Why are GOP governors taking food out of children’s mouths?
In FERN’s latest story, published with Mother Jones, Bryce Covert explores why 15 states are refusing to participate in Summer EBT, a new federal program that gives poor families with children money for groceries during the summer when they can’t get meals at school.
Why universal free school meals matter
For the first two years of the pandemic, there was such a thing as a free lunch — for public school kids, at least. To blunt a spike in hunger caused by job losses and school closures, the federal government made school meals free, even available as ‘grab and go,’ for virtually all children. But Republicans blocked a renewal of the program last spring, accusing Democrats of exploiting emergency measures to enact lasting changes. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Nutritional quality of school food surges under 2010 reforms
With Congress in the early stages of updating child nutrition programs costing $30 billion a year, researchers say the nutritional quality of school meals increased by more than 40 percent following a 2010 mandate to serve healthier food. The first comprehensive study of the 2010 reforms also found that student participation rates were highest in the schools that served higher-quality meals.
SNAP buying shifts when shoppers go online, study finds
With the pandemic providing the impetus, the USDA made online shopping available to SNAP recipients in 49 states and the District of Columbia, with Alaska the only exception. Now researchers have found that online SNAP shoppers are far less likely to buy fresh produce, meat or seafood than if they went to supermarkets, but they also cut back on candy, cookies and cake, according to a new study.
Online SNAP grocery shopping tainted by ‘manipulative’ tactics, says report
State after state joined a USDA pilot program this spring that allows SNAP participants to buy groceries online as a way to reduce the chance of contracting Covid-19. But now, said a report released Thursday, SNAP shoppers face "an often manipulative and nontransparent grocery marketplace" when they shop via the internet. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Two more states and D.C. are approved for online SNAP grocery purchases
SNAP recipients in West Virginia, North Carolina and the District of Columbia soon will be able to purchase groceries online as part of a pilot initiated a year ago to test the idea, said the USDA. With the approvals, 39 percent of SNAP recipients are in a state that is part of the pilot. Interest in the pilot has risen with concerns about limiting exposure to the coronavirus.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
New states in SNAP online pilot program going live this month and next
The newest states added to the Department of Agriculture’s SNAP online purchasing pilot program are planning to roll out the service by the end of April or mid-May, according to internal documents and news reports. Meanwhile, more states are eager to join the program as the coronavirus pandemic highlights disparities in food access. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Sales of antimicrobials for use in livestock are second lowest in a decade, says FDA
Drugmakers sold 24 million pounds of antimicrobials for use in food-bearing animals last year, a slight decline from the previous year and the second-lowest total in a decade, said the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday. Sales have declined sharply since the FDA shut down using the drugs to encourage weight gain in cattle, hogs, chickens, and turkeys.
Global declaration calls for lower use of antimicrobials in agriculture
Nearly 200 United Nations member states, warned of the rising health threat of drug-resistant pathogens, approved a declaration on Thursday to step up their work to preserve the efficacy of disease-fighting medicines, reduce the death toll from antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by 10 percent, and “meaningfully reduce” antimicrobial use in agriculture by 2030.
Drugs often used on livestock despite ‘raised without antibiotics’ label
Federal researchers found drug residues in one of every five cattle marketed as “raised without antibiotics” in samples collected last fall, said the Agriculture Department on Wednesday. The findings “underscore the need for more rigorous substantiation of such claims,” it said, in “strongly” encouraging — but not requiring — meat processors to routinely test for residues if they put a “no antibiotics ever” label on their meat.
Sales of antibiotics for food animals up again, reports FDA
Drugmakers sold 24.6 million pounds of antibiotics for use in cattle, hogs, and poultry last year, up 4 percent from 2021 and the second increase in two years, said the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday.
USDA asks, is it really antibiotic-free, raised humanely?
Two USDA agencies will begin a sampling project to see if there are antibiotic residues in beef marketed as “raised without antibiotics,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday. The USDA’s food safety agency will also issue a guideline recommending that companies produce more proof when they want to use a label that says animals were raised under specific conditions.
USDA keeps its mouth shut about climate research
Since President Trump took office, the USDA "has refused to publicize dozens of government-funded studies that carry warnings about the effects of climate change," reports Politico on Sunday. In a lengthy piece, it said at least 45 studies produced by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) did not receive any promotion, including a groundbreaking report that rice loses its vitamins in a carbon-rich atmosphere.
