This week, agriculture ministers across the European Union received an unusual delivery. It wasn't a briefing, nor a glossy report destined for the bottom of a pile. We sent them a sandbox, an actual one, filled by children with sand and with crayon drawings of the dinners, farms and food-science jobs they hope to grow up around. 27 boxes filled with sand going through the EU mailing system right now. There's a reason for the literalism. The word sandbox is doing serious work in the EU...

We sent a citizens' letter to European Commission Vice President Stéphane Séjourné, signed by 4,114 individuals, calling for novel foods to be included in the Biotech Act. Read their response: