Provisions of the recently signed American Rescue Plan that acknowledge and seek to right systemic racism perpetuated by the US Department of Agriculture and others against generations of Black US farmers will benefit the entire agriculture sector, USDA...
Twin bills reintroduced in the House and Senate yesterday would reverse Trump-era waivers allowing higher-speed slaughter lines and prohibit new waivers to increase line speed during the pandemic on the grounds that they hinder social distancing and could...
In a withering opinion published Sunday, a federal judge struck down a Final Rule pushed by the Trump administration that would have severely reduced or eliminated nutrition assistance to more than 1 million Americans during and after the pandemic.
Kroger is purchasing 200,000 gallons of fluid milk from dairy farmers who have struggled to find new buyers to purchase their excess supply (much of which was originally destined for foodservice and schools before the pandemic hit). The milk will be redirected...
While Americans scramble to stock their pantries amid the growing threat from COVID-19, many more cannot afford to do so – prompting some economic analysts and public health leaders to call on legislators to increase the benefits available under the Supplemental...
In what critics are calling an unrealistic, “cruel” and even “savage” effort to reduce the national deficit by $4.4 trillion over the next decade, President Trump proposes in his FY 2021 budget deep funding cuts for several safety-net programs, including...
The FDA has promised to provide more clarity over CBD “in the coming weeks.” But how should brands navigate the regulatory minefield in the meantime, and what options does the agency have?
US retail sales of olive oil slumped 7.1% in December 2019 vs December 2018 as tariffs on imported packaged Spanish olive oil imposed as part of the Airbus dispute prompted a significant drop-off in promotional activity, Nielsen data* shows. Unit sales...
Two proposals characterized by the US Department of Agriculture as giving schools “additional flexibilities” around the food they serve students and as a solution to food waste in cafeterias are, according to public health advocates, “a step in the wrong...
After coming to a verbal trade agreement in December, President Donald Trump and General Secretary Xi Jinping signed the first installment of the deal on Wednesday.
KeHE, distributor of natural, fresh, specialty, and organic foods products, predicts personal and environmental wellness to be top of mind for consumers next year.
An interim federal government funding measure does not include language creating a legal pathway for hemp/CBD products, despite advocacy on the part of stakeholders including lawmakers and trade organizations.
A vast and growing majority of American companies doing business in China have been negatively affected by the US-China trade war, an expert on the matter said at a recent meeting.
As a 15-year-long dispute between the US and the EU over subsidies paid to European aircraft suppliers comes to a head, importers warn retaliatory tariffs on a host of products from the EU could wreak havoc on the specialty foods market, potentially doubling...
FDA’s new Acting Commissioner of Food and Drugs, Norman Sharpless, promised last week that he will pick up where outgoing Commissioner Scott Gottlieb left off in strengthening nutrition policy and regulation to improve the public’s health and implementing...
Improved nutritional standards of The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) have been effective in reducing obesity risk in four-year-olds, according to a new study.
Food and beverage companies, along with other CPG manufacturers, could suffer “far-reaching negative consequences” if the Supreme Court fails to block the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 US Census, according to the consumer and market research...
FDA will push forward with its Nutrition Innovation Strategy despite the departure this month of FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb who championed the initiative as a way to reduce the burden of chronic disease through improved nutrition, according to an...
Twenty-two organic farmers will visit more than 40 lawmakers and national agriculture organizations on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, next week to ensure new and existing legislators understand the economic benefits of organic, the challenges the industry...
This morning more than 9,700 federal employees who work for the Farm Services Agency will return to work without pay at least part time for the duration of the partial government shutdown, which is now in its 33rd day and by far the longest in US history.
Hundreds of furloughed FDA employees are returning to work without pay this week “to re-initiate high risk surveillance inspections across our food and medical product programs,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced in a tweet Jan. 15.
Grocery stores, food & beverage manufacturers and restaurants are offering furloughed federal employees free food to help keep their pantries and plates full even as their bank accounts empty during the ongoing partial government shutdown that has...
As the partial government shutdown entered the 19th day and furloughed federal employees face the prospect of their first missed paycheck this Friday, the White House is taking steps to ensure low-income Americans will continue to receive support for...
Fears about trade wars and populist policies will start to take a toll on the US economy in 2019, despite ongoing robust business investment and fast-growing consumer spending that helped buoy the country’s GDP in 2018, according to new research from...
Advanced school nutrition policies programs can strongly influence a child’s eating habits and body mass index (BMI), a study led by the Yale School of Public Health concluded.
