits
British farmers are ready to give gene-edited crops a shot. Nearly eight in 10 (78%) say they would consider growing ...
Making fertilizer from thin air: Bayer’s gene-editing innovation could dramatically cut chemical fertilizer use in growing food
Bayer is betting that gene editing can wean the world’s staple grains off synthetic fertilizer. As Bloomberg’s Sonja Wind reports, ...
We’re likely over-consuming the world’s most profitable nutrient – and it’s wrecking our waistlines.
Protein has become the darling of the grocery aisle, stamped on everything from cereal to snack bars. But as BBC ...
Himalayan and other specialty salts are cool, but they contribute to dangerous iodine deficiency. Here’s how iodized table salt helped raise America’s IQ—and why it still matters for your health
Americans are getting less iodine than they used to, and that could matter for kids’ brains. As Science News’ Aimee ...
Viewpoint: The organic, good-food, small-farm movement is seductive but wrongheaded. Here’s the sustainability and environmental case for industrial farming
Farmer and writer Wendell Berry, who died Aug. 31 at 92, was a decent, principled man and a lodestar of ...
A ‘shining success’ or ’empty promises’: Two years along, West Virginians assess MAHA’s food promises
West Virginia’s food-dye ban won applause in Washington, but food pantry organizers in the state’s coalfields say the Make America ...
Viewpoint: The libertarian case for getting the government out of the business of regulating food choices
Governments worldwide are moving from nudging people toward healthier diets to dictating them, and that's a mistake, as Reason's Jeffrey ...
‘Weird food’? Testicle- and brain-eating, supplement-gulping MAHA health food enthusiasts defend their ‘natural’ diets
Raw buffalo brains, bull testicles and roadkill are on the menu for a growing community of diet contrarians who insist ...
RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine obsession and fear of MAHA derailed bird flu containment plan
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine views helped push the Agriculture Department to shelve its plan for vaccinating poultry against avian ...
As Europe inches forward in its embrace of gene-edited crops, hopes abound that opposition to GMOs might fade
Europe's recent deal to loosen rules on gene-edited crops could be the first crack in the continent's decades-long resistance to ...
Viewpoint: Why taxes, regulations, and scare tactics won’t convert people into eating healthier
Decades of gentle nudging haven’t slowed the global obesity epidemic, so governments are getting pushier — slapping warning labels on ...
Viewpoint: Latest attack on renewable energy and farmers, new USDA rules could put solar grants out of reach for small producers
Farmers hoping to tap the US Department of Agriculture's Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) must now build their solar ...
‘Blatant slap in the face’: MAHA activists turn on RFK Jr. and Trump administration
A group of “Make America Healthy Again” activists, including former members of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s 2024 presidential campaign, says ...
MAHA moms divided over RFK Jr.’s food‑safety efforts, as recall alerts grow and outbreaks spread
The “crunchy moms” who helped power Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again movement are splintering, as a year ...
Viewpoint: ‘Bureaucratic and economic obstacles’ to agricultural biotechnology: Europe creeps into the 21st century, but blocks remain
Genetically modified crops won’t single-handedly rescue harvests from worsening droughts, but Europe’s rulebook is making sure they barely get the ...
Should we be afraid of our food?
America's food-safety system hasn't kept pace with an increasingly industrial, globe-spanning food supply, and recent staffing and budget cuts are ...
Tearful onions? CRISPR has a solution for that
Chopping onions may one day be a dry-eyed affair. Researchers at Japan’s Chiba University and food company House Foods have ...
GAHA: The corporate-created “healthier America” movement challenging what it claims is MAHA misinformation about modern farming, chemicals, and food
Some of America’s biggest food and farm interests have decided the best way to answer the Make America Healthy Again ...
RFK Jr.’s plan to curb America’s appetite for ultra-processed foods and artificial dyes blocked by the White House
RFK Jr.’s push to rein in ultraprocessed foods and artificial dyes has hit its biggest roadblock yet: the White House ...
Is organic farming really more sustainable? 100 recent studies say ‘no’
Organic produce may wear a green halo, but it doesn’t earn a clear climate advantage. Organic and conventional farming come ...
No, GMO foods do not “damage genes, natural disposition and hormones, or decrease physical health and intelligence”
Social media posts spreading in Indonesia claim that genetically modified food can rewrite your DNA, and the science says otherwise ...
Non-browning CRISPR gene-edited bananas move one step closer to British markets
Bananas that stay yellow long after their peers have turned to mush are edging closer to British supermarket shelves. A ...
Here are all the ways CRISPR gene editing is transforming Africa’s staple crops—and there’s a lot more innovation to come
CRISPR gene editing is already reshaping Africa’s most important food crops, from disease-resistant bananas to less toxic cassava, and a ...
Social media influencers are driving food misinformation across Europe
Scroll long enough and someone will promise that a supplement, superfood or detox tea can fix whatever ails you. Those ...
