FDA sets new target for less salt in foods
Food makers and restaurants were asked by the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday to voluntarily reduce salt levels in 163 categories of food over a three-year period. Americans still would consume more salt than is recommended in the Dietary Guidelines, 2,750 milligrams a day vs. 2,300 milligrams, but "even modest improvements across the population could produce a large public health benefit," said the agency.
Improve nutrition standards for donated foods — report
Although many food banks discourage donations of junk food, they still don't get enough donations of healthy food and continue to receive unwanted items, said the consumer group Center for Science in the Public Interest on Monday.
Jacobson to step down after 44 years at CSPI
After 44 years as president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Michael Jacobson is stepping down. During his long tenure, Jacobson not only helped develop nutrition labels, he “has also had a hand in halting the marketing of many sugar-filled foods to children, reducing salt levels in packaged foods, and banning transfats,” says NPR.
FDA delays compliance date for new Nutrition Facts label
The Food and Drug Administration decided foodmakers need more time to put the updated Nutrition Facts label on their packages and said it will allow additional time beyond the July 28, 2018, deadline set two years ago. The new deadline will be announced later, said the agency, to the applause of the food industry and the dismay of consumer groups.
EPA creates agriculture and rural affairs office
Speaking at the largest farm gathering in the country, EPA administrator Michael Regan announced the creation of a new EPA office to expand two-way communication with farmers and rural communities. "With the launch of this new office, we are ensuring agricultural and rural stakeholders will have a seat at the table for many years to come," said Regan at the Commodity Classic in Houston.
White House creates Office of Environmental Justice
On Earth Day, President Biden signed an executive order making environmental justice — the fair treatment of all people in the development and enforcement of environmental policies — part of the everyday work of federal agencies.
Farm Bureau urges members to turn ‘energy and passion’ against clean water rule
The president of the largest U.S. farm group called for members to bring the "same energy and devotion when it comes to WOTUS" that they used last year to preserve a tax break on inherited property. President Zippy Duvall said the American Farm Bureau Federation also influenced legislation and USDA programs on climate mitigation to ensure that they "respect farmers."
Trump runs in rural America on ethanol, tax cuts, regulatory relief
President Trump is ending his re-election campaign in rural America on the same issues that boosted him in 2016: Promises of tax cuts, fewer federal regulations and support for corn ethanol. In addition, farmers are wealthy from $23 billion in trade-war payments, said Trump in Dubuque, Iowa, on Sunday; "That's why you're all here and you're all happy."
Brexit may put a floor under sagging U.K. cropland values
Over the past year, UK cropland values have fallen by 9 percent, says Agrimoney, with one land company seeing a continued decline this summer while another says prices are stabilizing after the steepest decline in at least 12 years. Both companies "were sanguine about the effect of a British exit from the EU on land prices," said Agrimoney, based in London.
China to discuss its stockpile secrets with UN ag experts
Chinese agricultural leaders are to meet members of the UN-backed Agricultural Market Information System, created after food prices surged worldwide in 2008, to discuss access to data on Chinese grain stockpiles, says AgriMoney.
China to sell part of its massive cotton stockpile
China, the world's largest importer and consumer of cotton, "will start to sell down its massive cotton stockpile this year," says Reuters. Beijing holds half, or more, of the world's stockpile of cotton.
Smaller corn, soy supplies but big harvests on horizon
Stockpiles of U.S. corn and soybeans are smaller than expected, giving a boost to futures prices in the near term, although massive harvests of the two most widely planted crops in the nation are on the horizon.
Cold weather adds to Russia wheat woes
Colder-than-usual weather "is likely to spur further concerns over the condition of the winter wheat crop" in Russia, says The Crop Site. It points to uncertainties about the state of the crop.
FDA clarifies its approach to biotech animals
The Food and Drug Administration, the lead U.S. regulator of genetically engineered animals, issued two documents to clarify its risk-based oversight of the creatures and their developers. The agency exercises varying levels of scrutiny, ranging from full-scale review of an animal and its risk profile to instances in which developers can take an animal directly to market without consulting the FDA.
Administration looks for ways to expand bioeconomy
Three months after President Biden signed an executive order to accelerate biotechnology innovation, the administration formally asked stakeholders and the public on Monday to identify gaps, ambiguities and inefficiencies in federal regulation of the sector.
