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Award-winning news and commentary about the U.S. food system. Sign up for our weekly newsletter: https://civileats.com/newsletter/

Judge Orders USDA to Restore Half of Cancelled Grants for Young Farmers
Stephanie Gomez, Co-Founder of the Shift Our Ways Collective, at Reseda Backyard Farm in Los Angeles.
Tiffany St. Goddard on her ranch in Pendroy, Mont.
Civil Eats Salon: Inside a Historic Supreme Court Case on Pesticide Risks Thursday, April 30 | 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET. Speakers: Nathan Donley, Center for Biological Diversity Environmental Health Science director, and Lisa Held, Civil Eats senior staff reporter and contributing editor.
Civil Eats Salon: Inside a Historic Supreme Court Case on Pesticide Risks Thursday, April 30 | 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET. Speakers: Nathan Donley, Center for Biological Diversity Environmental Health Science director, and Lisa Held, Civil Eats senior staff reporter and contributing editor.
Civil Eats Salon: Inside a Historic Supreme Court Case on Pesticide Risks Thursday, April 30 | 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET. Speakers: Nathan Donley, Center for Biological Diversity Environmental Health Science director, and Lisa Held, Civil Eats senior staff reporter and contributing editor.
Civil Eats Salon: Inside a Historic Supreme Court Case on Pesticide Risks Thursday, April 30 | 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET. Speakers: Nathan Donley, Center for Biological Diversity Environmental Health Science director, and Lisa Held, Civil Eats senior staff reporter and contributing editor.
Civil Eats Salon: Inside a Historic Supreme Court Case on Pesticide Risks Thursday, April 30 | 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET. Speakers: Nathan Donley, Center for Biological Diversity Environmental Health Science director, and Lisa Held, Civil Eats senior staff reporter and contributing editor.
Civil Eats Salon: Inside a Historic Supreme Court Case on Pesticide Risks Thursday, April 30 | 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET. Speakers: Nathan Donley, Center for Biological Diversity Environmental Health Science director, and Lisa Held, Civil Eats senior staff reporter and contributing editor.
Food Companies Backslide on Promises to Reduce Pesticides
Trump Budget Request Cuts Nearly $5 Billion From USDA
USDA Cancels Land Access Program for Young Farmers
Should Every State Have Its Own Farm Bill? As the federal farm bill stalls and programs become less reliable, Pennsylvania may provide a model for a resilient, localized farm future.
Civil Eats Opinion: 6 Million College Students Are Food Insecure. State SNAP Solutions Could Be a Lifeline.
Trump Directs USDA to Boost Production of Glyphosate
House Republicans Unveil a Revamped Farm Bill
EPA Reapproves Weedkiller Dicamba Despite Concerns About Drift and Crop Damage
Updated Federal Data Reveals Some States Have Little to No USDA Staff
ICE Crackdown Is Impacting Minnesota’s Farms and Food System, Officials Say
A TV screen with Dietary Guidelines for Americans is displayed during a news briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House.
Give the Gift of Community | For $60 or more, you can gift a loved one access to: Civil Eats Salons: an interactive platform for educational sessions, Q&A discussion, and community-building; Slack Community: a vibrant community of food system changemakers, policymakers, and practitioners; Meetups: an opportunity to meet Civil Eats supporters and the team in virtual and in-person meetups; Civil Eats Book Club: a curated discussion about a food-related book with an opportunity to meet the author; The Deep Dish: our members-only newsletter which features an in-depth look at a different topic each month; and The Weekly Newsletter: a weekly digest of all of our recent reporting.
Give the Gift of Community | For $60 or more, you can gift a loved one access to: Civil Eats Salons: an interactive platform for educational sessions, Q&A discussion, and community-building; Slack Community: a vibrant community of food system changemakers, policymakers, and practitioners; Meetups: an opportunity to meet Civil Eats supporters and the team in virtual and in-person meetups; Civil Eats Book Club: a curated discussion about a food-related book with an opportunity to meet the author; The Deep Dish: our members-only newsletter which features an in-depth look at a different topic each month; and The Weekly Newsletter: a weekly digest of all of our recent reporting.
Give the Gift of Community | For $60 or more, you can gift a loved one access to: Civil Eats Salons: an interactive platform for educational sessions, Q&A discussion, and community-building; Slack Community: a vibrant community of food system changemakers, policymakers, and practitioners; Meetups: an opportunity to meet Civil Eats supporters and the team in virtual and in-person meetups; Civil Eats Book Club: a curated discussion about a food-related book with an opportunity to meet the author; The Deep Dish: our members-only newsletter which features an in-depth look at a different topic each month; and The Weekly Newsletter: a weekly digest of all of our recent reporting;
MAHA Figure Touts San Francisco Lawsuit Against Food Companies Members of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement are heralding a first-of-its-kind lawsuit against ultraprocessed foodmakers, helped in part by messaging under the Trump administration. Earlier this week San Francisco’s Democratic city attorney, David Chiu, filed a lawsuit in the state’s Superior Court against 10 of the nation’s top food manufacturers over their production and marketing of ultraprocessed foods (UPF). The case marks the first government lawsuit against food companies over these products.
FDA Expands Use of Advanced AI for Safety Reviews and Inspections The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Monday that it has deployed a version of artificial intelligence called “agentic AI” for “all agency employees” to assist with complex tasks, including safety reviews, inspections, and compliance. While the release did not specifically mention food safety, the agency is responsible for monitoring the safety of the U.S. food supply (with the exception of meatpacking plants). And many of the activities mentioned, like pre-market reviews and inspections, apply to how the agency regulates food.
