Tyson Foods released 371 million pounds of pollution into U.S. waterways: report
Meat processing company Tyson Foods released at least 371.7 million pounds of pollution into U.S. waterways between 2018 and 2022, according to a report released this week from the Union of Concerned Scientists.
EPA in the Crosshairs
While industry proponents still see the EPA’s administrator as their foe — deserving of Louisiana prison time, one says — environmental groups say that the agency’s lagging standards lead to increasingly polluted wastewater.
GRAPHIC: Food recalls on the rise post-COVID-19
The number of food recalls issued by the USDA decreased 75% in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The US labor department added new farmworker protections, but agency needs more resources ‘to do what we need to do,’ agency head says
Labor officials and farmworker advocates praise the new rules, which aim to hold farmworker employers who violate workers’ rights accountable. But the acting secretary of labor says the agency needs more resources to get more ‘boots on the ground.’
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Iowa environmental groups ask EPA to protect drinking water from agricultural runoff
Inspired by a successful campaign in Minnesota, the groups are asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to step in and protect drinking water in northeast Iowa from agricultural runoff.
How tribes are reversing years of consolidation within the cattle industry with their own meat processing plants
Three Oklahoma tribes have opened facilities since 2000.
Cancer in Iowa: What role does agriculture play in Iowa’s high cancer rates?
In a state where college sports arenas blaze with fertilizer logos, the phrase “corn grows Iowa” is common on TV and radio and nearly 15% of lawmakers are farmers, there’s reluctance to pinpoint agriculture as a possible reason for Iowa’s rising cancer rate without conclusive evidence.
Midwest maple syrup producers adapt to record-warm winter, uncertainty in face of changing climate
This year’s record-warm winter caused sap in some places to flow early, bringing challenges for syrup producers.
‘We can’t sit back’: Amid polluted water and climbing cancer rates, Iowa eyes farm chemicals
Health authorities react to rampant fertilizer and pesticide contamination in water.
Investigate Midwest event in Iowa City draws intimate crowd
Donations made at ‘Discovery in Disguise’ will be tripled to support investigative reporting of industrial agriculture.
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GRAPHIC: China returns as one of top poultry export destinations
End of ban on U.S. poultry, plus the popularity of chicken feet, drives industry’s growth in China.
GRAPHIC: More than a third of the food produced in the US is wasted
With food insecurity soaring, the EPA says solutions must include efforts to redistribute surplus food where possible.
GRAPHIC: Farms owned by African Americans are much smaller than those owned by all other racial groups
Smaller farms — and the type of commodities Black farmers produce — lead to wide disparities in farm production and value, according to USDA research.
Extreme heat drives up food prices. Just how bad will it get?
New research shows that climate change is already fueling heatflation, with worse to come.
Tribal nations want more control over their food supply
Food sovereignty, which includes peoples’ right to healthy and culturally appropriate food and the right to define their own food and agriculture systems, is inherent to tribes, a leader says. There’s bipartisan support to work on the matter and hope for more in the farm bill.
Farmers face a precarious future. Is the Farm Bureau on their side?
At the Farm Bureau’s ‘New Frontiers’ conference, tensions flare over the future of farming.
Opinion
Net zero emission pledges by JBS must be more than hot air
The biggest meat company in the world has promised to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. But, as…