USDA biotech rules nearing update, says undersecretary
GE salmon cleared for U.S. dinner plates
More than three years after the FDA approved, for the first time, a genetically engineered animal as safe to eat, the government opened the door for AquaBounty Technologies to grow and sell its GE salmon in the United States. A biotech trade group said the fish, which developers say grows twice as fast as as conventional Atlantic salmon on 25-percent less feed, will "contribute to a more sustainable food supply."
Seeds planted in the Midwest may have Puerto Rican ties
Farms in Puerto Rico are used in the research and development of up to 85 percent of the corn, soybean, and other hybrid seeds grown in the United States. “So the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria in September stretches to the croplands of the Midwest and Great Plains,” reports Harvest Public Media.
Scott bill would help small livestock producers
The United States loses an average of 17,000 beef producers each year, said House Agriculture chairman David Scott in filing legislation that would increase USDA support of small producers and help them find local and regional markets for their beef. "We believe we are on the right track," Scott told reporters last week.
White House slams Russia over ransomware attack on JBS
President Biden will meet President Vladimir Putin as planned on June 16 "as a vital part of defending America's interests," said a White House spokeswoman on Tuesday after holding Russia culpable for the ransomware attack on meatpacker JBS. "The White House is engaging directly with the Russian government on this matter and delivering the message that responsible states do not harbor ransomware criminals."
As meat plants reopen, Iowa, South Dakota, Pennsylvania and Nebraska are coronavirus leaders
As many as 18 percent of workers in meat and poultry plants are infected with the coronavirus in Iowa and South Dakota, while Pennsylvania and Nebraska account for one-quarter of the Covid-19 cases nationwide, said CDC scientists and state public health officials. The CDC released the report as Smithfield Foods, one of the giants of the meat industry, began to reopen a hog plant that was a coronavirus hot spot three weeks ago.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Ranchers suit claims packers conspired to deflate beef prices
Last week, several Midwestern feedlot owners along with the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund (R-CALF) filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that dominant meatpackers conspired to depress cattle prices starting in 2015. The case argues that JBS, Tyson, Cargill, and National Beef strategically cut back on open market cattle bids, closed plants, and imported costly foreign cattle in order to force farmers to accept lower prices and manipulate spot market cattle values.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Using CRISPR to create a ‘boys only’ cattle herd
One of the best-known scientists in the GMO world, Alison Van Eenennaam, “aims to create a bull that will father only male offspring” through a bit of gene editing with CRISPR, said MIT Technology Review.
Trump-era plan to reduce SNAP eligibility is withdrawn
The Biden administration withdrew a Trump-era proposal on Wednesday to tighten eligibility rules for food stamps and reduce SNAP enrollment by 3.1 million people. It was the second major Trump SNAP regulation to founder under the new administration. Both would have restricted access to SNAP benefits.
SNAP enrollment running 5 million above pre-pandemic levels
Some 42 million people received food stamps according to the latest count by the government, roughly 5 million people, or 14 percent, more than before the pandemic took hold in March 2020. Congress temporarily increased benefits 15 percent in response to the pandemic, a boost that is set to expire Sept. 30.
SNAP enrollment surges by 17 percent during pandemic
Some 6 million to 7 million people have joined the food stamp program since the coronavirus pandemic and the accompanying economic recession hit the United States last spring, a growth rate for SNAP never seen before, said the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The think tank said enrollment exceeds 43 million people and is the highest since October 2017.
SNAP enrollment of 50 million possible if pandemic is as bad as Great Recession
The huge job losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic — 22 million Americans out of work in just four weeks — may be followed by the highest SNAP enrollment ever as people seek help buying food. Participation would near 50 million people if the same portion of the population receives food stamps as during the Great Recession. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
As milk prices stay low, a call for drastic dairy reform
More than fifty rural, agriculture, and labor organizations signed onto a letter demanding that Congress and the Department of Agriculture do more to support dairy farmers as low prices continue to threaten small and mid-size dairies across the country. The organizations include the National Family Farm Coalition, the Food Chain Workers Alliance, the Rural Coalition, Pesticide Action Network North America, and many others.
Perdue opens enrollment for ‘new and improved’ dairy insurance program
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced Tuesday that enrollment is now open for the “new and improved” Dairy Margins Protection Program, a dairy insurance program run by USDA. The program has a poor reputation among many dairy farmers, who believe funds from an earlier iteration of the program were misallocated. <strong>No paywall</strong>
A senator’s efforts to return money to dairy farmers
The recently-passed federal budget contains a major revamp of the Dairy Margin Protection Program, a controversial insurance program for dairy farmers. But Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) is still pushing, through new legislation, for farmers to get the money back that they previously invested in the DMPP.
