Q2 2025

May 2025

• May 2, 2025: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests and detains 14 farmworkers from a farm in Western New York.
• May 3, 2025: At least 15,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) employees have taken the Trump-Vance Administration’s offers to resign, according to a briefing from the agency.
• May 12, 2025: The USDA rescinds decades-old regulations that required farmers to record their use of pesticides known to pose the highest risk to human health.
• May 14, 2025: The House Agriculture Committee voted 29-25, along party lines, to advance legislation that would cut as much as US$300 billion in food aid spending, shifting costs to the states.
• May 14, 2025: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announces plans to rescind several key protections intended to keep perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, out of drinking water, about a year after the Biden-Harris administration finalized the first-ever national standards.
• May 15, 2025: EPA approves the first permit allowing an industrial-scale fish farm to begin operating in federal waters.
• May 19, 2025: Rollins announces the Small Family Farms Policy Agenda, a set of policy proposals she says are aimed at improving the viability and longevity of smaller-scale family farms.
• May 22, 2025: The Trump-Vance Administration’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission releases a new MAHA report identifying the key contributors to rising rates of chronic disease among American children. According to the report, ultra-processed foods, exposure to environmental chemicals, lack of physical activity, and the overuse of medications and vaccines are among the primary drivers.
• May 27, 2025: U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announces a plan to increase funding for US$14.5 million in reimbursements to states for meat and poultry inspection programs.
• May 28, 2025: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cancels funding for a trial testing the safety and efficacy of a vaccine to protect Americans from bird flu, should the virus begin circulating in humans.
• May 29, 2025: The White House acknowledges errors in the MAHA Assessment report, including citations to studies that do not actually exist.

June 2025

• June 2, 2025: The U.S. Department of the Interior proposes reversing an order issued by President Joe Biden in December that banned oil and gas drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.
• June 9, 2025: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announces that the agency will get rid of all members sitting on a key U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention panel of vaccine experts and reconstitute the committee.
• June 10, 2025: ICE arrests and detains 70 workers at Glenn Valley Foods, a meat production plant in Omaha, Nebraska.
• June 12, 2025: President Donald Trump acknowledges on social media that his immigration policies are hurting the farming and hotel industries, making a rare concession that his crackdown is having ripple effects on the American workforce. “Changes are coming,” he says.
• June 12, 2025: The Senate Agriculture Committee releases its proposed text for the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” While the House plan proposed cuts of nearly US$300 billion in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) spending, the Senate’s plan would cut US$209 billion from the program. According to the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, a “vote for this bill is not a vote for farmers – it’s a vote to abandon them.” The Food Research and Action Center says the bill marks “a devastating reversal in the fight against hunger in America.”
• June 13, 2025: The Washington Post reports that there will be no policy changes underway to exempt farm, hotel and other leisure workers from Trump’s immigration crackdown.
• June 12, 2025: Trump pulls the U.S. federal government from an agreement brokered by President Joe Biden with Washington, Oregon, and four Native American tribes to recover the salmon population in the Pacific Northwest, calling the plan “radical environmentalism”.
• June 17, 2025: Rollins announces that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will terminate over 145 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion focused awards, totaling US$148.6 million. Programs that will be terminated include: educating and engaging socially disadvantaged farmers on conservation practices, creating a new model for urban forestry to lead to environmental justice through more equitably distributed green spaces, and expanding equitable access to land, capital, and market opportunities for underserved producers.
• June 20, 2025: Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate parliamentarian appointed to oversee the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act as it moves through Congress, rules that Republicans can’t use the budget reconciliation process to impose a state cost-share for SNAP, negating a major source of spending cuts for the legislation. She also says Republicans could not include a provision that would bar immigrants who are not citizens or lawful permanent residents from receiving SNAP benefits.
• June 25, 2025: The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) will no longer enforce a 2024 rule that expanded protections for guest workers who come to the U.S. to work on farms through the H-2A program. According to DOL, “The decision provides much-needed clarity for American farmers navigating the H-2A program, while also aligning with President Trump’s ongoing commitment to strictly enforcing U.S. immigration laws.”

Q3 2025

July 2025

• July 1, 2025: Senate passes the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act with SNAP cuts intact. The bill is now headed to the House, where it’s still unclear if Republicans have the votes to pass it.
• July 10, 2025: The USDA will no longer employ the race- and sex-based “socially disadvantaged” designation to provide increased benefits in USDA programs. Rollins says: “We are taking this aggressive, unprecedented action to eliminate discrimination in any form at USDA.”
• July 10, 2025: ICE arrests and detains 361 workers during farm raids in Carpinteria and Camarillo, California.
• July 12, 2025: A Mexican farmworker dies from injuries sustained during a federal immigration raid on July 10.
• July 15, 2025: USDA terminates the Regional Food Business Centers (RFBC) program, which provided funding for organizations to build support for local and regional farm and food businesses.
• July 24, 2025: Rollins announces that the USDA will close the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. The plan could undermine research on pests, blight, and crop genetics crucial to American farms, according to lawmakers, a farm group, and staff of the facility.