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EPA Proposes Shrinking Number of Waterways Protected From Pollution The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday proposed significantly loosening rules that protect streams, rivers, and wetlands from pollution and development. The changes affect a set of rules referred to as Waters of the United States (WOTUS), which defines the bodies of water subject to Clean Water Act protections. For more than a decade, farm, industry, and environmental groups have sparred over the rules, and changes have been made under presidents Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and Trump again.
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Senate Takes Step to End Government Shutdown and Extend Farm Bill The Senate passed a slate of full- and short-term funding bills Monday night, a significant step toward ending the longest government shutdown in history. The package includes funding for food and agriculture agencies, along with a one-year extension of 2018 farm bill programs. Now all House members are set to return to the Capitol for the first time since the shutdown began. A vote on the package could happen as early as Wednesday afternoon. The package would still need President Donald Trump’s signature, but Trump has so far backed the deal to reopen the government.
States Prepare to Release Full SNAP Benefits as Judge Denies Administration a Stay Several U.S. states on Friday were preparing to release full food assistance benefits as early as Saturday, despite an attempt by the Trump administration to block a court order to release federal funding. On Thursday, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to release full benefits by Friday for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The nearly 42 million people who rely on SNAP have gone without benefits for about a week, after federal funding dried up due to the government shutdown. The administration quickly appealed the order and filed an emergency stay Friday morning. On late Friday, the appeals court denied the request for a stay, clearing the way for benefits to resume.
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States Sue Trump Administration to Release SNAP Reserve Funds Democratic leaders from 25 states have sued the Trump administration over its refusal to use contingency funds to support food assistance next month amid the government shutdown. Advocates suggest more legal action could follow. Starting this weekend, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for approximately 42 million people could halt for the first time in the program’s 60-year history. While October benefits had already gone out by the start of the shutdown, state agencies have since started to warn recipients that November benefits will be delayed. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said funding would dry up and that it will not use contingency reserves, arguing it lacked the legal ability to do so.
USDA Says It Won’t Use Emergency Funds to Provide SNAP Benefits During Shutdown The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says it lacks the legal authority to use contingency funds for food assistance benefits, increasing the likelihood that millions of people will go without aid next month. Earlier this month, the agency told states to postpone sending November benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), due to the government shutdown, which began Oct. 1. As a result, state agencies have begun warning SNAP recipients that benefits will not be available.
States Brace for SNAP Funding to Stop During Shutdown
Trump Administration Proposes Staff Cuts In Offices That Manage Grazing and Wildlife The Department of the Interior (DOI) plans to fire more than 2,000 employees, including people at agencies that handle permits for ranchers who graze cattle on public lands and at agencies that collect and analyze data on agricultural threats to wildlife, water quality, and crop performance. Details of the plans were revealed earlier this week in court documents, after a union that represents government workers sued to stop the firings, which the Trump administration has tried to execute during the government shutdown. The court issued a temporary restraining order, blocking the layoffs while the case continues.
USDA Says Some Farmer Support Offices Will Reopen During the Shutdown The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said it plans to restart processing farm loans and disaster payments, despite the government shutdown, though previous staffing cuts and legal questions could complicate these efforts. On Tuesday night, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins posted on social media that the USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) could resume core operations as early as Thursday. This includes farm loan processing, payments for Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC), and disaster assistance. The agency also said it plans to roll out $3 billion in previously announced economic aid from the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC).
Wild Oysters Make a Comeback in Maine. But There’s a Climate Catch.
Judge Blocks Firings of Federal Employees, Including Those Leading Key Health Surveys A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from following through with mass layoffs during the federal government shutdown, temporarily preserving staff that oversee national nutrition and health surveys. On Oct. 10, the administration sent out reduction in force (RIF) notices to seven agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services. This initially included 1,300 employees from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who direct the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
Farmers Push Legislators to Keep California Animal Welfare Law on the Books More than 200 farmers from 30 states descended on Washington, D.C., last week in an effort to prevent lawmakers from overturning a California animal welfare law, Proposition 12, and other laws like it. “Opponents of Proposition 12 claim that the law hurts small family farms, and I’m here to tell you that’s just not true,” Trisha Zachman, a Minnesota farmer who sells her hogs to Niman Ranch, said at a rally and press conference at the National Press Club on October 8. “Proposition 12 protects the market for crate-free pork and ensures farms like ours, those who’ve invested in humane systems, can continue to compete.”
White House Says It Will Fund WIC With Tariff Revenue, But Details Are Slim The White House announced this week that it will use revenue from tariffs to fund a program that helps about 7 million low-income mothers, babies, and young children to access formula and healthy food during the federal government shutdown. The announcement comes just over a week into the shutdown, the point at which experts warned that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) could begin running out of money in some states. In a statement, Georgia Machell, president and CEO of the National WIC Association, welcomed the stopgap measure but said more information is needed on “how much funding this measure provides, how quickly states will receive it, or how long it will sustain operations.”
USDA Rejects Republican Request for a Bipartisan Shutdown Briefing The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) ignored a Republican request for a bipartisan congressional briefing last week and instead hosted a Republican-only meeting on government shutdown plans, according to three congressional staffers. Despite follow-up requests from the House and Senate Agriculture minority, the USDA has not briefed these staffs, leaving Democrats without full guidance for their constituents. Instead, Senate Agriculture Democrats have opted to submit questions via email.