Public health advocates are lauding the $876bn Farm Bill passed by an overwhelming majority of the Senate on Tuesday for rejecting controversial proposals in the House version of the bill that would have significantly curtailed access to the nation’s...
From the “volatile government situation” to the “crazy acts of nature” across the nation and “senseless hate crimes,” many consumers in the US are feeling uneasy and looking for a way to “escape from some of the badness” by visiting hotels, restaurants...
Uncertainty surrounding the US-China trade war and the renegotiated trade deal with Canada and Mexico are taking a toll on US food and agricultural industries, but experts with Rabobank say there is hope for the future if players take action now to diversify...
Health advocacy groups have urged schools to reject a final rule from the Trump Administration that they claim reverses hard-won progress on sodium reduction and whole grain consumption, and “continue their commitment to serve healthier foods on our kids’...
Months after the USDA unexpectedly and unceremoniously pulled the plug on plans to implement a federally mandated organic check-off program, the Organic Trade Association is soliciting ideas to help the industry ‘GRO’ through a voluntary, industry-vested...
As the laws legalizing recreational use of cannabis shift in North America, consumer interest and readiness to try cannabis-infused products is also evolving, recent research by A.T. Kearney revealed.
In the coming months, the US Department of Agriculture will nearly double its current annual investment in rural telecommunications infrastructure to bring reliable, affordable high-speed Internet to underserved areas, including farmland and ranches,...
The US Department of Agriculture is scrambling to reassure consumers and limit potential damage to the meat and poultry industries after it says a “sensational and fear-based infotainment” article ran in Consumer Reports Aug. 29 asking if banned drugs...
As the White House pushes forward with its hardline approach to international trade deals, including a bilateral proposal announced yesterday with Mexico that could replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, it also is taking steps to provide financial...
New research reveals most Americans believe the government is “doing a poor job across the board on food and ag policy,” and should do more to ensure everyone has access to enough healthy food and to support the farmers who feed the country.
“Much needed” federal funding for organic research, education and outreach could double in the next two years if measures in the Senate Agriculture Committee’s draft farm bill released June 8 make it into the final farm bill.
Food and beverage manufacturers and suppliers must actively reassure their partners abroad that they are reliable even as the US pulls out of key international trade arrangements and negotiations around the North American Free Trade Agreement hit the...
Organic stakeholders are considering how they can promote their industry and raise funds for organic agriculture research and extension efforts after the US Department of Agriculture “blindsided” them by terminating the check-off program that many worked...
The US Department of Agriculture has launched a comprehensive and aggressive three-prong approach to detect and prevent fraud in the organic industry, after the discovery last year that some imports from Eastern Europe were falsely labeled as organic,...
Starting next month, a small but diverse group of organic stakeholders from across the supply chain will test-drive a rigorous set of fraud prevention, detection and mitigation strategies that once fine-tuned will become subject to the annual inspection...
Members of the Organic Trade Association went on the defensive last week when they met with Congressional leaders and their staff on Capitol Hill to lay out their legislative priorities for the coming year, and to ask for help protecting the integrity...
China’s proposed 25% tariff on imported US soybeans could devastate the US soybean industry, and the White House should reconsider the tariffs that led to the retaliatory action, says the American Soybean Association.
With industrial hemp in the spotlight following Mitch McConnell’s recent intervention (he’s promised to introduce a bill to remove it from the controlled substances list and legalize it as an agricultural commodity), FoodNavigator-USA checked in with...
Sharply contrasting views over the scope of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans have emerged in comments submitted to USDA and HHS this week, with some stakeholders arguing that issues such as sustainability (eg. should we recommend eating less...
After two years of radio silence, during which some legal commentators – and several judges dealing with civil litigation on the issue – suspected it might die on the vine, the FDA has given its clearest indication yet that it will attempt to define ‘natural’...
From leveling the playing field between plant-based and meat and dairy, to increasing investment in plant-based food R&D research and development of plant-based foods and clean meat, leading plant-based advocacy groups are outlining their wish lists...
Despite double-digit increases in the amount of organic corn and soybean grown domestically in recent years, imports of the crops are increasing twice as fast – raising questions about the quality of the product allowed in from overseas and underscoring...
Brazil’s fast growth in the past 20 years makes it an ideal target for exporting US crops and products, and with values that closely align to those of the US it also is an ideal strategic partner to help open new markets in third countries, according...