Perdue: Trump and I believe in Clovis
If there was any question of backing for Sam Clovis, nominated to be USDA chief scientist, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said, "I fully support the nomination" and "the president has confidence in his abilities." Perdue brushed aside questions whether Clovis, a college professor, has the credentials for the job.
Report: Under Trump, climate change went on the ‘avoid’ list at USDA agency
Officials at USDA's land stewardship agency told employees to use the phrase "weather extremes" rather than "climate change" as the Trump administration settled into office, says The Guardian, based on emails it obtained that showed the new administration "has had a stark impact on the language used by some federal employees."
California newspaper urges Senate rejection of USDA ‘anti-science blowhard’
President Trump's chief political operative at USDA, Sam Clovis, is unqualified to serve as undersecretary for research and should be rejected by the Senate, said the editorial board of the San Jose Mercury-News. At nearly the same time the newspaper labeled Clovis as "an anti-science blowhard," 22 U.S. farm groups asked the Senate Agriculture Committee for swift confirmation of Clovis, a co-chair of Trump's presidential campaign.
Trump says Democrats will take away your hamburgers. He’s the one who might.
In FERN's latest story, published with The New York Times, reporter Ted Genoways explains how Donald Trump's vow to deport millions of immigrants if he is re-elected would decimate the meatpacking industry's workforce.
Agricultural guestworker debate lurks amid GOP plans for mass deportations
U.S. agriculture has turned increasingly to short-term guestworkers to relieve a labor shortage in recent years. Farm groups and farm-state lawmakers want to expand the program. The Republican platform does not mention agricultural workers while pledging strong immigration laws. Project 2025, which describes itself as a blueprint for a new Trump administration, says the H-2A agricultural visa should be phased out over the next 10 to 20 years.
Fear of reprisal kept immigrants from accessing federal aid in pandemic
Fear, fueled by the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies, kept many low-income immigrant families from accessing non-cash benefits and other federal assistance programs they were eligible for in 2020, even as the pandemic deepened economic hardship, according to two new analyses released today from the Urban Institute.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
With Trump rule, food-insecure immigrants have few options
The pandemic has exacerbated food insecurity for households across the country, but undocumented immigrants and mixed-status families have faced unique challenges. That’s in part because they’ve been excluded from the momentary salve of government relief efforts, from stimulus checks to enhanced unemployment benefits. But it also stems from the Trump administration’s hostile immigration policies and rhetoric — and notably the president’s changes to the “public charge” rule, which has led many to shy away even from benefits for which they are eligible. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Eater refuses to publish immigrant-owned food guide for fear of retaliation
Eater, a major food-news outlet, says it won’t publish lists of immigrant-owned food establishments because it fears that any such lists could fall into the wrong hands. According to a statement on the outlet's website, Eater readers have written in asking for recommendations of immigrant-owned food businesses because they want to show their support in light of the threat of deportations under the Trump administration.
Incentive payments help farmers start with cover crops, says report
Nine out of 10 farmers say they definitely or probably will stick with cover crops after the expiration of financial incentives to add the crops to their operations, said a report based on a survey of 795 farmers nationwide. Half of the participants in the National Cover Crop Survey said they had received some sort of payment for cover crops in 2022.
Farmers doubt there will be a farm bill this year — Poll
For the first time in polling by Purdue University, a plurality of farmers say Congress is unlikely to pass a farm bill in 2023. Lawmakers are all but certain to fail to enact a successor to the 2018 farm bill before it expires on Sept. 30 and plan to be in session for as few as nine of the remaining 22 weeks of this year.
Can Biden’s climate-smart ag program live up to the $3-billion hype?
This spring, the Biden administration began allocating $3.1 billion to hundreds of agriculture organizations, corporations, universities, and nonprofits for climate-smart projects. As Gabriel Popkin writes in FERN’s latest story, published with Yale Environment 360, “The USDA estimates that the 141 funded projects will, collectively over the project’s five-year lifetime, eliminate or sequester the equivalent of 60 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, on par with removing more than 2.4 million gas-powered cars from the road over the same period.”
Cover crops and no-till planting pay off, says AGree
The financial and risk-reducing benefits of conservation practices such as cover crops and conservation tillage are increasingly evident, said the AGree Initiative on farm policy in a report on Tuesday. "Further, ecosystem services markets may provide farmers with new economic opportunities to diversify their income," said the report, aimed in part at farm lenders.
