Our first story on today’s MAHA report release, with more to come. @civileats.com civileats.com/2025/09/09/m...

Despite MAHA promises to reduce chemical exposures, experts warn the Trump administration is approving a wave of ‘frightening’ pesticides. @lisaelaineh.bsky.social reports ⬇️

While the Clean Water Act led to a massive reduction in pollution from other industries, the EPA has failed to regulate nitrogen and phosphorus from meat processing facilities in the same way. civileats.com/2025/09/02/e...

4 key leaders resigned, including Daniel Jernigan, who led the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID)….responsible for tracking foodborne illness outbreaks, zoonotic diseases, and antibiotic resistant bacteria, which can develop on farms. civileats.com/2025/08/28/c...

Taking stock of one year of MAHA. Kennedy: Dietary Guidelines on track for late September. The latest on SNAP restrictions waivers. foodfix.co/its-official...

Factcheck: Trump’s climate report includes more than 100 false or misleading claims @carbonbrief.org interactive.carbonbrief.org/doe-factchec...

A really thoughtful piece by @lisaelaineh.bsky.social. MAHA w/o addressing climate change and its ag causes, including confined animal feeding operations & biofuels, is a pathetic fig leaf while extractive ag keeps adding fuel to the fire. Energy & ag policies need to change to address CC impacts.

The #MAHA movement wants farmers to produce healthier food, but the climate crisis and Trump’s energy policies are making that harder to do. @lisaelaineh.bsky.social reports ⬇️

🎙️Journalist @lisaelaineh.bsky.social of @civileats.com says that food policy is never just one thing. It affects everything from rural communities and the environment to hunger, wellbeing, and immigration. Listen to Lisa in conversation with Douglas Haynes here: www.wortfm.org/food-program...

Democrats and Republicans are co-sponsoring the Local Farmers Feeding our Communities Act, which has broad support among farm groups.

During a Senate hearing, Stephen Vaden said the agency’s plan to move employees out of DC will reduce costs; senators complained about not being consulted.

“The public health consequences will be immediate, widespread, and devastating.” That includes for farmers and the entire food system. @civileats.com civileats.com/2025/07/30/e...

I wrote about the Regional Food Business Centers for @civileats.com back in April. Today, USDA cancelled the program. civileats.com/2025/07/15/u...

USDA denies it, but my sources say most of the employees working on the season-long farmers market took the administration’s offer to resign, leaving no one to run it. civileats.com/2025/07/08/u...

Another Prop 12 challenge, this time it’s the DOJ and they’re targeting the provisions around egg production. @civileats.com civileats.com/2025/07/10/t...

We covered A LOT of news in @civileats’ Food Policy Tracker this week. Working backwards: Yesterday Brian Calvert and I covered two large immigration raids on farms in Southern California. Brian was on the ground at one of the farms: civileats.com/2025/07/10/f...

My latest for @civileats.com civileats.com/2025/07/01/f...

We’ve been in court for a year defending a rule that protected H-2A and other seasonal farmworkers. Now, Trump’s DOL won’t enforce the rule, leaving workers at risk of “retaliation, fraud, and trafficking.” @lisaelaineh.bsky.social civileats.com/food-policy-...

Close to 2,400 employees of the Natural Resources Conservation Service have accepted an offer to resign, leaving fewer hands to protect rural landscapes. Read more from @lisaelaineh.bsky.social‬. ⬇️

Paulina Velasco, the collaborations project manager at @inn.org, asks what brought about the Food Policy Tracker: @lisaelaineh.bsky.social said the Civil Eats team wanted to follow changes the Trump administration would make. “We were thinking, ‘what would serve readers the best?’”

This piece is classic @lisaelaineh.bsky.social - such a clear and excellent breakdown of the recent history of the guidelines and where the current conversation veers from truth/reality (and where it doesn’t).

My latest: “That is the height of cruelty,” said @senbooker25hrs.bsky.social. “It is a violation of our values. It is a moral obscenity.” @civileats.com civileats.com/2025/06/04/d...

Reported first on @civileats.com: In the notice, USDA said the regs are “obsolete,” but they were also one of the only potential sources of data on when, where, and how “restricted use” pesticides are used. civileats.com/2025/06/03/u...

RFK Jr. is now in the driver’s seat when it comes to the 2025 dietary guidelines, and misinformation abounds. Senior Staff Reporter @lisaelaineh.bsky.social‬ explains why the guidelines matter, how developing them actually works, and the most controversial topics on the table.

I suspected errors in my first quick read but hadn't had time to dig in yet. Here you go...gold-standard science. Researchers cited for papers they never wrote. www.notus.org/health-scien...