August 2025

• August 11, 2025: The U.S. Congressional Budget Office releases a report confirming that reductions to SNAP will significantly shrink access to food assistance, disproportionately harming children, older adults, people with disabilities, and working families. The report projects that millions will see reduced benefits or lose access to SNAP entirely.
• August 12, 2025: The USDA notifies union leaders representing the Food Safety and Inspection Service and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service that the agency plans to end contracts for thousands of employees.
• August 19, 2025: The USDA announces it will no longer fund taxpayer dollars for solar panels on productive farmland or allow solar panels manufactured by foreign adversaries to be used in USDA projects. The announcement describes that prime farmland has been displaced by solar farms and the new investment guardrails are meant to keep farmland affordable, but data from the agency show that a very small amount of rural land is used for solar and wind projects and that most continues in agricultural production even after the projects are installed.
• August 26, 2025: Trump revokes an executive order, issued by President Joe Biden, that tasked the USDA and Federal Trade Commission with curbing consolidation across the food system to improve fairness and competition for farmers and consumers.
• August 28, 2025: Kennedy and Trump fire Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez over disagreements on vaccination policy. Four other officials quit in frustration over vaccine policy and Kennedy’s leadership.
• August 29, 2025: The Trump-Vance Administration suspends an annual charity drive that resulted in federal employees donating about US$70 million a year to nonprofit organizations, including US$5 million to food and agriculture initiatives.

September 2025

• September 2, 2025: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announces that the agency is abandoning a plan to regulate water pollution from the country’s slaughterhouses and meat processing facilities.
• September 4, 2025: In one of the largest workplace raids in New York, ICE arrests and detains 57 people from Nutrition Bar Confectioners, a nutrition bar manufacturer.
• September 9, 2025: The Trump-Vance Administration’s Make America Healthy Again Commission releases its Strategy Report, outlining the federal government’s approach to reducing childhood chronic disease. The 20-page document confirms earlier leaks that the administration will avoid imposing new restrictions on pesticides or ultra-processed foods.
• September 20, 2025: The USDA announces the termination of future Household Food Security Reports, calling the study “redundant, costly, and politicized.”
• September 25, 2025: Rollins announces new efforts to investigate market conditions that have led to high input prices for farmers, shortly after the USDA quietly cancelled partnerships that helped states tackle anticompetitive markets in agriculture.
• September 30, 2025: The Trump-Vance Administration is canceling US$72 million for USAID’s Feed the Future Innovation Labs by using a controversial loophole to cancel federal funding at the end of the fiscal year, which ended on September 30, 2025.

Q4 2025

October 2025

• October 1, 2025: The U.S. federal government shuts down, following a failure by Congress to pass appropriations bills for the new fiscal year. Federal agencies will be governed by their respective Lapse of Funding plans until the government reopens.
  • According to the USDA Lapse of Funding Plan, approximately 42,000 agency employees will be furloughed. 67 percent of employees at the Farm Service Agency will be furloughed. The Farm Service Agency will stop processing farm loans and commodity payments, and it will stop implementing disaster assistance programs. 96 percent of the Natural Resources Conservation Service will be furloughed, effectively freezing conservation programs. The National Organic Program will cease operations, leaving certifiers without oversight or support. The Economic Research Service, National Agricultural Statistics Service, and National Institute for Food and Agriculture are each losing more than 90 percent of their staff and ceasing all program operations. Core operations related to nutrition programs, including SNAP, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and school meals will continue but funding for those programs could start to become an issue depending on how long the shutdown lasts.
  • According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plan, the agency will retain about 86 percent of staff. Routine inspections will be suspended and the agency will instead focus on “for-cause” inspections, or those tied to foodborne illness outbreaks, recalls, or consumer complaints.
  • According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s shutdown plan, the agency will retain about 11 percent of its total workforce. The agency will stop conducting and publishing research “unless necessary for exempted or excepted activities.”
• October 2, 2025: A news release posted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security adjusts the H-2A paperwork process to speed up applications with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
• DHS says the changes are part of a larger collaborative effort with the DOL to streamline the program “in light of an urgent demand for an authorized agricultural labor force and requests from the regulated community and members of Congress to make the H-2A program easier to use and more efficient for U.S. agricultural producers.”
• October 2, 2025: The DOL publishes rules altering the way H-2A wage rates are calculated, effectively lowering wages for labor across the board. United Farm Workers calculated that the change will reduce wages by US$5 to US$7 per hour in some states, leading to US$2.46 billion less paid to H-2A workers annually.
• October 2, 2025: The DOL warns in an obscure document that the Trump-Vance Administration’s immigration crackdown is threatening “the stability of domestic food production and prices for U.S. consumers.”
• October 7, 2025: Civil Eats reports on industry ties within Trump’s food and agricultural leadership. Many of the president’s top officials at the USDA, EPA, HHS, and FDA have connections to chemical, agribusiness, or fossil fuel interests.
• October 10, 2025: According to a letter obtained by Politico, SNAP is running out of funds. Ronald Ward, the USDA’s acting associate administrator for the program, instructed regional and state SNAP directors to delay sending next month’s funds to electronic benefit transfer vendors responsible for delivering benefits to participants: “We understand that several States would normally begin sending November benefit issuance files to their electronic benefit transfer (EBT) vendors soon,” Ward writes. “Considering the operational issues and constraints that exist in automated systems, and in the interest of preserving maximum flexibility, we are forced to direct States to hold their November issuance files and delay transmission to State EBT vendors until further notice.”
• October 16, 2025: NPR reports that at least 27 states have turned over data (including their names, dates of birth, home addresses, Social Security numbers, and benefits amounts) about millions of food stamp recipients to the USDA, which framed the data demand as necessary to accomplish the Trump-Vance Administration’s goal of identifying and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.
• October 16, 2025: Rollins says SNAP will run out of funds in two weeks because of the partial government shutdown, potentially leaving nearly 42 million people without monthly benefits.
• October 20, 2025: Politico reports on six food and agriculture programs experiencing delays or funding concerns as a result of the shutdown: SNAP, school meals, WIC, H-2A processing, farm aid, and Farm Service Agency offices.
• October 22, 2025: Trump announces plans to increase the volume of beef imports from Argentina, raising concerns among American cattle-producing farmers and ranchers.
• October 31, 2025: Two federal judges order the Trump-Vance Administration to use emergency funds to keep SNAP running.

