Texas passes on $450 million summer lunch program for low-income families
The USDA estimates the families of 3.8 million children could have received $120 per child to cover summer lunches if the state participated in the new $2.5 billion program launching this summer. Texas is one of 15 states opting out.
U.S. Department of Agriculture to invest $300 million in monitoring agricultural emissions
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said it will invest $300 million on monitoring and reporting planet-warming emissions from climate-smart agricultural processes, such as no-till agriculture and planting cover crops.
San Antonio-area bakery recalls 5,740 pounds of beef shepherdโs pie products
A San Antonio-area bakery is recalling approximately 5,740 pounds of beef shepherdโs pie products that may be contaminated with copper wire pieces, the U.S. Department of Agricultureโs Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Thursday.
Texas suing USDA over requirement to add LGBTQ protections to nutrition programsโ nondiscrimination policies
The USDA Food and Nutrition Service announced in May that it would expand its definition of sexual discrimination to include gender identity and sexual orientation. Paxton and other attorneys general are suing in response.
How to escape food deserts, food swamps in San Antonio area
The City of San Antonio and the San Antonio Food Bank has separate programs with the same goal: Increase healthy food options in areas of town known as โfood deserts,โ which are defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as low-income areas where the nearest grocery store is more than a mile away.
Baby formula shortage is making low-income mothers struggle to pay for a product usually covered by the state
The stateโs poorest mothers are paying hundreds of dollars out of pocket when they find baby formula because they say they canโt risk waiting for the exact brand and size container covered by Texasโ Women, Infant and Children program.
Black Texas farmers were finally on track to get federal aid. The stateโs agriculture commissioner wants to stop that.
Sid Miller is challenging a debt relief program that the U.S. Department of Agriculture saw as a way to correct historic discrimination. An advocate for Black Texas farmers says the challenge โpushes us back even further.โ
Judge rejects rule that let pork plants speed up production
A federal judge has thrown out a rule allowing pork plants to speed up production lines because the U.S. Department of Agriculture didnt properly consider the risks to workers before the rule was issued in 2019. Union officials praised Wednesday, March 31, 2021 ruling because they say faster line speeds at pork plants increase the risk of injuries for workers. โ A federal judge has thrown out a rule allowing pork plants to speed up production lines because the U.S. Department of Agriculture didn't properly consider the risks to workers. Public Citizen attorney Adam Pulver, who represented the unions, said the agency should have considered worker safety. AdThe judge said her ruling won't take effect for 90 days to allow regulators time to determine how the change will affect plants that already switched to faster line speeds.
USDA relocations curtail ag research, farmer confidence
Hiring at the Kansas City site remains well below the roughly 550 high-paying jobs local leaders had anticipated. However, he said those frustrations have dealt more with reports published by other USDA agencies, and that some farmers may be confusing them. For example, a two-year research project on pollinators such as honeybees was shelved because the entire team working on it left the agency rather than move to Kansas City. In October 2016 โ before Trump's first year in office โ ERS had 318 permanent employees, according to USDA data. โAnd here in the United States, what we do with groups like that โ we canโt send them to Siberia, so we send them to Kansas City.โ
USDA puts brakes on land transfer for Arizona copper mine
Congress mandated that the land be transferred to Resolution Copper no later than 60 days after the final environmental review was published. โOak Flat is still on death row,โ he said. โEssentially, they're just changing the execution date.โDan Blondeau, a spokesman for Resolution Copper, said the company is evaluating the decision. Resolution Copper would get 3.75 square miles (9.71 square kilometers) of national forest land in exchange for eight parcels it owns elsewhere in Arizona. Eventually, the mine will swallow Oak Flat.
Things to Know: Vaccine producers promise big jump in doses
(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)Hereโs whatโs happening Tuesday with the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S.:THREE THINGS TO KNOW TODAY:โ Executives from the major COVID-19 vaccine producers have told Congress to expect a big jump in the delivery of doses over the coming month. And looking ahead to summer, Pfizer and Moderna executives said Tuesday that they expect to complete delivery of 300 million doses each. President Joe Biden has said that every American who wants a vaccine will be able to get one by the end of July. AdON THE HORIZON: The coronavirus pandemic is forcing President Joe Biden to alter another first for his administration: the typically formal White House meeting with a foreign counterpart. ___Find APโs full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic: https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
Texans receiving federal food assistance could soon get more aid under Joe Bidenโs executive order
President Joe Biden wants to increase federal aid that makes up for free and reduced-cost school meals during the pandemic and the benefits of people receiving SNAP food stamps. Texas families receiving pandemic-era federal food assistance for students who qualify for free or reduced-price school meals will soon see a 15% increase in their benefits. That additional aid is one of three food access issues President Joe Biden addressed in an executive order last week. However, SNAP benefits remain widely recognized as one of the best ways to stimulate the economy during a crisis. A recent analysis from the USDAโs Economic Research Service estimates that $1.54 in economic activity results from every federal dollar spent on SNAP benefits.
