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The majority of states have declined to reimburse SNAP skimming victims. If Congress’ massive $1.7 trillion funding package passes, a provision tucked inside it would require states to replace SNAP benefits stolen in October or later. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., who introduced a bill last month to help SNAP skimming victims get their benefits reinstated. Washington, D.C., also reimburses SNAP skimming victims. Current regulations prohibit federal funds from being used to replace stolen SNAP funds, according to the Agriculture Department.

After a two-week standoff between protesters and construction crews building a border wall made of shipping containers, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Arizona, accusing it of trespassing on federal land. "Arizona has unlawfully and without authority failed to remove the shipping containers from lands owned by the United States or over which the United States holds easements, thereby damaging the United States," the complaint reads. In August, Ducey issued an executive order directing the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs to fill gaps in the existing border wall in Yuma County using shipping containers. Important waterways are being damaged or altered by the placement of shipping containers on land that serves as important habitats and crossings, including for endangered species, he said. "Under the Clean Water Act, they have created a dam with those shipping containers and it just looks like a junkyard now."

Federal dollars are also not an option for reimbursement because regulations prohibit federal funds from being used to replace stolen SNAP funds. SNAP participants say they cannot wait that long after a month or more of stolen benefits plunged them into financial turmoil. Washington, D.C., also reimburses SNAP skimming victims. In the meantime, anti-hunger advocates say there’s no reason states can’t fill the gap for SNAP skimming victims. How states can helpCalifornia, one state that restores stolen benefits, has a law allowing state funds to be used that dates back to 2013.

☆ Cotton-Price Decline Could Cushion Apparel Margins
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Jinjoo Lee | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Rising cotton and freight costs didn’t unravel the apparel industry on the way up. The reversal of those costs could help pad their margins on the way down next year. Cotton prices, which surged through 2021 and reached an 11-year high in May of this year, have been on a steady decline and are now 47% below that peak. Unfavorable weather—severe flooding in Pakistan and drought in the U.S.—badly hit cotton-harvest forecasts this year, helping push cotton prices up initially. In the nine months through September, China’s cotton yarn imports, which the U.S. Agriculture Department views as a bellwether for global cotton-consumption growth, have fallen by nearly half from the same period a year earlier.

☆ A 1930s eugenics experiment is the reason women's clothing sizes are so damn frustrating
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Isabella Zavarise | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A 1930s eugenics experiment is the reason women's clothing sizes are inconsistent, as per Radke. In an email to Insider, Radke said the discovery about women's clothing sizes was one of the biggest surprises to her when researching "Butts, a Backstory." Andrew SemansThe life-sized plaster casts made by Dickinson and Belskie were dubbed Normman and Norma and helped create standardized clothing sizes. During the 1950s, standardized clothing sizes were adopted by clothing brands. "It's just too expensive for garment manufacturers to make enough clothing sizes to accommodate the wide variation of human bodies.

Few causes have united the country like this summer’s multistate effort to kill spotted lanternflies, the colorful invasive insects that have wreaked havoc in at least 14 states. Now, as adult lanternflies begin to perish during the winter, experts say those efforts might have curbed the species’ spread to some degree. Anne Johnson, a doctoral student studying the spotted lanternfly in Hoover’s lab at Penn State, believes the viral trends can make a difference. Spotted lanternflies are native to China, where they don’t often become a pest. “We’ll always have to deal with spotted lanternfly,” Johnson said.

☆ Lab-Grown Poultry Clears First Hurdle at FDA
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Kristina Peterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Singapore is the only country so far to have approved the sale of cultivated meat products. WASHINGTON—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration indicated for the first time Wednesday it had no safety concerns over a chicken product grown from cells in a lab setting, bringing cultivated meat closer to U.S. grocery store shelves. The FDA said it had completed a premarket review of a cultivated chicken product from Berkeley, Calif.-based Upside Foods , and had no unresolved questions about its safety for humans to eat. The lab-grown chicken from Upside Foods must still get approvals from the Agriculture Department, which oversees the meat industry, before it can be sold in the U.S.