“The Biden administration made historic progress to protect producers from meat company abuse. Amid the first meat industry attempt to roll that back, no one knows where Trump’s USDA will stand.” civileats.com/2025/05/19/l... @lisaelaineh.bsky.social‬ @civileats.com

#EPA Defunds Research Into #PFAS Contamination on Farms @lisaelaineh.bsky.social reports for @civileats.com #news #environment #climatechange EJ Today Headlines: sej.org/headlines/list civileats.com/food-policy-...

This is devastating. www.reuters.com/world/middle...

“Some of these groups have been working on improving these rules since the 1990s. It’s literally been decades, and finally, actual rules were finalized that have meaningful protections, and it’s just too precious a fight." @foodandwater.bsky.social @civileats.com civileats.com/2025/05/19/l...

After decades of advocacy, the USDA finalized the first of three rules related to the Packers and Stockyards Act, a law that was intended to protect farmers from abuse by meat companies. But meat industry trade groups are already working to stop or overturn them. @lisaelaineh.bsky.social reports ⬇️

"SNAP doesn’t just give away money, it powers our economy." @civileats.com civileats.com/2025/05/07/h...

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins appeared in front of Congress for the first time today and fielded questions on cuts to local food programs, USDA staffing, ag research, and more. My @civileats.com coverage of the hearing, here: civileats.com/2025/05/06/r...

There's another push underway to overturn Prop. 12, and this time, it's actually been in effect for more than a year. I wanted to see what I could find out about its impacts so far on farmers, companies, and prices... @civileats.com civileats.com/2025/05/06/o...

Super smart, nuanced analysis of an important issue, written by someone who has been doing the real work of improving school food for nearly a decade @civileats.com : civileats.com/2025/04/23/b...

According to the world's leading experts, climate change already threatens food security, and it will get worse. Changes to how we produce food, however, could provide up to a third of emissions reductions needed. @civileats.com @chelliepingree.bsky.social civileats.com/2025/04/22/e...

Like many other USDA programs that support local and regional farms, the Regional Food Business Centers have been put on ice since the Trump administration took office. @lisaelaineh.bsky.social reports ⬇️

Big news in the @civileats.com Food Policy Tracker, with updates on letters organizations have received from USDA terminating their contracts: civileats.com/food-policy-...

“You sign a contract and then you’re trusting the government that they’re going to honor their end,” she said. “For a small farm, that’s life or death, basically, for the business.” @civileats.com civileats.com/2025/04/16/u...

ICYMI Friday…h/t to @marciabrown.bsky.social for getting the list. Read my reporting on what’s missing from said list… civileats.com/food-policy-...

A reminder that I'm continuing to update this list of USDA programs my reporting has found have been frozen, unfrozen, and/or cancelled over the last few months. (Contact me to add/edit!) civileats.com/food-policy-...

New @civileats.com reporting: Essentially, these laws declare that if the EPA has approved a chemical as safe, companies cannot be held liable for failing to warn users of risks. Opponents point out that the EPA’s approvals do not always keep up with emerging risks. civileats.com/2025/04/08/b...

An aggressive federal effort to deport immigrants isn’t stopping farmworkers from organizing. Today, @ufw.bsky.social is leading a California march to mark #CesarChavezDay, but the union has gained a foothold in New York too. @lisaelaineh.bsky.social reports ⬇️

A @civileats.com exclusive: “USDA’s refusal to pay what is owed to farmers and the organizations that support them is theft, plain and simple.” @corybooker.com civileats.com/food-policy-...

Also popular in our newsletter last week was @lisaelaineh.bsky.social's excellent story in @civileats.com on the controversy about banning unhealthy foods and sodas from SNAP: civileats.com/2025/03/10/b...

Scoop: Farmers in a USDA program meant to improve the H-2A guestworker system are not receiving their payments. At the same time, USAID cuts could impact H-2A recruitment more broadly. @civileats.com civileats.com/2025/03/21/f...

“We have no choice but to try to do our damnedest to continue doing this good work, but it's really hard when the structures that we've relied on for decades are now being dissolved and are unreliable.”—Sadie Willis @civileats.com civileats.com/2025/03/19/t...

Senior Staff Reporter and Contributing Editor @lisaelaineh.bsky.social offers tips for reporting on resilient agriculture in @coveringclimatenow.org’s Locally Sourced newsletter. ⬇️

Less than two months in, Trump’s USDA is bulldozing efforts that help small farms and food producers sell healthy food directly to schools, food banks, and their local communities. @lisaelaineh.bsky.social reports ⬇️

Investigative | Honorable Mention – Chemical Capture by Senior Staff Reporter and Contributing Editor @lisaelaineh.bsky.social buff.ly/EFAhlKi