November 2025

• November 1, 2025: Nearly 42 million Americans lose their food stamp benefits as Congress fails to reopen the government. Politico reports that the Trump-Vance Administration says they don’t have the authority to use emergency money for SNAP or have enough funds to support the estimated US$9 billion for November benefits. Even if they comply with the court order to fund benefits, it could still take days or weeks to disburse partial funds.
• November 3, 2025: NPR reports that the Trump-Vance Administration will restart SNAP benefits, but only at 50 percent of normal payments and the payments will be delayed. The Trump-Vance Administration says it will use money from a US$5 billion Agriculture Department contingency fund. Officials say that depleting the fund means “no funds will remain for new SNAP applicants certified in November, disaster assistance, or as a cushion against the potential catastrophic consequences of shutting down SNAP entirely.”
• November 8, 2025: The USDA directs states to “immediately undo” any steps that have been taken to send out full food aid benefits to low-income Americans, following a U.S. Supreme Court order temporarily halting a lower court order requiring those payments.
• November 10, 2025: Retrieved from the USDA website on Nov. 10: “Senate Democrats have voted 14 times against reopening the government. This compromises not only SNAP, but farm programs, food inspection, animal and plant disease protection, rural development, and protecting federal lands. Senate Democrats are withholding services to the American people in exchange for healthcare for illegals, gender mutilation, and other unknown “leverage” points.”
• November 12, 2025: The U.S. federal government shutdown ends after Congress signs a funding package for 2026. Lasting 43 days, the shutdown was the longest in U.S. history. Roughly 670,000 federal employees were furloughed, and 730,000 worked without pay.
• November 13, 2025: The U.S. Department of the Interior reverses an order issued by President Joe Biden in December 2024 that banned oil and gas drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.
• November 14, 2025: Trump rolls back tariffs on more than 200 food products, including such staples as coffee, beef, bananas and orange juice, in the face of growing angst among American consumers about the high cost of groceries.
• November 21, 2025: According to an annual FDA report, sales of antibiotics for farm animals climbed 16 percent in 2024, the “biggest increase we’ve ever seen,” according to Steve Roach, director of the Safe and Healthy Food Program at Food Animal Concerns Trust.

December 2025

• December 1, 2025: The FDA announces “the deployment of agentic AI capabilities for all agency employees” for tasks including meeting management, pre-market reviews, review validation, post-market surveillance, inspections, and compliance and administrative functions.
• December 6, 2025: Trump issues an executive order directing the U.S. Attorney General and Federal Trade Commission to investigate food-related industries and determine whether anti-competitive behavior exists in food supply chains.
• December 10, 2025: The USDA announces a US$700 million Regenerative Pilot Program.
• December 10, 2025: Rollins approves SNAP Food Restriction Waivers in six states, Missouri, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Hawai’i.
• December 17, 2025: The USDA’s Office of the Inspector General releases a report finding that the agency lost nearly one-fifth of its workforce in the first half of 2025: more than 20,000 employees left the agency out of more than 110,000, including 15,114 who accepted a voluntary resignation program.