☆ Why egg prices are surging — but chicken prices are falling: It's an 'act of God' event, says trade strategist
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Yet chicken prices fell in October. It may seem counterintuitive that egg and chicken prices moved in opposite directions. The last bout was in 2015, when a record 50.5 million birds were impacted, the CDC said. Elevated egg prices "could last into the first quarter of 2023," Lapp said. 'Broilers' are less affected by flu than 'layers'Meanwhile, chicken prices retreated in October, falling by 1.3% during the month.

☆ In meat-loving South Africa, climate concerns whet appetite for veggie burgers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Tim Cocks | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Workers prepare a plant-based polony used as an alternative or meat substitute at meat processor Feinschmecker, in Germiston, in the East Rand region of Johannesburg, South Africa, October 11, 2022. That could be heartening for climate scientists, who say shifting diets from emissions-heavy meat and dairy towards more plant-based foods is vital to the fight against climate change. Plant-based meat substitutes are growing by 6.5% a year and sales are expected to reach $561 million by 2023, according to Research and Markets - more than half Africa's share of a global market forecast to hit $162 billion by 2030. But the popularity of veggie alternatives would have been unthinkable even a decade ago and the market is outstripping forecast growth for meat. She gave up meat over climate concerns and her diabetes.

☆ A multimillion-dollar war against mosquitoes is underway in Florida after Hurricane Ian
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

"The mosquitoes are out there, and they’re biting," said Eric Jackson, the deputy director of the Lee County Mosquito Control Division. The Lee County Mosquito Control District, a special district in one of the communities hit hardest by Ian, employs about 100 workers, Jackson said. Anne Askew, a biologist in the Lee County Mosquito Control District's Larviciding Department, uses a microscope to identify mosquito species. Lee County Mosquito Control DistrictIn Lee County, where Fort Myers is located, mosquito counts in the traps began to spike about a week after Ian. Florida officials don’t think federal help will be necessary, though Hurricane Ian’s damage has created challenges for mosquito control workers.

Last month, the Food and Agriculture Organization's global rice price index rose 2.2% to hit an 18-month high. "The international market has gone up and it will go up further," said Nitin Gupta, vice president for Olam India's rice business. Reuters GraphicsVietnam's unmilled rice output is forecast to hold flat to last year's 43 million tonnes, according to government data. Neighbouring Thailand is aiming to export 7.5 million tonnes this year, up about 7% from its previous target of 7 million tonnes, said Anucha Burapachaisri, a government spokesman. Meanwhile, Pakistan cannot capitalise on India's export curbs after severe flooding ravaged its crop.

☆ Sunflowers, war and drought: Why the price of margarine and butter spiked 32%
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Margarine prices swelled by about 4% in the month from August to September, meaning they've continued to trend upward in the short term. 1 producer and exporter of sunflower oil, which accounts for 9% of all vegetable oil produced globally. "Supplies of these alternatives are expected to be tight in the 2021/22 marketing year, contributing to elevated vegetable oil prices." Palm oil accounts for 35% of all vegetable oil made globally, the largest share relative to the aforementioned oil commodities. Annual oil prices — and those of its byproducts, like gasoline and diesel — skyrocketed as a result.

“They broke their promise to Black farmers and other farmers of color,” John Boyd, a plaintiff and the president of the National Black Farmers Association, told NBC News on Wednesday just before he held a press conference on the matter. John Boyd, president of the Black Farmers Association, plants winter wheat in one of his fields in Baskerville, Va., on Jan. 8, 2019. The $4 billion was never delivered to Black farmers and other people of color, however. The new legislation aims to circumvent white farmers’ grievances and create two new funds while nixing the initial relief program. In 1920, there were more than 925,000 Black farmers in the U.S., making up about 14% of the farmer population, according to data analysis by the consulting firm McKinsey.

