USDA | Grist

headless horsemen of the bureaucracy

Is anyone in charge of food safety? 1
Posted 1 month ago The fact that there remains no one in charge of food safety at the USDA has become a sick sort of joke among food policy types.
A new direction on research at the USDA? 4
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago Paula Crossfield interviews some experts (more Pollan!) on what we need to know about agriculture.
USDA FAIL

Can the USDA really keep our food safe? 10
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago Having read and listened to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack's attempts at ground beef-related damage control in the wake of the recent food safety revelations, I'm left to wonder if the USDA simply needs to get out of the food safety business entirely.
what not to eat

Warning: This product may cause sickness, paralysis, and death 51
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago It's hard to draw any other conclusion from Michael Moss's New York Times blockbuster investigative piece on E. coli in industrial beef, which is centered on the plight of Stephanie Smith, a young dance instructor left comatose, near death and now paralyzed from eating a single Cargill hamburger.
Local Happens

Illinois points the way to food system reform 9
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago This development in Illinois managed to pass somewhat under the radar, probably because it took place during the dog days of summer. But it's still a big deal -- Illinois has a new law that starts building the infrastructure for a real regional food system.
A foot in both camps

Quick thoughts on the USDA’s ‘Know Your Farmer’ program 14
Posted 2 months ago
After getting more details about the USDA's new "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food" program, I'm both encouraged and skeptical. It's a great start, but the government's farm programs are still overwhelmingly tilted in favor of Big Ag.
Spare change for local food

USDA’s $65 million drop in the bucket 0
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is so fired up about local food economies that it's coughing up $65 million for a new program called "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food."
A Label Too Far

Big Food’s ‘Smart Choices’ label raises eyebrows at the FDA 4
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago
You don't need to be a nutritionist with an advanced degree to know that Froot Loops only qualifies as a "Smart Choice" on Planet Kelloggs. Even the FDA can see the bowlful of holes in this logic.
Imagining a new USDA

Top USDA official gets serious about local/regional food systems 8
Posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago
With the climate bill gutted by Big Ag and stalled in the Senate, with health-care reform on the verge of collapse, prospects for real change in national politics are looking grim. Well, here's some hope from what's traditionally one of the executive branch's most retrograde agencies: the USDA.
Meat wagon

Antibiotic-resistant salmonella burgers, with a side of flame retardants 6
Posted 3 months, 4 weeks ago
More grossness from the meat industry: an outbreak of antibiotic-resistant salmonella from burgers in Colorado; plus news that meat eaters accumulate "significantly" more toxic flame retardants in their bodies.
The Peter Principle

USDA may get Dennis Wolff for food safety post because Gov. Ed Rendell doesn’t want him anymore 1
Posted 4 months, 1 week ago
Yes, as Tom Philpott reported, Dennis Wolff is for sure heading the list of candidates for the top food safety post at the USDA. But that's not the fun part. The fun part involves the reason Dennis Wolff is heading the list of candidates for the top food safety post at the USDA.
Meat wagon

E. coli and Campylobacteriosis: Why Obama’s USDA food-safety pick is so important 1
Posted 4 months, 1 week ago
Obama still hasn't appointed the USDA official charged with ensuring the safety of the meat supply. The latest news around E. coli and Campylobacteriosis show why that pick is so important.
Wolff guarding the henhouse?

Rumor: Obama pondering big-ag man for key USDA meat-safety role [UPDATED] 3
Posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago
According to a rumor from a credible source, Obama is seriously considering a Big Ag man to oversee the nation's meat industry. Here we go again? Let's hope not, writes Tom Philpott.
Where's the beef?

Food-safety legislation leaves gaping hole for meat giants 3
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago
After a massive "voluntary" recall of E. coli-tainted beef--three months after it emerged into supermarkets and restaurants--Tom Philpott got to wondering how food-safety legislation would affect meat regulation. Turns out, not at all.
Notable quotable

Yet again, Vilsack bows to ethanol gods 82
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago
In what's becoming a ritual, USDA chief Tom Vilsack yet again declared his allegiance to ethanol.
More sin taxes, please

USDA food-desert report points to need for a soda tax 6
Posted 4 months, 4 weeks ago
The USDA's recent report on "food deserts" made the the food-politics blogospere bloom with opinions on how to improve low-income people's diets. Tom Laskawy adds his.
The Negotiators

The Non-Concession concession? 1
Posted 4 months, 4 weeks ago
Henry Waxman and Ed Markey seem to have mastered the art of the non-concession concession: striking deals with potential opponents in ways that meet their needs while minimizing (though not entirely eliminating) the negative impacts.
News of a compromise foretold

How bad is the Peterson-Waxman deal on climate legislation? 7
Posted 5 months ago
Surprising no one--but disappointing many--House energy chief Henry Waxman has caved in to the demands of the the agribusiness industry over the climate bill. How bad is it?
Supermarket gothic

Food Inc. Director Robert Kenner speaks on the ills of the food system 2
Posted 5 months ago
Food Inc. opened last week to critical acclaim and solid box office. Amid the hoopla, director Robert Kenner spoke to Grist about what he saw when he peered behind our food system's cloak.
Farm Crisis 2009

Stand up for rural America while you still can 4
Posted 5 months, 1 week ago
For the past six months, dairy farmers across the country have suffered a historic drop in milk prices while operating costs remain high. This is impacting mainly conventional and small to mid-size family dairy farmers -- the worst crisis most dairy farmers have faced in their entire careers. Without immediate action from Congress and the Obama administration, this current crisis could be the launching point for the final liquidation of the independent family farmer.