Usda

[Video] USDA working to modernize WIC access for over six million eligible families

30-Nov-2023 By Deniz Ataman

FoodNavigator-USA sat down with Stacey Dean, USDA’s deputy undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services (FNS) to discuss how the agency is working to improve access for over six million eligible families not currently utilizing WIC based on...

GusNIP grant programs receive more than $52m in funding to support nutrition and healthy food access

20-Nov-2023 By Deniz Ataman

The funding will aid initiatives within three National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) competitive grant programs that make up the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP), including include Nutrition Incentive (NI), Produce Prescription...

News In Brief

USDA modernizes oversight of child nutrition programs, including school meals

29-Aug-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

USDA is taking a less is more approach when it comes to ensuring school meals are properly administered and managed by backing off the frequency of reviews and streamlining monitoring requirements, according to a final rule on program integrity published...

USDA will increase oversight of animal-raising and antibiotic use claims on meat

15-Jun-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

USDA will crack down on animal-raising claims, such as ‘grass-fed’ and ‘free-range,’ and could require lab testing or launch a new verification sampling program for negative antibiotics claims, such as ‘raised without antibiotics,’ as part of a broader...

GAO flags ‘high risk’ priorities for USDA including climate change threats, best practices for reevaluating the Thrifty Food Plan

30-May-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

The US Department of Agriculture should help farmers and ranchers better manage climate change risks and step-up oversight of federal assistance programs, including future reevaluation of the Thrifty Food Plan, which determines benefits under the Supplemental...

USDA earmarks additional funds for organic transition, processing to meet consumer demand

26-May-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

The US Department of Agriculture promises to shoulder more of the cost for farmers and ranchers transitioning to organic and develop additional processing and aggregation facilities to ease supply chain bottenecks holding the organic industry back from...

CSPI’s Sugar Reduction Summit: “lowering sugar intake should be a high public health priority”

26-Apr-2023 By Deniz Ataman

Day one of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) Sugar Reduction Summit centered around the organization’s sugar reduction initiatives for all food and beverage categories, aligning with USDA and the New York Department of Hygiene and Mental...

FMI members to address food industry policies with lawmakers on Capitol Hill

19-Apr-2023 By Deniz Ataman

Discussions between FMI – The Food Industry Association’s Government Relations Committee and lawmakers will surround Farm Bill reauthorization, food safety regulations and credit card competition, among others on April 19, 2023.

Flavored milk processors are coming around on proposed added-sugars limit in US schools

06-Apr-2023 By Teodora Lyubomirova

A new initiative led by the IDFA suggests that leading milk processors including Danone North America and Dairy Farmers of America are prepared to adhere to a lower added-sugars limit for flavored milk in order to continue to offer their products in US...

“Beyond kelp”: USDA, Springtide Seaweed partner to tackle cultivation challenges and boost growth

07-Feb-2023 By Lauren Nardella

A new partnership between a small business funding and research arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Springtide Seaweed will help to address the challenges of broadening seaweed cultivation “beyond kelp” and into other seaweed varieties.

USDA strengthens organic oversight, transparency to protect against fraud, mishandling

19-Jan-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will step up oversight and enforcement of the production, handling and sale of organic products at the behest of industry and legislators who worry increasingly complex supply chains paired with the high price premiums...

Was USDA’s process for increasing SNAP benefits ‘marred’? GAO reveals shortcomings of Thrifty Food Plan review that could impact future assessments

05-Jan-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

The US Department of Agriculture’s decision this summer to increase the benefits allotted under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program well beyond inflation is under fire after a government watchdog found the agency did not follow best-practices...

USDA’s $300m investment in organic transition shouldn’t be beginning and end, stakeholders advocate

23-Aug-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

A new multi-million initiative by the US Department of Agriculture aims to reverse a downward trend in the number of farms transitioning to organic – a process that can put producers on their back foot financially as yields often drop during the three-year...

USDA earmarks millions for farmers markets, prescription produce and farm to school programs to ‘transform the food system’

19-Aug-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

Farmers markets are more than a popular summer destination for Americans who want to learn where their food comes from – they also play a key role in Federal nutrition programs and the government’s plan to transform the food system to better support small...

Hazel Technologies tackles food waste: ‘We have more solutions for more problems than anybody else'

18-Jul-2022 By Mary Ellen Shoup

In the battle against food waste, most industry players are only addressing part of the problem, claims Aidan Mouat, CEO and co-founder of Chicago-based Hazel Technologies, who says through the company's proprietary shelf-life extension technology,...

USDA investments to ‘transform’ food system could shift power between large, established players and small, mid-sized challengers

02-Jun-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

Announcing the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars across the supply chain, the US Department of Agriculture says it hopes to rebalance the food system’s historic focus on efficiency with much-needed resiliency so that the country is better...