Nestlรฉ recalls 762,000 pounds of pepperoni Hot Pockets
MOUNT STERLING, Ky. โ Nestlรฉ Prepared Foods is recalling more than 762,000 pounds of pepperoni Hot Pockets, the U.S. Department of Agricultureโs Food Safety and Inspection Service said. The problem was discovered when the company received four consumer complaints of extraneous material in pepperoni Hot Pockets, the department said. The company has received one report of a โminor oral injuryโ associated with consumption of the product, the USDA said. The recall is for 54-ounce packages containing 12 โNestlรฉ Hot Pockets Brand Sandwiches: Premium Pepperoni made with pork, chicken and beef pizza garlic buttery crust.โ Affected boxes have a โBest before Feb 2022โ date and lot codes of 0318544624, 0319544614, 0320544614 and 0321544614, the department said. โConsumers who have purchased this product are urged not to consume it,โ the USDA said.
Road, logging restrictions to end in largest national forest
JUNEAU, Alaska โ The federal government announced plans Wednesday to lift restrictions on logging and building roads in a pristine rainforest in Alaska that provides habitat for wolves, bears and salmon. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said it has decided to exempt the Tongass National Forest, the country's largest national forest, from the so-called roadless rule, protections that ban road construction and timber harvests with limited exceptions. About 9.4 million of Tongass' 16.7 million acres are considered roadless areas, according to the Forest Service, which falls under the USDA. The majority of Tongass is in a natural condition, and the forest is one of the largest, relatively intact temperate rainforests in the world, the agency said. Many of the roadless areas are wildlife habitats, ecosystems and natural areas like old-growth temperate rainforests, ice fields and glaciers, and islands facing the open Pacific Ocean โthat exist nowhere else in the National Forest system,โ according to the Forest Service.
Report: Iowaโs derecho crop losses increase by more than 50%
DES MOINES, Iowa โ Crop loss estimates from a rare wind storm that slammed Iowa in August have increased by more than 50%, a new report shows. The storm, known as a derecho, generated winds of up to 140 mph (225 kph) that flattened crops. The damage then was compounded in late summer with a drought that, at its peak, encompassed much of the state. โCrops can deteriorate,โ said Naig, who was helping his father harvest corn in northwest Iowa. And some almost normal,โ said Swenka, whose crop near Iowa City goes to feed his purebred black Angus cattle.
USDA plans additional $14B for farmers reeling from virus
The additional payments illustrate the importance of farmers as a voting block to Trump's reelection. โNow we have to get four more years to cement it, and to do additional things,โ he said. Agriculture groups applauded the additional money, much of which will come in direct payments for crops that meet a specified threshold of price decline. In April the administration rolled out a $19 billion program, most of which was in the form of direct farm payments. That followed $28 billion the federal government gave farmers to compensate for two years of disruptions caused by Trump's tariff battles with trading partners.
Texas schools seeing steep declines in number of students getting free meals
The school, like most in the state, is allowing families to pick up free meals to take home. โAnd those groceries would last.โNearly 3.65 million Texas students were eligible for free or reduced-price school meals last year, according to the Texas Department of Agriculture. But some Texas school districts say theyโre feeding far fewer students than they did before the pandemic hit. Some households have family members with medical conditions that prevent them from venturing out for grab-and-go school meals multiple times a week. The traditional school meal programs districts use during the school year โ the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program โ only allow meals for enrolled students.
Food banks: USDA program helped but better ways to meet need
The Farmers to Families Food Box Program was intended to help farmers, distributors and people who had lost their jobs. Despite those concerns, officials at food banks said the federal food box program has undoubtedly helped. Since March, the food bank has distributed a total of 11.8 million pounds of food, and the food box program provided 2.7 million pounds of that, said Debbie Espinosa, president and CEO of the food bank. The federal food box program initially faced questions because some of the companies that won contracts werent food distributors and the contracts didnt always cover the final delivery costs that food banks incurred. For example, the West Texas Food Bank in Odessa didnt receive any food boxes during the first two rounds of contracts because no distributors nearby won contracts.
