Food

USDA Offers $1.5B to Help With School Meal Supply Chain Struggles

School nutrition officials have flagged concerns about rising costs and goods shortages.

  • By Bill Lucia

What a Progressive Utopia Does to Outdoor Dining

COMMENTARY | In San Francisco and elsewhere in California, the red tape that prevented dining alfresco before the pandemic is starting to grow back.

  • By Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic

Plastic Trash in the Ocean Is a Global Problem, and the US Is the Top Source

An estimated 8 million metric tons of plastic waste enters the ocean each year – equivalent to dumping in a garbage truckload of it every minute. A new report calls on the US to help stem the deluge.

  • By Matthew Savoca Anna Robuck and Lauren Kashiwabara, The Conversation

Food Delivery Robots Gaining Popularity

The emerging technology poses regulatory questions for state and local governments.

  • By Andre Claudio

‘Am I Even Fit To Be a Mom?’ Diaper Need Is an Invisible Part of Poverty in America

Parents cannot use federal aid to pay for diapers, and are often forced to come up with other solutions, using maxi pads or towels to keep their children clean and dry. In rural America where aid is even harder to access, tiny diaper banks are the only lifeline.

  • By Chabeli Carrazana, The 19th

As Food Banks Struggle to Feed More Families at Thanksgiving, Localities Step Up to Help

Food shortages and soaring prices have hampered many charities' ability to collect and buy enough items. Municipal governments are investing new federal funds to boost these efforts.

  • By Andre Claudio

The Grim Return of Outdoor Winter Dining

COMMENTARY | Dinner by propane light is back—for now.

  • By Saahil Desai, The Atlantic

Top 10 Spookiest Towns to Visit for Halloween

Sleepy Hollow, New York tops the list, but most famous is Salem, Massachusetts.

  • By Andre Claudio

Tax or Treat! State Laws on Candy Taxation Vary Wildly

Whether you pay tax on your Halloween treat supply depends on which state you live in and how it defines candy.

  • By Hayes Holderness, The Conversation

How Food Became the Perfect Beachhead for Gentrification

COMMENTARY | Ethnic food is cheap, and it appeals to adventurous eaters. Real estate agents and investors have caught on.

  • By Pascale Joassart-Marcelli, The Conversation

Data Show Rise in Households Struggling to Afford Food For Kids

But the new federal statistics also reveal food insecurity among children in 2020 didn't reach levels seen during the last recession.

  • By Bill Lucia

40M Americans to Get Major Boost in Food Assistance Benefits

Aid provided through the nation’s largest food assistance program will increase by upwards of 25% beginning in October, the Biden administration announced.

  • By Bill Lucia
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Wisconsin Doesn’t Have a State Cheese, and Some Lawmakers Think That’s No Gouda

Colby, a cheese created in Wisconsin, could be the state’s first official cheese under a proposal under consideration in the legislature. But some lawmakers have reservations.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

One-Fourth of Low-Income Immigrant Households Avoided Public Benefits in 2020

Despite financial hardships brought on by the pandemic, some households did not seek benefits because of concerns due in part to the Trump administration’s “public charge” rule.

  • By Andrea Noble

Why More Public Libraries Are Doubling as Food Distribution Hubs

COMMENTARY | What might look like a new role for libraries builds on their long tradition of serving as innovation spaces, community centers and sanctuaries for people who are homeless or mentally ill.

  • By Noah Lenstra, The Conversation

Biden Administration Kills Food Stamp Restriction That Could Have Affected 1.3 million Americans

The restriction would have particularly affected Black women and Latinas, who remain disproportionately affected by the recession.

  • By Shefali Luthra, The 19th

Need Amid Plenty: Richest U.S. Counties Are Overwhelmed by Surge in Child Hunger

While every U.S. county has seen hunger rates rise, the steepest jumps have been in some of the wealthiest counties, where overall affluence obscures the tenuous finances of low-wage workers.

  • By Laura Ungar, Kaiser Health News

How Urban Planning and Housing Policy Helped Create ‘Food Apartheid’ in U.S. Cities

COMMENTARY | The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that 54.4 million Americans live in low-income areas with poor access to healthy food. For city residents, this means they are more than half a mile from the nearest supermarket.

  • By Julian Agyeman, The Conversation

Texans Running Out of Food as Weather Crisis Disrupts Supply Chain

Texans running low on food are finding empty grocery store shelves. Food pantries are running out of supplies. And the freeze has wiped out substantial portions of the state's citrus and vegetable crops.

  • By Julián Aguilar and Duncan Agnew, The Texas Tribune

Corporate Concentration in the U.S. Food System Makes Food More Expensive and Less Accessible for Many Americans

COMMENTARY | Consolidation has placed key decisions about the nation’s food system in the hands of a few large companies, giving them outsized influence.

  • By Philip H. Howard and Mary Hendrickson, The Conversation

The Biden Administration Can Eliminate Food Insecurity in the U.S.—Here’s How

COMMENTARY | The new administration has tools at its disposal to tackle the problem of hunger in America. More than 35 million Americans lived in food-insecure households in 2019.

  • By Craig Gundersen, The Conversation