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‘Cut, Relocate, Eviscerate’: Moving a USDA Research Agency Will Have Lasting Consequences, Employees Say

The Economic Research Service collects data on how many Americans lack access to food. When the agency moves to Kansas City, former employees say all of it could be lost.

Emily Moon

Richmond Emergency Food Bank volunteer Abdul Olorode packs boxes with food to be handed out to needy people on November 1st, 2013, in Richmond, California.

Is Trump Right to Let Gas Stations Offer SNAP and to Classify Cheese Spray as a Staple?

Critics of the USDA's new stocking standards say their opposition is about incentivizing retailers, not about penalizing people for what's in their grocery cart.

Emily Moon

Water pools in rain-soaked farm fields on May 29th, 2019, near Gardner, Illinois.

Environment

‘The Fields Are Washing Away:’ Midwest Flooding Is Wreaking Havoc on Farmers

Historic flooding this year is setting back planting season. Climate change will force farmers to adjust to similarly brutal weather events in the future.

Emily Moon

Corn and soybeans grow on a farm near Tipton, Iowa.

Agriculture Census Data Shows the U.S. Has More Female Farmers Than Ever

And other key takeaways from the latest Census of Agriculture.

Emily Moon

Sam Clovis speaks during a news conference with Donald Trump ahead of a rally in Grand River Center, Iowa, on August 25th, 2015.

Environment

Trump’s Expected Top USDA Pick Is Also a Climate Change Skeptic

Sam Clovis likely to be named undersecretary of the USDA department that manages research on everything from climate change to nutrition.

Jessica Huseman

Environment

Want to Reduce Food Waste? Hug Your Local Freegan

No group has better mapped and internalized the geography of waste—or been bolder about wading into the cesspools where trash accumulates.

James McWilliams

Environment

Is There Such a Thing as Food Choice?

New data on vegetable consumption raises a question we too easily overlook.

James McWilliams

Environment

The Many Implications of Your Wasted Food

America's finally set to tackle its food-waste problem. That's a good thing, because the issue runs very, very deep.

Madeleine Thomas

Environment

Going Down the Rabbit Hole of Deceit

An advocacy group uncovers shocking conditions in the country’s largest rabbit processing plant, raising questions about why the USDA and its Humane Slaughter Act do nothing to protect a whole class of animals.

James McWilliams

Environment

The Environmental Downside of Biofuel Crops

A new survey reveals that biofuel crops have expanded onto millions of acres of new land, with serious consequences for the environment.

Nathan Collins