Feed ingredient that reduces methane from dairy cows is approved for U.S. sale
With FDA approval in hand, Elanco Animal Health said on Tuesday it will sell throughout North America its feed ingredient that reduces methane emissions from lactating dairy cows by 30 percent, with sales beginning in the third quarter of the year. Farmers could use carbon contracts to offset the cost of the ingredient, "a few cents a gallon of milk," the company said.
Feed compound may cut methane from livestock by up to 30 percent
Livestock are blamed as a significant contributor to global warming because they emit methane, a greenhouse gas, while digesting their feed rations. An international team of scientists has identified a compound that can be added to feed that reduces methane emissions by up to 30 percent.
China bars pork from six US plants over feed additive
China barred pork imports from six U.S. processing plants and six cold storage facilities as part of its ban on the feed additive ractopamine, which helps hogs gain weight more rapidly, said Reuters.
After years of losses, rural population is growing slowly
Rural America, home to one in seven Americans, “is growing again after a decade of overall population loss” and is now home to 46 million people, said the USDA’s “Rural America at a Glance” report on Wednesday. Rural employment has recovered from the job losses of the pandemic, and 1 percent of rural workers hold clean energy jobs, about the same number as are employed in fossil fuels.
Rural poverty rate is stable, says Census Bureau
Household income edged downward in rural America in 2022, but the poverty rate held steady at 15 percent, said the Census Bureau on Tuesday. Median household income in rural America was more than $21,000 lower than in metropolitan areas, helping to explain why rural poverty rates are higher than the U.S. average.
SNAP lowered rural poverty by 1.4 percentage points
Food stamps had a greater effect in reducing poverty rates in rural America than in urban areas when viewed through the Census Bureau's Supplemental Poverty Measure, said an American Enterprise Institute newsletter. Northwestern University professor Diane Schanzenbach calculated that SNAP lowered the poverty rate in rural areas by 1.4 percentage points compared to a 0.8 point reduction in urban America.
Covid-19 is worst in persistently poor rural counties
Throughout the pandemic, the highest Covid-19 case rates and the lowest vaccination rates in the country have been found in persistently poor rural counties, the USDA said Wednesday in its annual Rural America at a Glance report. Those counties have also had low unemployment rates, suggesting residents continued to work despite the risk of infection by the coronavirus, said the report.
Rural-urban poverty gap narrowed over past decade
The rural poverty rate has exceeded the urban rate ever since the government began tracking both in the 1960s. The difference, 4.5 percentage points in the 1980s, has narrowed to an average of 3.1 points over the past 10 years, said the USDA in updating its rural poverty and well-being webpage.
Report: Fight for $15 movement tackles racial wealth gap
In 2012, a group of 200 fast-food workers walked off the job in New York City and demanded a $15 hourly wage and a union. In the decade since, the “Fight for $15,” as the movement came to be called, has secured higher wages for more than 26 million workers, lowered the racial wealth gap in many states and pumped more than $87 billion into local economies, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Employment Law Project (NELP).
Restaurant workers would stay in the industry if wages rose, new report finds
Restaurant owners have reported difficulty finding workers as many states and cities lift the pandemic restrictions that led to mass layoffs in the sector last year. But the vast majority of restaurant workers say they would stay in the industry if provided with a stable, livable wage, according to a new report from One Fair Wage and the U.C. Berkeley Food Labor Research Center.
D.C. city council may overturn voter measure on tipped minimum wage
In a packed hearing that ran into the late evening, Washington, D.C.’s city council debated Monday whether the council should repeal a recently-passed ballot initiative to raise the city’s tipped minimum wage. Initiative 77, passed in June by District voters, would raise the tipped minimum wage to match the non-tipped minimum wage by 2026.
McDonald’s reneges on wage promise
McDonald’s has failed to comply with a 2015 promise to raise workers’ wages, organizers say. The chain had said that it would raise its workers’ hourly pay to at least one dollar above minimum wage.
Puzder out as Labor nominee
Andrew Puzder, President’s Trump’s pick for Secretary of Labor and the CEO of the fast-food chain that owns of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., has withdrawn his nomination, says the New York Times.