Recently, some fellow data geeks and I spent (quite a lot of) time ranking all 50 states on the health and sustainability of their food systems, from soil to spoon. Read more >
Food and Agriculture
We need to fix our broken food system—and science can help us do it. UCS food experts highlight solutions to ensure that every American has access to healthy, green, fair, affordable food.
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Photo: Preston Keres, USDA
We Ranked All 50 States from Farm to Fork. Why We Bothered—and a Taste of Our Takeaways
Marcia DeLonge, senior scientist
June 12, 2018 11:25 AM EDT
What the Failed House Farm Bill Got Wrong About SNAP and Work
Sarah Reinhardt, Food Systems & Health Analyst
June 1, 2018 1:07 PM EDT
The House of Representatives voted down a farm bill last Friday. It was a bill that lived and died by its insistence on subjecting participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps) to a slew of unnecessary and misguided work requirements. Had it passed and been signed into law, the bill would have effectively reduced or eliminated benefits for millions of people. And though it promised to channel the resulting “savings” into state-administered job training programs, this proposal, too, was deeply flawed and betrayed serious misperceptions about the populations that participate in SNAP. Read more >
Sonny Perdue’s USDA Is in Bed with Big Pork. That’s Really Bad for Everyone Else.
Karen Perry Stillerman, senior analyst, Food and Environment
May 17, 2018 4:53 PM EDT
In his first year running the US Department of Agriculture, Secretary Sonny Perdue has displayed a curious tendency to say things he really shouldn’t. The most recent example is his striking off-the-cuff comment about a big court judgment won by neighbors of a massive hog farm and its stinking cesspools in North Carolina. Read more >
SNAP is a boon to urban and rural economies—and small-town stores may not survive cuts
Sarah Reinhardt, Food Systems & Health Analyst
May 14, 2018 9:34 AM EDT
In case you missed it, Congress is in the midst of a pretty major food fight. At the center of it is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which is the first line of defense against hunger for more than 21 million American households. Going forward, however, an estimated 2 million people stand to lose SNAP benefits if the farm bill proposal passed by the House Agriculture Committee last month becomes law. The bill’s draconian work requirements and eligibility changes threaten to upend the lives of some of the nation’s most vulnerable individuals and families. But it could also deliver a serious blow to the economic vitality of many rural and small-town communities, in an economic domino effect that often starts at the local grocery store.
The New Farm Bill’s Pesticide Provisions are a Sneak Attack on the Environment
Derrick Z. Jackson, fellow
May 10, 2018 1:41 PM EDT
If fish could wail, they would scream over the lethal powers granted to the Environmental Protection Agency in part of the draft farm bill recently rolled out by the House Agriculture Committee. Read more >