USDA report highlights harms of seed consolidation
A new report released earlier this month by the U.S. Department of Agriculture finds that seed industry consolidation and restrictive intellectual property regimes are stifling small, independent, and public seed breeding programs. <strong>No paywall</strong>
Farmers want open-source farm equipment
Farmers are calling for free access to the software that runs their tractors and other farm equipment. "You're paying for the metal but the electronic parts technically you don't own it. They do," says Kyle Schwarting, a farmer in southeast Nebraska.
USDA tech report: 51 patents in 2013
The Agriculture Department received 51 patents and unveiled 180 inventions during fiscal 2013, according to its annual Report on Technology Transfer.
Senate approves Stone-Manning as land management chief
Tracy Stone-Manning, a long-time environmentalist, will serve as the first Senate-confirmed director of the Bureau of Land Management in more than four years, winning a party-line roll call on her nomination, 50-45. Montana Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, said Republicans resorted to character assassination in their attempts to defeat the nomination.
Party-line committee split may not halt vote on BLM nominee
President Biden's choice to run the Bureau of Land Management will face a confirmation vote in the Senate without the committee endorsement given to nearly all nominees. After a heated debate that one senator called "a skunk fight," the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee split, 10-10, along party lines on whether to recommend Senate approval of Tracy Stone-Manning as director of the Interior Department agency.
National conservation goal: 30 percent of U.S. land and water
The Biden administration announced a 10-year, voluntary and locally led drive to conserve 30 percent of U.S. land and coastal waters by 2030, an idea President Biden broached in January. "This is the first national conservation goal we have ever set as a country," Gina McCarthy, the White House climate adviser, said Thursday during a rollout that featured three cabinet secretaries.
In public lands proposal, Warren seeks moratorium on drilling leases, free entry to national parks
Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren announced her public lands policy platform on Monday, which includes an end to new fossil fuel drilling leases and an expansion of renewable energy production. Meanwhile, candidate Bernie Sanders said he supports imposing a moratorium on agribusiness mergers.
Kremlin uses Black Sea grain as blackmail, says Blinken
Russia is exporting more grain at higher prices than ever before while suppressing Ukrainian shipments, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a UN Security Council meeting on Thursday. “Every member of this council, every member of the United Nations should tell Moscow: Enough using the Black Sea as blackmail, enough treating the world’s most vulnerable people as leverage.”
Greatest locust threat in decades in East Africa
Swarms of food-devouring desert locusts threaten food security for nearly 10 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, said the Food Security and Nutrition Working Group on Monday, describing the infestations as the worst in 25 years in Ethiopia and in 70 years in Kenya. The group, which focuses on central and eastern Africa, said the locust upsurge threatens the coming agricultural season.
Former WFP director Cousin joins Chicago Council
Ertharin Cousin, director of the UN World Food Program since 2012, has joined the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and will advise the group in “its ongoing efforts to advance global food security by supporting research, representing food security expertise on a variety of global stages, and building unique partnerships.”
In severe drought, Malawi faces food crisis
Malawi is facing a food crisis as the southern Africa region wrestles with drought and high temperatures. Due to record high winter temperatures hitting southern Africa during planting season, Malawi’s corn production fell by 12 percent in April leaving the country short of 1 million tonnes of grain during its worst food crisis in a decade, The East African said.
16 percent of global population dies early because of pollution
Nine million people died prematurely in 2015 because of air, water and soil pollution — three times the number that died of tuberculosis, AIDS and malaria combined, says a study published in The Lancet. The exact cause of death ranged from lung cancer to heart disease, but the total amounted to 16 percent of all deaths globally.
Braving venomous snakes and crocs for resilient wild rice
Reporter Lisa Hamilton traveled to a remote corner of Australia to shadow a team of researchers looking to “collect, decode, and define” a hardier strain of wild rice that could help them save what Hamilton calls “the daily sustenance of the world’s poor.”
Florida farm grows experimental GMO citrus trees
A large Florida citrus grower and processor, Southern Gardens Citrus based in Clewiston, "is growing genetically modified fruit that’s resistant to the citrus greening disease," said The Packer.
Too many still weigh too much, but Americans are eating less
"After decades of worsening diets and sharp increases in obesity, Americans' eating habits have begun changing for the better," says the New York Times.