Q1 2026

January 2026

• January 1, 2026: SNAP waivers go into effect in Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah, and West Virginia, bringing the total number of states with approved waivers to 18.
• January 7, 2026: The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services release the Dietary Guidelines for 2025 to 2030, recommending a reduction in highly processed foods with added sugar and excess sodium and endorsing whole, nutrient-dense foods and products like whole milk, butter, and red meat.
• January 14, 2026: The American Federation of Government Employees announces that the Department of Health and Human Services is reinstating National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) employees laid off in 2025, but does not specify how many will return to their jobs. Almost 900 of NIOSH’s 1,000 employees were laid off last year.
• January 14, 2026: Trump signs the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act into law. The legislation modifies current regulations, which require milk to be fat-free or low-fat, to permit schools to offer students whole, reduced-fat, low-fat, and fat-free organic or nonorganic milk.
• January 15, 2026: Rollins publishes an op-ed in The Hill promoting the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans. She writes, “Eating healthy can cost as little as $3.00 per meal.”
• January 19, 2026: The USDA launches Lender Lens on the Rural Data Gateway, making Rural Development’s entire commercial guaranteed loan portfolio available to the public, guaranteed borrowers, and commercial lending stakeholders.
• January 22, 2026: The USDA launches an online portal for reporting foreign-owned agricultural land transactions. They say the portal is part of a broader effort to “strengthen enforcement and protect American farmland” as the agency continues its implementation of the National Farm Security Action Plan.
• January 30, 2026: Rollins shares that around 1.75 million fewer people are participating in SNAP since the start of the Trump-Vance Administration.

February 2026

• February 2, 2026: Trump announces plans to lower tariffs on goods from India from 25 percent to 18 percent after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to stop buying oil from Russia.
• February 4, 2026: The USDA announces that it is assuming operation of the foreign food aid program Food for Peace, formerly operated by USAID. Humanitarian aid experts say the program has been used flexibly to respond to different emergency settings, but it may become a way to offload surplus U.S.-grown food commodities.
• February 6, 2026: The FDA publishes a letter to the food industry announcing that the agency will scale back artificial food dye labeling enforcement.
• February 6, 2026: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reapproves dicamba, a pesticide that has raised concern over its tendency to drift and destroy nearby crops, for use on genetically modified soybeans and cotton.
• February 6, 2026: Trump issues a proclamation opening a marine protected area off the northeastern U.S. to commercial fishing. The 4,913-square-mile area was the only U.S. marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean.
• February 6, 2026: Trump releases an Executive Order, calling for higher volumes of imported beef from Argentina to lower prices for eaters.
• February 11, 2026: The USDA announces the Farmer and Rancher Freedom Framework, a plan to protect, preserve, and partner with American agriculture, while “ending onerous regulations and the weaponization of government against American farmers and ranchers. It formalizes USDA’s ongoing efforts to eliminate systemic agricultural lawfare,” according to the agency.
• February 12, 2026: The FDA publishes final guidance which advises, but does not require, drug companies to set “duration limits” for livestock antibiotics in animal feed.
• February 13, 2026: The USDA issues final Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP) payments totaling more than US$1.89 billion. Eligible applicants who applied for ELRP 2023 and 2024 Flood and Wildfire assistance will receive 100 percent of their eligible payment in a single lump sum.
• February 13, 2026: The USDA announces US$1 billion in assistance for farmers of specialty crops and sugar, commodities not covered through the previously announced Farmer Bridge Assistance program.
• February 13, 2026: Republicans on the House Agriculture Committee release a draft farm bill package. The draft is scheduled to be reviewed and revised the week of February 23, 2026.
• February 13, 2026: USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden announces on social media that the Department of Justice will stop defending farm programs that benefit socially disadvantaged producers.
• February 17, 2026: The USDA announces proposed updated regulations that would speed up line speeds at poultry and pork production facilities.
• February 18, 2026: Trump issues an Executive Order directing the Secretary of Agriculture to ensure “a continued and adequate supply of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate-based herbicides.”
• February 20, 2026: Trump announces new tariffs under the Trade Act of 1974, and increases the tariff rate to 15 percent.
• February 20, 2026: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency repeals a 2024 rule that imposed limits on mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, the primary source of the mercury that accumulates in fish.

