"It's all connected." 

If we had to pick a motto for 2025, that would be it. The year in our rearview mirror saw policy shaping the food supply, and food shaping politics (it's a dance that continues into the new year and beyond). Also, shoppers and eaters made it abundantly clear (for the gazillionth time) that they want food that is more natural and less processed, and the biotechnology industry squeezed out some truly bizarre GMOs, just in case we were getting bored (we were not).

Let's take stock of the stories that loomed large for us in 2025 and set the stage for 2026.

"Of Mice and Mammoths" — and other GMOs of note.

• Some of the stranger genetically modified organisms to pop up in our news feeds this year included a gene edited dire wolf, and the woolly mouse, a diminutive first step in resurrecting the woolly mammoth. 
• Okanagan Specialty Fruits, the company behind the non-browning GMO Arctic Apple, proposed using gene editing to develop super-dwarfing apple trees.
• During the summer, the Non-GMO Project and the European Non-GMO Association (ENGA) teamed up on a report, "The Reality of New GMOs in 2025," which debunked the biotech industry's narrative of environmental sustainability and market success. Our colleagues at ENGA have been assiduously following the EU's deregulation of New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) and reported in April on a provisional decision removing mandatory labelling and traceability requirements from these new GMOs.

Protecting the birthplace of corn

• Following the disappointing 2024 ruling that forced Mexico to accept GMO corn imports, Mexico amended its constitution in February to ban the planting of GMO corn within its territory, where native varieties are considered an "element of national identity."

Ultraprocessed foods were everywhere. So were news stories about them.

• State and federal initiatives proliferated around ultraprocessed foods, including the formation of a Make America Healthy Again Commission. To date, the governmental action seems to be largely focused on specific ingredients or sales venues, such as schools. In July, the federal government called for public comments to develop a definition of ultraprocessed food.
• A Center for Food Safety lawsuit successfully challenged the exclusion of highly refined and ultraprocessed foods from requiring bioengineered (BE) food disclosures, closing a loophole which had allowed products made from GMO crops (think: canola oil from GMO canola or sugar from GMO sugar beets) to avoid BE labeling. 
• In November, publication of the Non-UPF Verified Standard marked the nation’s first comprehensive framework to define and address one of our most pressing challenges: ultraprocessed foods. You can learn more about this program at nonultraprocessed.org.

Butterfly news

• Non-GMO Project CEO Megan Westgate was named a NOSH notable person for her innovation in preserving the non-GMO food supply and emerging work on highlighting non-ultraprocessed foods.
• This year also saw the launch of the FutureKind podcast, Megan spoke with Dr. Lyla June Johnston in the inaugural episode — listen to the conversation and browse other episodes here.

Literal butterfly news

• After several years of dwindling numbers, Monarch butterfly populations rebounded! These creatures are close to our hearts for their beauty, strength, ambition and endurance — and because they are featured on our logo. Later in the year, the Times reported on a research breakthrough that saw scientists arming individual butterflies with tiny tracking devices, delightfully describing the added weight as "equivalent to a half-raisin carrying three uncooked grains of rice."

Goodbye

Finally, in news that defies categorization, researcher, primatologist and activist Jane Goodall passed away this year at the age of 91. Dr. Goodall was a prolific advocate for the animals she studied and revered, and for the greater perils of environmental destruction. Her life exemplified the combined power of compassion, service and science. 

In honor of her many contributions, we close the year with her words:

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”