You can love it or hate it, but coconut oil certainly has many uses. Now, federal researchers have added one more function of the tropical favorite to the list. Turns out, coconut oil fatty acids have strong repellency and long-lasting effectiveness against bloodsuckers and disease-carriers such as mosquitoes, ticks, biting flies and bed bugs, according […]
One unlucky diner found a nasty surprise in their ground beef―pieces of hard, blue plastic. That discovery has led to a recall of more than 35,000 pounds of ground beef sold in Kroger stores, The Charlotte Observer reported Wednesday. The recall was announced Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). “There have been no […]
The arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture known as Wildlife Services killed more than 1.3 million native animals during 2017, according to new data released by the agency last week. The multimillion-dollar federal wildlife-killing program targets wolves, coyotes, cougars, birds and other wild animals for destruction—primarily to benefit the agriculture industry. Of the 2.3 […]
By Dan Nosowitz Worth billions of dollars, the organic label is the only federally regulated food label that conveys any information about how that food was produced. Certified organic is the fastest-growing food segment—and the distinction can be profitable for farmers (and also costly and difficult to implement)—but that doesn’t mean everyone’s happy with it. […]
By Dan Nosowitz Food safety concerns have been ratcheting up lately: major outbreaks of salmonella, listeria and other food-borne bacteria seem to be on the rise. Given that, you might expect any changes in federal oversight to work toward fixing that. Not so fast! On Jan. 19, the USDA announced a proposal to “modernize swine […]
By Sarah Reinhardt In May of 2017, USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue moved to make school meals great again by issuing a proclamation in support of more lenient school nutrition standards. Specifically, the proposed rule permits the continued use of whole grain waivers, which exempt certain products from meeting whole grain standards; freezes current sodium limits […]
By Katherine Paul and Alexis Baden-Mayer If nutritional quality and animal welfare issues factor into your egg-buying decisions, get ready for more bad news out of the Trump administration’s U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA plans to ditch rules, finalized under the Obama administration, that would have required organic egg producers to provide hens […]
By Carey Gillam Sometimes the truth about our food is not very appetizing. As many gather this holiday season for shared family meals, it is likely that they’ll be serving up small doses of pesticides with each plate passed, including a prevalent type shown to be harmful to children and reproductive health. New data released […]
Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) formally proposed withdrawing a set of rules finalized at the end of the Obama administration that establish stronger, more enforceable animal welfare requirements for certified organic producers. The rules, titled the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices rule, are the product of more than a decade of collaboration and […]
568k 
233k 
41k 
Subscribe 