March 2026

• March 3, 2026: Trump-Vance Administration lawyers submit an amicus brief in favor of Monsanto to the U.S. Supreme Court, stating that the Court should rule in favor of Bayer in a case that could prevent individuals from suing pesticide companies over claims their products cause cancer and other illnesses.
• March 4, 2026: The USDA approves SNAP waivers in four states: Kansas, Nevada, Ohio, and Wyoming.
• March 4, 2026: The U.S. House Agriculture Committee votes to advance a 2026 Farm Bill. To be adopted, the legislation must still pass a vote in the full House of Representatives before going to the Senate.
• March 6, 2026: U.S. officials release a video of an explosion on social media, capturing the destruction of what they said was a drug trafficker’s training camp in rural Ecuador. A subsequent New York Times investigation indicates that the military strike appears to have destroyed a cattle and dairy farm, not a drug trafficking compound.
• March 10, 2026: During a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing, lawmakers and witnesses including American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall, multiple senators from both parties, and farm advocacy group Farm Action warn of how the war in Iran, and its impact on fertilizer markets, could affect farmers.
• March 18, 2026: Rollins and Kennedy publish the joint opinion piece, “We’re bringing families more healthy foods in a SNAP.”
• March 23, 2026: USDA issues termination notices for 49 of the 50 projects under the Increasing Land, Capital, And Market Access (ILCMA) Program.
• March 27, 2026: Speaking at a White House event celebrating farmers, Trump promises to bolster small-business loan guarantees for farmers, who have been hit hard by his tariffs and rising prices from the war in Iran, and announces a final EPA rule raising the minimum amount of renewable fuels that must be blended into the U.S. fuel supply. Biofuels like ethanol, biodiesel, and renewable diesel are largely made with corn and soybean oil, meaning this rule could boost demand for those crops.
• March 30, 2026: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services sends a memo to hospitals requesting they align meals with the updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans by phasing out ultra-processed food and high-sugar foods in favor of fruits, vegetables, and minimally processed proteins.
• March 31, 2026: The USDA suspends all grants under the Rural Energy for America Program to comply with an Executive Order issued in July 2025.

Q2 2026

April 2026

• April 1, 2026: The FDA approves Foundayo, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist in tablet form. The approval was issued 50 days after filing, marking the fastest new molecular entity approval since 2002.
• April 3, 2026: The Trump-Vance Administration releases its proposed budget for fiscal year 2027, which begins on October 1, 2026. The proposal includes a 19 percent cut in the USDA budget.
• April 7, 2026: The USDA finalizes regulations that overhaul how the National Environmental Policy Act is implemented, including by reducing and removing procedural requirements, removing climate change and environmental justice considerations, and eliminating opportunities for public comment.
• April 8, 2026: The Trump-Vance Administration nominates Luke Lindberg, Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs at the USDA, for Executive Director of the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP). United Nations officials subsequently announce that Secretary-General António Guterres will not appoint a new Executive Director to WFP before he steps down.
• April 10, 2026: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration removes workplace inspection goals related to heat-related hazards, both indoors and outdoors, that may lead to serious illnesses, injuries, or death.
• April 15, 2026: Rollins announces the creation of the new USDA Office of Seafood.
• April 22, 2026: The U.S. House Appropriations Committee releases the Fiscal Year 2027 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Bill. It cuts the overall funding level by US$1.1 billion compared to 2026.
• April 23, 2026: The USDA announces reorganizations of the Food Safety and Inspection Service and the Research, Education, and Economics Mission Area, aiming to streamline functions and improve operational efficiency. As part of the reorganizations, a substantial portion of the agencies’ workforces will be relocated and the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center will be decommissioned.
• April 30, 2026: The House of Representatives votes to pass the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026. The Farm Bill now advances to the Senate.

Is there an update you want to see included that isn’t on the list? Email Danielle at danielle@foodtank.com.

The post One Year On: How Trump and Vance Have Changed Food, Agriculture, Health, and Climate appeared first on Food Tank.

Can Conflict Drive a Transition to Sustainable Packaging?

As the war in Iran continues and oil prices stay high, plastic prices are soaring. That’s becoming a problem in China, Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia, which consume roughly a third of the world’s plastics. According to OECD data, their plastic use has increased from 17 million tonnes in 1990 to 152 million tonnes in 2022.

With the material so expensive, countries are worried the material will become far less accessible. In Tokyo, for example, wholesalers are already warning that there may be a shortage of plastic trays and bags. That’s driving a search for alternatives. 

In Malaysia, one dairy producer has temporarily switched from plastic containers to paper-based milk cartons. And in South Korea, packaging firms have seen a spike in demand for paper tubes and pouches. 

As more companies pivot, analysts are wondering if the shift to more sustainable options can be sustained in the long-term, ultimately reducing our reliance on plastics.

2025 Floods May Have Affected 3.3 Million Jobs in Pakistan

New estimates from the International Labor Organisation (ILO) show that around 3.3 million jobs may have been affected by the 2025 floods in Pakistan, which led to more than 1,000 deaths and the displacement of tens of thousands of people. 

Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London says the country is a “hotspot for increases in extreme rainfall” and it’s “undoubtedly on the front line of climate change.”

The ILO finds that the agriculture sector was hit the hardest, with rural communities bearing the brunt of the impacts. 