US Sen. Stabenow urges USDA to extend food program waivers
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will not continue to provide food program waivers that have ensured students are fed while schools are closed during the coronavirus pandemic unless Congress acts, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan warned Tuesday. Some children get their only meals at school. Should Congress choose to go in this direction, USDA stands ready to provide technical assistance.The USDA did not return a request for further comment Tuesday. She said she hoped it was not coming from the Trump administrations push to put students back in schools for in-person instruction. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Iowa farmers assess losses after storm flattened cornfields
DES MOINES, Iowa Farmers across a wide swath of Iowa are dealing with the heartbreaking aftermath of a rare wind storm that turned what was looking like a record corn crop into deep losses for many. The Iowa Corn Growers Association said it is too soon to accurately describe how much of this year's crop was lost. Western Iowa has been declared an extreme drought zone and corn plants there were already weakened due to a lack of moisture. The corn stalks had grown to full height and were in the final stages of producing ears and filling them out with kernels. Iowa Corn Growers Association CEO Craig Floss surveyed the storm damage on his fathers farm east of Des Moines on Wednesday.
You can sanitize your N95 respirator mask in an Instant Pot or rice cooker, study finds
WARNING: Do NOT use the oven or microwave to sanitize masks. If you own an Instant Pot, rice cooker or any other electric cooker, you now have a way to sanitize your N95 respirator mask. Researchers said this method of sanitization could allow N95 mask wearers to safely reuse respirators that are originally intended for one-time use. N95 respirator masks are one of the most-effective masks in preventing the spread of COVID-19 droplets and particles, according to U of I researchers. Do NOT use a microwave or oven to sanitize a face mask because it could be a serious fire hazard.
Mystery seeds from China showing up in Texas mailboxes
Texas Tiny bags marked as jewelry have been showing up in the mailboxes of Texas residents but it turns out the bags actually contain seeds. Texans arent the only ones who have received packages of mystery seeds, residents across the nation have reported receiving unsolicited packages that appear to have originated in China, according to a CNN report. To date, packages containing these mystery seeds have also been received in Washington, Virginia, Utah, Kansas, Louisiana and Arizona, according to a press release from the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. If you do receive a bag of the mystery seeds, do not throw them away. It could be a scam, or it very well could be dangerous, said Agrilife extension horticulturist Larry Stein.
Worker advocates file meat plants discrimination complaint
A group of worker advocacy organizations has filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture alleging that meat processing companies Tyson and JBS have engaged in workplace racial discrimination during the coronavirus pandemic. The complaint alleges the companies adopted polices that reject U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance on distancing and protective gear on meat processing lines. The complaint says the operating procedures have a discriminatory impact on mostly Black, Latino, and Asian workers. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, file)Several worker advocacy organizations have filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture alleging that meat processing companies Tyson and JBS have engaged in racial discrimination during the coronavirus pandemic. Tyson has received more than $109 million from USDA programs this year and JBS more than $45 million, the complaint said.
Some Texas families may get an extra $285 per child in SNAP benefits this month. Hereโs why.
Families on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or whose children receive free or reduced meals at school may be receiving an extra $285 this month per child. "The benefit is for families that are currently receiving SNAP benefits. But it's also been extended to any families that receive free and reduced-price meals within their school district," said Deborah Rice, assistant director of child nutrition at South San Antonio Independent School District. Abbott extends emergency SNAP benefits due to COVID-19 pandemicFamilies with children ages 5 to 18 years old that received SNAP benefits in March will automatically receive $285 per child in their Lone Stone Cards account. Families should check with their child's school district website for a link on how to apply for the P-EBT program.
Texas Health and Human Services to provide more than $168M in emergency SNAP food benefits
AUSTIN, Texas โ Texas Health and Human Services will provide more than $168 million in emergency Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food benefits to help people in the state during the COVID-19 response, Gov. HHS got federal approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide the maximum allowable number of SNAP benefits to recipients based on family size, according to a news release. Anyone receiving SNAP benefits is included. โSNAP, commonly referred to as the food stamp program, supplements the budget of the working poor. "The additional food subsidy announced today by Governor Abbott, although still supplemental, will help fill a portion of the financial gap created by the economic crisis resulting from this pandemic.
USDA proposes changes to school lunch program requirements
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is proposing new guidelines for an Obama-era lunch program, which would broaden which fruits and vegetables are allowed on studentsโ plates. Rollback proposed for Michelle Obama school lunch guidelinesU.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said the goal is to provide more foods students are willing to eat and avoid waste.