Technology

Eating Green

• Since March, the U.S. has let schools feed anyone under 18. Now, USDA may force schools to turn away hungry kids. August 4, 2020
  At the start of this academic year, many U.S. schools will lose their status as critical food access points in their communities. That’s due to a Department of Agriculture (USDA) decision against extending waivers that permit them to provide free meals not just to enrolled students whose families meet income thresholds, but to any person […]
  Jessica Fu
• Smithfield Foods used a newspaper ad to attack the media. Here’s how it’s done—and why—in 13 tweets. August 4, 2020
  The post Smithfield Foods used a newspaper ad to attack the media. Here’s how it’s done—and why—in 13 tweets. appeared first on The Counter.
  The Counter
• Three months after chairman of the board warns “the food supply chain is breaking,” Tyson announces it will test employees in all facilities July 31, 2020
  Tyson Foods, one of America’s largest meat companies, has announced it will pursue widespread testing and monitoring of Covid-19 in its virus-stricken plants. In a press release issued Thursday, the company also announced a new chief medical officer position, and 200 additional nurses and administrative staff, as part of a plan to test more employees […]
  Sam Bloch
• Many miles from home, celebrating Eid during a pandemic July 30, 2020
  Depending on traffic, it used to take me about an hour to drive from my home in San Jose to Foster City, where I worked. Now, I put on a hoodie and a hijab seconds before meetings, face my computer, and smile awkwardly into WebEx. My travel time is just a few seconds.  When I […]
  Shajia Abidi
• Consumer groups challenge “deceptive” Tyson ads that brag about worker safety July 30, 2020
  A worker coalition in Arkansas and a Washington, D.C.-based environmental nonprofit have asked the government to stop Tyson Foods, one of America’s biggest meat companies, from advertising to the public that its workers are “safer than ever.” In a complaint filed today with the Federal Trade Commission, the agency that regulates advertising and marketing on […]
  Sam Bloch
• A few farmers get huge USDA relief payments while many struggle for pennies July 30, 2020
  When the coronavirus pandemic shuttered schools, restaurants, and many distributors in March, the disruption dealt a huge blow to farmers, who lost contracts overnight and were forced to let produce rot in the field. As part of its first round of Covid-19 relief funding, Congress allocated funding for agriculture through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program […]
  H. Claire Brown
• Intellectual property and trademark protections for fruit-growing plants are on the rise—and so are the lawsuits July 28, 2020
  Now is a good time to imagine a peaceful scene. Here’s one: In an overgrown field, a wizened, knobby tree hunches in the sun. In spring, it’s festooned in white flowers that eventually drop; in their place, small, hard, spotty fruits slowly swell. Here’s another: In a grassy, sweet-smelling orchard set across gentle hills, diminutive […]
  Lela Nargi
• Meat companies refuse to get specific about Covid-19 caseloads, record exports during height of pandemic July 27, 2020
  On Friday, Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey released the findings of their June investigation into why America’s biggest meat companies warned of domestic shortages while at the same time exporting record quantities of meat to China during the height of pandemic-related supply chain backups in April. But the […]
  Sam Bloch
• Beef packers’ profit margins reached historic levels during the height of Covid-19 plant shutdowns July 24, 2020
  In the four months between mid-January and mid-May, Larry Kendig, a cattle rancher in Osborne, Kansas, didn’t sell a single cow. At the beginning of the year, as concerns about an impending pandemic took off, cattle prices had started to sag. Then, in early spring—when Covid-19 outbreaks hit meatpacking plants throughout the nation, shutting countless […]
  Jessica Fu
• 7 ways the Trump administration has deregulated the food system during the Covid-19 pandemic July 23, 2020
  In fewer than five months, ever since the Covid-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic, the Trump administration has taken a number of significant steps to deregulate the food system. Citing unprecedented disruptions, federal agencies have rolled restrictions back on various segments of food production—from labor protections for meatpacking workers to food labeling requirements for manufacturers. […]
  Jessica Fu and Sam Bloch