While provincial compensation measures helped with some of the most immediate needs, the Organization is calling for more comprehensive support to restore livelihoods in affected areas. This includes cash-for-work programs, skill-training, and subsidized credit which can help households restart their farms as well and other income-generating activities.

Women Fishers Challenge Taboos in Kenya

As told by Al Jazeera, women in Kisumul Kenya near Lake Victoria are defying gender norms.

Traditionally, women in the region worked as fishmongers, while fishing was reserved solely for men. These gender roles stem from deep seated beliefs held by members of Lake Victoria communities. But in the early 2000s, Rhoda Ongoche Akech realized that her income was dwindling and selling fish was no longer enough to support her family. Something needed to change.

One day, women from a neighboring county arrived in Akech’s village and she watched, surprised, as they went fishing. Even though it was a novel sight, it pushed Akech to learn how to fish herself. While those around Akech warned her that women didn’t belong on the water, she insisted on continuing because she knew her family depended on the income.

She spent 16 years as the only fisherwoman in her village. Then in 2018, Faith Awuor Ang’awo braved the social stigma and joined Akech on the water. In the years that followed a few more women joined the pair.

According to village elder William Okedo the taboo preventing women from fishing has broken down and attitudes among male fishers have shifted as well. But systemic hurdles still remain. Susan Claire, acting director of fisheries and blue economy for Kisumu County, refuses to officially recognize the work that women fishers are doing even though it’s the same as their male counterparts.

While the climate crisis and declining fish stocks pose additional challenges, Akech and her team are still making enough of a living on the water. And for now, they’re still fishing. 

President Trump Pushes for Cuts to WIC

For the second year in the row, President Trump is pushing to cut benefits for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

His fiscal year 2027 budget calls for a reduction in the fruit and vegetable component of WIC. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that it could take away US$1.4 billion in benefits from 5.4 million parents and young children. 

Under the proposed plan, monthly benefits for toddlers and preschoolers would drop from US$26 to US$10. Benefits for pregnant and non-breastfeeding postpartum mothers would fall from US$47 to US$13. And benefits for breastfeeding mothers would drop from US$52 to US$13. 

For the last three decades, presidents and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have fully funded the program to ensure that eligible families receive their full benefits because they understand how critical it is. WIC provides nutritious foods, counseling on healthy eating, breastfeeding support, and health care referrals to almost 7 million low-income expecting and postpartum people, infants, and young children at nutritional risk.

Anti-Immigration Bills Fail to Gain Traction

A new analysis from the Washington Post finds that of the roughly 200 bills targeting immigration communities across the country fewer than two dozen have made it into law so far.

One bill in Utah would have prevented undocumented pregnant mothers from accessing public assistance for food. Another bill in Idaho would have forced employers to use the government’s E-Verify system to keep undocumented people from securing jobs.In Tennessee, a third would have limited undocumented students’ access to education.

More than 80 measures like these have died, some were vetoed, and several have made little progress in states’ legislative spring season. Businesses and religious groups, alongside other advocates, have helped to stop these bills from moving forward, recognizing that the attacks only harm their communities.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Kabiur Rahman Riyad, Unsplash

The post Food Tank’s Weekly News Roundup: Kenyan Women Defy Gender Norms, President Trump Calls for Cuts to WIC, Anti-Immigration Policies Fail appeared first on Food Tank.

Despite their size, arthropods, which refer to insects and other invertebrates including ticks, spiders, and centipedes, have a significant impact on food systems. They can “cause a huge amount of damage in the agricultural value chain,” by destroying crops in the field or post-harvest, Sunday Ekesi, icipe’s Deputy Director General for Research for Development, tells Food Tank. Some species are also vectors for disease that threaten the wellbeing of humans and animals along with the livelihoods of farmers. 

icipe’s research addresses these challenges, but they also see the “beneficial aspects of insects,” Ekesi says. This might mean using insects to fortify cereals or create a high-protein animal feed, supporting the ecosystem services offered by pollinators, or creating opportunities to improve the livelihoods of those in the food and agriculture sector. 

This last point is particularly important for future farmers and researchers, Ekesi explains. “We have a very young generation on the continent compared to our colleagues in the Global North,” he tells Food Tank. Sensing a responsibility, icipe feels they have a “huge role” to play in supporting young people. This requires the institute to leverage new technologies, train young people in entrepreneurship, and invest in capacity building. 

Ekesi is clear that this work isn’t about getting young people any job. Rather, it’s about “creating a dignified job.” icipe wants to see the next generation use their careers to support their livelihoods while strengthening the broader ecosystem. They hope it will lead to the development of even more economic opportunities that will support the sustainable growth of the African continent. 