Hurricane Ian was set to produce significant damage to much of Florida's citrus crop as it tore through the central-southwest part of the state, threatening to send the price of orange juice higher. November orange juice futures contracts were trading as high as $1.92 per pound Wednesday before falling back to $186.55. "The amount of loss is going to be pretty significant," Scoville said. Depending on the season, more than 90% of America’s orange juice is made from Florida-grown oranges, according to state data. According to the Agriculture Department, cold storage stocks of orange juice were at lows not seen since at least 2019 heading into August.

☆ Biden to lay out plan to end hunger in the U.S. by 2030
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Summer Concepcion | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

President Joe Biden is hosting a conference on hunger, nutrition and health in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday where his administration will announce more than $8 billion in private and public sector commitments as part of its plans to end hunger and reduce diet-related disease by 2030. Of the $8 billion in new commitments invested in the action, at least $2.5 billion will go toward start-up companies focused on solutions to hunger and food insecurity. More than $4 billion will go to philanthropy aimed at improving access to nutritious food, promoting healthy choices and increasing physical activity. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will deliver opening remarks and an overview of the national strategy before Biden speaks. White House domestic policy adviser Susan Rice will also lead a conversation with chairman Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., and Sens.

☆ Biden administration to propose nutrition labels on front of food packaging in push to improve health
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Zoë Richards | Zoë Richards Is The Evening Politics Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

The Food and Drug Administration will research and propose a standardized front-of-package labeling system to help consumers more readily understand nutrition information, the White House said Tuesday. The administration also said it would propose an update to the nutrition criteria for the “healthy” claim on food packages. Several congressional Democrats have been particularly focused on food labeling. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey called for greater transparency in food packaging labels in a letter to the Domestic Policy Council’s director, Susan Rice, last month. The Biden administration is also taking steps to improve food access and affordability, senior administration officials told reporters.

☆ Black Farmers Skeptical About Loan Aid After Discrimination
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Kristina Peterson | Photographs Timothy Ivy For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—Last month, President Biden signed into law a spending bill intended to reckon with what courts and government investigations have repeatedly found to be a history of discrimination by the U.S. Agriculture Department against Black farmers. But for many Black farmers and their advocates, they will have to see the money to believe it.

☆ Black Farmers Skeptical About Aid After Biased Lending
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Kristina Peterson | Photographs Timothy Ivy For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

But this summer, the food stamps couldn't keep up with the grocery store's rising prices, sending her in search of a food donation for the first time. Some advocates argued for spending more on food stamps or cash distribution, which give people more choice than food handouts and also benefit local businesses. He doesn't qualify for food stamps, and has noticed when the pantry runs low on some items. While food supplies shrink, inflation is pushing more Americans toward food pantries for the first time. Food stamps made up less than 2% of U.S. government spending in 2022, according to U.S. Treasury data.

☆ The Trouble With Butter: Tight Dairy Supplies Send Prices Surging Ahead of Baking Season
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Jesse Newman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

All the world’s inflation woes are melting into a stick of butter. Lower milk production on U.S. dairy farms and labor shortages for processing plants have weighed on butter output for months, leaving the amount of butter in U.S. cold storage facilities at the end of July the lowest since 2017, according to the Agriculture Department.

The price of groceries continued to soar in the 12 months that ended in August, climbing by 13.5% — the biggest increase since 1979. Many food categories had double-digit 12-month increases, led by eggs, which surged by 40%; margarine, up by 38%; and flour, which jumped by 23%. "This outbreak has contributed to elevated egg prices and increasing poultry prices as over 40 million birds, 189 commercial flocks, and 39 States have been affected," the department said. The USDA also said food price growth in many categories should abate through the end of the year and into 2023, thanks to higher interest rates, lower commodity prices and lower energy prices. "Food prices are expected to grow more slowly in 2023 than 2022, but still above historical average rates," the Agriculture Department said.

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