News In Brief

The White House: ‘Millions of Americans are struggling with hunger … we cannot wait to act’

23-May-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

This fall, the White House will host a highly-anticipated and hard fought for second Conference on Food, Nutrition, Hunger and Health at the behest of a bipartisan nationwide grassroots movement led by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) as part of an ambitious...

Food fight: USDA strengthens school meal standards ahead of broad overhaul slated for the fall

08-Feb-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

In unveiling stricter ‘transitional’ school nutrition standards for the upcoming academic year, the Department of Agriculture appears to have drawn a line in the sand for what could become a contentious debate between schools, industry and other stakeholders...

USDA to invest $1bn in “climate-smart commodities” and market expansion

08-Feb-2022 By Jim Cornall

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing $1bn in partnerships to support America’s climate-smart farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.

USDA looks for ways to standardize climate-friendly claims, opportunities & bolster local food systems

07-Dec-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

As a climate-smart food and beverage market emerges and consumers show a willingness to pay a premium for products touted as climate-friendly, the US Department of Agriculture is taking steps to standardize marketing claims and ensure an even playing...

Why US peanut consumption has hit record highs

02-Dec-2021 By Gill Hyslop

Peanut consumption in the US has hit record levels for the second year in a row – rising to an all-time high of 7.9 pounds (3.5kg) per American in 2021. However, the National Peanut Board (NPB) said the consistent rise of the nut’s popularity is not surprising,...

Delegation urges USDA to support organic dairy farmers affected by Danone pullout

27-Sep-2021 By Jim Cornall

US Senators from Maine Susan Collins and Angus King and Representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden have sent a letter to US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack urging the department to provide federal support to the 14 Maine organic...

Hurdles holding back SNAP participants from healthy diets reveal opportunities for brands, retailers

24-Jun-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

New research revealing that nearly nine out of ten participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, struggle to maintain healthy diets suggests the method for how aid is determined is outdated and reveals...

News in brief

Organic standard updates stymied by slow-moving USDA could finally advance thanks to new legislation

04-May-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

Industry-supported efforts to update organic food standards could finally move forward after being held at a standstill for years by the US Department of Agriculture if bipartisan legislation introduced in the House late last week becomes law.

USDA Sec. Vilsack: ‘Creating more equitable opportunities for Black farmers is a rising tide that can lift all boats’

26-Mar-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

Provisions of the recently signed American Rescue Plan that acknowledge and seek to right systemic racism perpetuated by the US Department of Agriculture and others against generations of Black US farmers will benefit the entire agriculture sector, USDA...

Faced with rising food insecurity, legislators & industry stakeholders consider expanding, tweaking aid

12-Mar-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

With the pandemic’s impact on the economy and food insecurity in America expected to outlast the threat of the current coronavirus, stakeholders are calling on legislators to rethink how food and funds through nutrition programs are disbursed – changes...

USDA extends free school meals through the summer, but who ultimately will pay?

11-Mar-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

USDA’s announcement this week to extend free school meals through the summer – and possibly the end of the next school year – ensures students are fed even if pandemic-related safety measures keep them at home, but it doesn’t alleviate increased financial...

USDA commits to improve equity & fairness, sustainability & rural quality-of-life, but places pandemic control above all else

19-Feb-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

New US Department of Agriculture leadership optimistically is committed to launching a “a new era of climate smart practices” and “equity and fairness” in food and ag that will remove barriers, rebuild rural America, tackle climate change and control...

FDA yanks pending CBD enforcement proposal

27-Jan-2021 By Danielle Masterson

The White House Office of Management and Budget pulled six FDA guidances and rules from its review, including the proposal "Cannabidiol Enforcement Policy; Draft Guidance for Industry" — handing the CBD industry yet another setback.

USDA Final Hemp Rule draws mixed reactions from industry stakeholders

19-Jan-2021 By Danielle Masterson

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced the final rule regulating the production of hemp in the United States — well over a year after publishing draft regulations.

Whole Foods CEO and Eat Just CEO talk the future of food and importance of innovation

05-Oct-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Innovation at the hands of forward-thinking entrepreneurs will be key to creating a more sustainable food system and healthier population, Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey told attendees of an online discussion about the new documentary, 'They...

USDA proposes stricter oversight, enforcement of organic to better detect, prevent fraud

05-Aug-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

Responding to increasing fraud threats to the organic industry, the US Department of Agriculture seeks to strengthen oversight and improve the transparency and traceability of organic food through a four-prong plan that praises and mirrors actions already...