Listen to the full conversation with Sunday Ekesi on “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” to hear about how icipe is working to control infectious diseases spread by insects, how their research can be used to improve global food and nutrition security, and what organization is doing to fill the gap left by the withdrawal of foreign development aid.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Bianca Ackerman, Unsplash

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Food is Medicine (FIM) encompasses a variety of food-based interventions that aim to prevent and treat diet-related chronic conditions and advance health equity. Sitting at the crossroads of food and agriculture systems, nutrition, and healthcare, FIM programs focus on increasing access, availability, and affordability of healthful foods.

Poor diets are a major driver of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death worldwide, causing 45 percent of cardiometabolic deaths in the United States and 70 percent of new diabetes cases worldwide, according to a JACC State-of-the-Art Review by Dariush Mozaffarian, Director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University (FIMI). Globally, one in five deaths is attributable to poor diet—more than any other risk factor, including tobacco.

The burden of poor diets falls disproportionately on low-income communities and communities of color, where food insecurity and limited access to nutritious food contribute to higher rates of diet-related chronic disease. Among American Indians and Alaska Natives, food insecurity rates are roughly double those of white Americans in recent decades. Obesity rates are about 7 percent higher among Hispanic Americans and 15 percent higher among Black Americans than among white Americans.

Poor nutrition also carries a significant economic burden, contributing to chronic diseases that account for 90 percent of U.S. health care spending and more than US$1.1 trillion annually in combined medical costs and lost productivity.

FIM interventions span different levels of clinical intensity and support, with programs designed to match patients’ medical conditions and social needs. Produce prescription (PRx) programs, appropriate for the broadest group, provide patients with funds or vouchers to purchase fruits and vegetables from local food retailers, supporting both disease prevention and management.

Medically tailored groceries offer curated food packages selected by a registered dietitian nutritionist or other medical professional to address diet-sensitive conditions. These groceries are designed for patients who can shop and prepare meals.

Medically tailored meals (MTM) represent the highest-intensity intervention and are customized for patients with severe or complex conditions, who are unable to shop or cook and require comprehensive nutritional support. FIM initiatives frequently integrate nutrition and culinary education to reinforce preventive care and maintenance.

Farmers are central to all FIM initiatives and programs. Farmers supply the fruits, vegetables, and other foods used in FIM interventions, and their soil and crop management practices directly shape the quality and nutrient density of the food patients receive. Programs that source locally support farm income, reduce supply chain risks, and create economic benefits in rural communities.

Throughout history, food has been understood as a source of healing across cultures and medical traditions. Indigenous communities have “long known that food is medicine,” says Kate Nelson, an award-winning writer and editor and Alaska Native Tlingit tribal member. Indigenous foodways recognize food as inseparable from health, Nelson explains, with seasonal, regionally specific, and culturally grounded foodways understood as essential to healing both people and land.

In seventh-century China, physician Sun Simiao included food prescriptions in Recipes Worth a Thousand Gold, in the hope that sick people would alter their diet before trying drugs. In the U.S. FIM efforts trace part of their origins to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, when organizations such as God’s Love We Deliver and Project Open Hand emerged to provide nutritional and social support to individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Over time, these programs evolved from providing basic sustenance to offering medically tailored groceries and meals designed to support long-term health outcomes.

Despite its long cultural history, FIM has played a limited role in Western healthcare. Clinicians have had few practical tools to address patients’ diets, compounded by insufficient medical nutrition education and inadequate incentive and policy infrastructure.

In recent years, however, FIM is gaining rapid momentum across the U.S. health care sector, with interventions such as MTM and PRx moving into the mainstream. Public and private organizations have committed nearly US$10 billion to address diet-related disease and hunger, and companies such as Instacart have launched initiatives aligned with FIM strategies.

Early research indicates that FIM interventions are associated with improvements in dietary quality, food security, and health outcomes, along with reductions in health care utilization. A systematic review found that 21 of 22 PRx studies reported increased fruit and vegetable intake, and modeling suggests that national implementation could avert 274,000 cardiovascular events.

According to research conducted by FIMI, MTM have been linked to improved health and fewer hospitalizations, and are estimated to save US$23.7 billion in healthcare costs.

Existing evidence supports the promise of Food Is Medicine and justifies broader implementation, but indicates the need for more rigorous research, stronger clinician training, and sustained funding to scale these interventions equitably.

“Food is the big missing thing in how we approach our health in this country,” says Mozaffarian, expressing hope that eventually food will be prescribed as readily as a drug or surgery.

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Regenerative agriculture is a holistic approach to farming and ranching that prioritizes soil restoration, equity within food systems, and the long-term health of land, water, and climate. Rather than maintaining conditions and resources, regenerative agriculture seeks to improve ecosystem health and strengthen the resilience of agricultural landscapes.

Healthy soils are the foundation of productive food systems, shaping outcomes from farm yields to community well-being and ecological stability. But intensive farming practices that rely on heavy machinery, synthetic fertilizers, and pesticides have contributed to soil degradation across a majority of the world’s agricultural land.

