Agriculture

"If you eat a daily serving of fruits and vegetables, critical components of a healthy diet, you’re likely ingesting a hefty dose of pesticides too, new peer-reviewed research shows."

"It’s been seven years since Germany’s Bayer bought US agrochemical giant Monsanto, inheriting not only the company’s vast portfolio of seeds and pesticide products, but also more than 100,000 lawsuits alleging Monsanto’s popular Roundup herbicide causes cancer. Bayer, which has so far paid out billions of dollars in settlements and jury verdicts to cancer victims, has been working – so far in vain – to put an end to the litigation and to block any future such cases."

"The Trump administration is ending a decades-long effort to track food security at a time when many Americans are struggling to get proper nutrition or enough to eat."

"Top regulatory officials met with agricultural and chemical industry representatives dozens of times in the first few months after President Donald Trump took office in January, government records show — meetings that were followed by a series of regulatory rollbacks and a downplaying of pesticide concerns by the administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) Commission."

"While the Trump administration disincentivizes solar developments on farms, agrivoltaics continue anyway, with local and state support."

"The provision in the government funding bill could shield pesticide companies from billions of dollars in lawsuits."

"A growing population, leaking pipes and changing climate threaten the state’s water supply. Texas lawmakers hope a $20 billion investment will help."

"USDA’s staffing cuts, scuttled conservation programs, and misdirected crop insurance are hitting farmers hard."

"A group of experts says Western states urgently need to cut water use to avert a deepening crisis on the Colorado River. The river’s major reservoirs are less than one-third full, and another dry winter would push reservoirs toward critically low levels."

"Cuts to SNAP and farm-to-school programs under the Trump administration risk worsening childhood disease, nutrition experts warn."