CBP seizes 19,555lbs of prohibited pork, chicken, beef and duck from China

30-Jun-2020 By Jenny Eagle

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has intercepted 19,555 pounds of prohibited pork, chicken, beef and duck products arriving from China at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

NEWS IN BRIEF

GMOs 101: FDA launches GMO consumer education initiative

20-May-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

The FDA, USDA and EPA have launched ‘Feed Your Mind’, a new Agricultural Biotechnology Education and Outreach Initiative that aims to increase consumer awareness and understanding of genetically engineered foods (GMOs).

OTA asks USDA for funding flexibility, remote inspections and increased enforcement during pandemic

15-May-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

The Organic Trade Association is calling on the US Department of Agriculture to help ease mounting pressure on the organic supply chain posed by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic by increasing flexibility for inspections and the disbursement of funds related...

USDA eases eligibility for retailers, foods to comply with WIC requirements as shortages hinder access

27-Apr-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

The US Department of Agriculture is making it easier for low-income participants in the Women, Infant and Children Supplemental Nutrition Program to fill their grocery carts despite lingering shortages of program-eligible food staples due to panicked...

USDA announces ASF control measures

09-Mar-2020 By Aidan Fortune

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has unveiled a series of measures to “control and eradicate” African Swine Fever (ASF) if the virus is ever detected in the country.

Study: Kids are eating more whole grains at school than at home

21-Feb-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Whole grain consumption among kids (aged 5-19 years) has been steadily increasing over the past 15 years, surpassing whole grain consumption at home, according to research from USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) and the University of Georgia.

Public health advocates push back against USDA proposals to ‘simplify’ school meal standards

20-Jan-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

Two proposals characterized by the US Department of Agriculture as giving schools “additional flexibilities” around the food they serve students and as a solution to food waste in cafeterias are, according to public health advocates, “a step in the wrong...

Growing concerns prompt senators to urge USDA to adopt new hemp rules

27-Nov-2019 By Danielle Masterson

Sparked by proposed US Department of Agriculture regulations that would drastically alter the certification process for industrial hemp, two lawmakers from Oregon want the agency to make several changes before it finalizes rules for the US Domestic Hemp...

Legislators examine potential impact on free school meals of USDA’s proposed SNAP policy changes

14-Oct-2019 By Elizabeth Crawford

At a House Education and Labor subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, legislators will consider the extent to which the US Department of Agriculture’s proposed policy changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program would unnecessarily jeopardize...

Freebie office snacks full of empty promises, says CDC report

11-Feb-2019 By Gill Hyslop

A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found that free snacks at work make up a weighty amount of the – empty – calories daily consumed by approximately 140 million working Americans.

USDA calls back FSA staff to ease shutdown pressure on farmers, but other services remain in limbo

24-Jan-2019 By Elizabeth Crawford

This morning more than 9,700 federal employees who work for the Farm Services Agency will return to work without pay at least part time for the duration of the partial government shutdown, which is now in its 33rd day and by far the longest in US history.

Americans spend less time eating than they did 10 years ago, USDA report shows

01-Nov-2018 By Mary Ellen Shoup

The amount of time Americans spend sitting down and eating a meal has shrunk over the past 10 years, while purchases of prepared food options from grocery stores and food service (carry-out, delivery, or fast food) have risen, according to the Economic...

Relief package & potential deal with Mexico could buoy US farmers negatively impacted by trade war

28-Aug-2018 By Elizabeth Crawford

As the White House pushes forward with its hardline approach to international trade deals, including a bilateral proposal announced yesterday with Mexico that could replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, it also is taking steps to provide financial...

USDA wants to bring broadband to rural economies to improve agriculture, food production & quality of life

28-Feb-2018 By Elizabeth Crawford

Providing broadband Internet access to rural America is a top priority USDA and part of a larger effort to ensure future generations continue to farm, ranch and manufacturer the commodities and products that are backbone of the country’s food supply,...

USDA offers Thanksgiving turkey advice

23-Nov-2017 By Aidan Fortune

To help ensure the 45 million turkeys consumed in the US this Thanksgiving don’t pose a health risk to consumers, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has offered up advice on preparation.

Organic industry fights back against USDA delay of animal welfare rule

13-Nov-2017 By Elizabeth Crawford

Against the vast majority of stakeholders’ wishes, the US Department of Agriculture once again is delaying the widely supported Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices because the department believes the final rule oversteps Congress’ mandate ‘for the...

USDA to publish draft of GMO labeling rule this fall

11-Jul-2017 By Elaine Watson

USDA will publish a draft of its proposed federal GMO labeling rule in the fall of this year (which will be subject to public comment) and says it is “working hard to meet the schedule in order to issue a final rule on the law in July 2018.”