Food Policy

Lucas Raymond holding a halibut. (Photo courtesy of the New England Young Fishermen's Alliance)

Young Fishermen Are Struggling to Stay Afloat

By Tilde Herrera

November 23, 2022

Commercial fisherman Lucas Raymond is one of many in an industry facing a worker shortage, with too few young fishermen coming in to replace the aging workforce.

New Mexico Farmers Face a Choice: Pray for Rain or Get Paid Not to Plant

By Virginia Gewin

November 8, 2022

Glen Duggins farms chiles and alfalfa in Socorro, New Mexico. (Photo credit: Virginia Gewen)

How the Midterm Elections Will Impact Food and Agriculture

November 3, 2022

Sunrise over the US Capitol building in Washington, D.C. (Photo credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

With New Federal Funding, Has Agroforestry’s Moment Arrived?

By Erik Hoffner, Mongabay

November 3, 2022

A handful of hazelnuts harvested by Nutwood Farm co-owner Kalyan Water. (Photo credit: Erik Hoffner/Mongabay)

Native Farmers Push for More Equitable Training and Support in the Farm Bill

By Gabriel Pietrorazio

November 1, 2022

Nakai Clearwater Northup stands behind three traditional ethnobotany gardens, which he manages at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center. At one time, his people solely relied on them to maintain their cultural connections to food before the founding of Meechooôk Farm. (Photo by Gabriel Pietrorazio)

Year-Round Farming in Massachusetts? How the State Is Investing in Solutions.

October 31, 2022

Eastie Farm's geothermal greenhouse, built with funds from a food security infrastructure grant from the state. (Photo credit: Meg Wilcox)

Can a Court Compel the EPA to Protect Communities of Color From CAFO Pollution?

October 26, 2022

During Hurricane Florence, concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) like this one in Warsaw, North Carolina, flooded the surrounding community with hog waste. (Photo credit: Justin Cook for Earthjustice)

After 60 Years, ‘Silent Spring’ Is Still Changing the World

October 19, 2022

Rachel Carson and the original cover of Silent Spring

A US Farmer Was Accused of Abusing His Workers. Then Big Tobacco Backed His Election

By Victoria Bouloubasis and Ben Stockton, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

October 14, 2022

Farm workers' efforts to organise have been impeded by Brent Jackson's political ventures

Ex-USDA Official Defends Pandemic Efforts to Keep Meatpacking Plants Running

By Mary Norkol, Investigate Midwest

October 13, 2022

The Field Report: Morality at the Center of Supreme Court Arguments Over Raising Farmed Pigs in Crates

October 12, 2022

PETA protesters outside the Supreme Court on the morning before oral arguments take place in NPPC v. Ross. (Photo Credit: Lisa Held)

Next on the Supreme Court Docket: Farm Animal Welfare

October 5, 2022

hogs in gestation crates in a large factory farm

California Farmworkers Gain Historic Union Win

By Jeanne Kuang, CalMatters

September 30, 2022

Members and supporters of the United Farm Workers march through Fresno during day 10 of their 24-day march on Aug. 12, 2022. (Photo credit: Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local)

Voices from the White House Conference on Hunger and Nutrition

September 29, 2022

On stage at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, from left: Senator Cory Booker, Senator Mike Braun, White House Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice, and Representative Jim McGovern. (Photo credit: Lisa Held)

How the Politics of School Food Shape What Kids Eat

By Matthew Wheeland

September 26, 2022

Marcus Weaver-Hightower and the cover of his new book, Unpacking School Lunch

‘Slow Cooked’: How Food Policy Expert Marion Nestle Persisted

By Naomi Starkman

September 21, 2022

A collage of Marion Nestle present-day and the cover of her new memoir, slow cooked

The Field Report: Big Questions Linger About The White House Conference on Hunger

September 20, 2022

Volunteers load groceries into cars during an Alameda County Community Food Bank food giveaway on July 15, 2022 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Why Aren’t Federal Agencies Enforcing Pesticide Rules That Protect Farmworkers?

September 7, 2022

Aerial view of farmer spraying growing chilli plant in field. - stock photo

The Field Report: The USDA Steps Up Its Investments in Regional Food Systems

September 7, 2022

Fred Lee and his Sang Lee Farms team participate in the Farmer’s Market in Northport, New York. (USDA photo by Preston Keres)

What a Rancher Rebellion Means for California’s Water

By Rachel Becker, CalMatters

September 2, 2022

Jim Scala, a rancher in Siskiyou County, looks out over his dry stock pond in Montague on Aug. 29, 2022. Scala and others defied a state order to stop pumping water from the Shasta River. (Photo credit: Martin do Nascimento, CalMatters)

Only Two States Have Passed ‘Right to Garden’ Laws. Will Others Follow?

By Katherine Kornei

August 20, 2022

A home garden in Maine. (Photo CC-licensed by the National Garden Clubs)

A New Bill Could Hold Fast Food Chains Accountable for Employee Wage Theft

By Jeanne Kuang, CalMatters

August 19, 2022

A fast food chain worker hands a beverage to a driver at a drive-through; California may pass a law to prevent wage theft by fast food chains.

Op-ed: It’s Time to End the Poultry Industry’s Exploitative Contracts

August 16, 2022

A contract chicken farmer raises chickens under the tournament system

The Field Report: What the Historic Climate Bill Means for Farmers and the Food System

August 9, 2022

Flooded fields in winter

Op-ed: Farmworkers Face Stress and Depression. The Pandemic Made It Worse.

By Amy Quandt and Luis Flores

July 28, 2022

Migrant farm laborers have their temperature checked in King City, California. (Photo credit: Brent Stirton, Getty Images)