Covid-19
Organic industry backs immigration reform, covid-19 protection for farmworkers
The Organic Trade Association on Tuesday called for congressional action on two tracks to help farmworkers. The group seeks passage of an immigration reform law that would give legal status to undocumented farmworkers, and assistance in providing protective equipment to reduce the risk of infection by the coronavirus.
Coronavirus slowed U.S. exports of beef and pork in May
Beef exports were the smallest in 10 years during May and pork exports were the lowest in seven months, "due in part to interruptions in slaughter and processing," said the U.S. Meat Export Federation. Chief executive Dan Halstrom said the global economic slowdown and stay-at-home orders in some Western Hemisphere nations also were factors. <strong> (No paywall) </strong>
As Covid-19 cases spike, an unprecedented alliance races to protect California farmworkers
An outbreak of the novel coronavirus among farmworkers in California's Salinas Valley spawned a coalition of former adversaries that is racing to safeguard both the workers and the farms where they work, as Liza Gross reports in FERN's latest story, published with Univision.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Pandemic rages, but USDA’s food box program may end in eight weeks
As it announced contracts for up to $1.47 billion to carry the Farmers to Families Food Box initiative through July and August, the USDA also said the program could end on Sept. 1, or soon afterward, as funding for the food giveaway program runs out. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has highlighted the Food Box as a boon to hungry Americans during the coronavirus pandemic, while the White House opposed a temporary expansion of food-stamp benefits.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Risk of ‘food nationalism’ as coronavirus pandemic sweeps world
The world's grain reserves are large, with a bumper crop on the horizon, but the coronavirus pandemic has already inspired agricultural protectionism in a small number of countries, said analysts in a think tank paper this week. Separately, former Agriculture Undersecretary Catherine Woteki said protectionist policies could spark "food nationalism" at a time when trade could minimize food shortages. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Farmers fall short of corn planting forecast
Food box misses goal of 40 million deliveries
The Farmers to Families Food Box program, the $3 billion face of the Trump administration's response to US food insecurity during the pandemic, delivered 25 million boxes of food to nonprofit organization such as food banks as of Monday, said the USDA. <strong> (No paywall) </strong>
USDA should stop environmentally risky ‘depopulation’ methods, advocates say
The Department of Agriculture should restrict certain animal disposal methods used by farmers who euthanize herds during the Covid-19 pandemic, and make information about those “depopulation” events public, says a coalition of environmental groups that petitioned the agency Monday.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Largest annual increase in grocery prices since 2011
Grocery prices will rise by a higher-than-average 3 percent this year, due largely to the coronavirus-propelled surge in the cost of meat, poultry, and fish at the supermarket, forecast the USDA on Thursday. It would be the largest annual increase since 2011. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Hog backlog on U.S. farms could hit 2 million head
As many as 2 million hogs are backed up on U.S. farms because of coronavirus slowdowns and shutdowns at meatpacking plants, said three economists on Thursday, with the backlog likely to persist into the fall. The oversupply will weigh on market prices unless there is a strong recovery as the economy reopens, they said. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Farmworkers win rate hike from Driscoll’s supplier after walkout, petition
Farmworkers at a supplier for Driscoll’s, the largest berry distributor in the world, won a raise earlier this month — as well as some Covid-19 safety measures — following a series of actions demanding better pay and working conditions.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Covid-19 rages on among food system workers
While the nation starts to reopen unevenly, a new analysis of data collected by FERN since mid-April shows that the virus is spreading steadily among meatpacking, food processing, and farmworkers, and many states are experiencing multiple outbreaks in food and farm sectors. (No paywall)
USDA offers few yardsticks for measuring its food-box program
For USDA, the most important number in its food-box giveaway program is how many boxes are donated — 18.4 million as of Friday, according to a tally on the homepage of the agency that runs the program. Officials declined to provide other details, such as the average cost of the boxes or how long the $3-billion initiative will be in operation.<strong>(No paywall)</strong
SNAP rolls rose as coronavirus spread across U.S.
Food stamp enrollment climbed by 479,000 people, or 1.3 percent, in March, in the early days of combating the novel coronavirus and the economic slowdown that accompanied it, said the USDA. Experts have said the pandemic could result in the highest SNAP participation ever, topping the record of 47.6 million during fiscal 2013 during the slow recovery from the Great Recession.</strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Survey: Unrelenting food insecurity during pandemic
One in five US households say they often or sometimes run out of food, a persistently elevated level of food insecurity as the nation faces its fourth month of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Covid Impact Survey. "Despite some public benefits in place, this is still very high," said Nick Hart, president of the Data Foundation, which launched the survey.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Boost SNAP benefits by 15 percent, groups ask Senate
An increase in SNAP benefits "must be part of an effective, comprehensive response to Covid-19," said 2,500 anti-hunger, medical, religious, labor, farm, and consumer groups in a letter to Senate leaders. Republican senators, who blocked recent proposals by House Democrats for higher SNAP benefits, are expected to decide soon whether to draft a new coronavirus relief bill. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Judge declares much of N.C. ag-gag law unconstitutional
A federal judge handed a victory late Friday to animal-welfare advocates when he declared that much of North Carolina’s ag-gag law violated the First Amendment’s free-speech provisions. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas D. Schroeder’s ruling could also help employees who are trying to expose slaughterhouses that put their workforces at risk for Covid-19 infection, according to an attorney for the plaintiffs.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
USDA adds vendors, extends others as food box program enters second round
The government will spend $1.16 billion in July and August to buy surplus food at the farm level, package it, and donate it to food banks and other organizations for distribution to hungry Americans. In announcing the second round of the Farmers to Families Food Box program on Wednesday, the USDA said it was extending the contracts of "select vendors" from the first round, adding "a few" new vendors, and dropping some others. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
California finds bird flu virus in raw milk
Public health officials in California's Silicon Valley said tests found the bird flu virus in a container of raw milk purchased at a local store and warned consumers on Sunday not to consume the milk. The supplier, Raw Farm, of Fresno County, issued a recall of the batch of milk that was involved.