Regenerative agriculture prioritizes restoring soil health and function, supporting crop growth, nutrient cycling, and biodiversity through a range of practices. To rebuild soil health, regenerative farmers reduce or forgo tillage, avoiding the erosion caused by conventional plowing. This approach keeps soil intact, preserving soil structure, protecting fungi, and keeping carbon in the ground.

Planted in soil that would otherwise be bare before or after harvest, cover crops shield soil from wind and water and restore nutrients to the soil. They also keep living roots in the soil, providing natural tillage and mitigating fertilizer runoff.

Growing just one or two crops year after year on the same land can deplete soil nutrients and degrade soil health over time. Diversifying crops improves water and nutrient retention and supports pollinators and wildlife. Crop diversification can also reduce pests and weeds—and reduce the need for artificial fertilizer.

“It turns out it really helps to have some diversity,” Sieg Snapp, Associate Dean for Research for Washington State University’s College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences, tells Food Tank. According to Snapp, diverse crops above ground feed a wider range of soil microbes below ground.

To restore soil nutrients and reduce fertilizer use, some regenerative farmers integrate livestock into cropping systems. Rooted in Indigenous land management traditions, rotational grazing involves moving livestock between pastures, mimicking the way animals historically moved in herds across grasslands. This method allows vegetation to recover while improving soil fertility through manure and organic matter inputs.

Regenerative practices often extend beyond soil health to include broader ecological and social considerations, emphasizing animal welfare and worker well-being. Many regenerative farmers prioritize fair treatment of workers, including freedom of association, safe working conditions, living wages, and participation in farm decision-making.

Some also seek to address the legacy of discriminatory policies that have limited land access and support for Black, Indigenous, and farmers of color, recognizing that regenerative agriculture must confront longstanding inequities within U.S. agriculture.

We need agriculture that “does not deplete our people,” says Leonard Diggs, Director of Farmer & Rancher Opportunities at Pie Ranch, an incubator farm supporting early-stage regenerative farmers and ranchers, focusing on communities who have historically been denied access to land.

Regenerative agriculture can improve profitability and strengthen farm performance while reducing environmental impact. By reducing dependence on fertilizers and pesticides, regenerative farms often lower costs, and research indicates regenerative systems can deliver long-term yield gains and profits up to 120 percent higher than conventional operations.

Soil-focused practices also improve water management during droughts and heavy rains, cut greenhouse gas emissions from machinery and nitrogen inputs, and increase carbon sequestration. Project Drawdown estimates that restored agricultural lands could remove 2.6 to 13.6 gigatons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually.

Scaling regenerative agriculture requires reducing the financial risk farmers face during the transition by providing technical support, upfront capital, and reliable markets that offset short-term costs, according to industry experts.

Global organizations like the World Economic Forum and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development contend that actors across the value chain must align on common metrics to measure and reward environmental and socio-economic outcomes, enabling coordinated incentives, investment, and regulatory compliance.

Momentum behind regenerative agriculture is building and spans global coalitions and community-based initiatives. Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) builds on the USDA Organic standard by adding requirements for soil health, animal welfare, and social fairness within a tiered certification framework, bringing the three pillars of regenerative organic agriculture into a single certification framework.

The Rockefeller Foundation has committed more than US$220 million to its “big bet” for food systems transformation to benefit farmers, feed more children, and improve nutrition and soil. This includes their US$100 million commitment to advance universal locally grown and regenerative school meals in the United States and globally, US$100 million to scale Food is Medicine solutions in the U.S., and over US$20 million for the Periodic Table of Food Initiative, which is providing standardized tools, data, and training to map food quality of the world’s edible biodiversity.

RegenAG has worked with thousands of Australian farmers since 2010 through training and consultancy programs focused on soil carbon, profitability, and lower input costs, while Kiss the Ground advances regenerative agriculture in California through education and demonstration projects, and La Delia Verde applies soil-centered practices in Argentina to restore biodiversity, store carbon, and strengthen regional food systems.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Siwawut Phoophinyo

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Has the Vertical Farming Bubble Burst?

The New York Times recently reported on the future of vertical farming in the United States.

In December, AeroFarms announced they lost their biggest investor and would be forced to close. And although they received temporary financing and have shared that they have a non-binding letter of intent to sell the company, they still could shut down this month. And both Bowery Farming and AppHarvest, have gone out of business despite raising US$938 million and US$792 million in venture capital funding, respectively.

According to the Times, 23 companies signed a Vertical Farming Manifesto in the Fall of 2022, as they came together to commit to feeding a rapidly growing population with fewer resources and protecting humanity. Today, less than half of these companies are still operating. 

Omar Asali, whose investment firm One Madison Group invested in the vertical farm Plenty says, “The industry went through a very difficult time” as they faced extremely thin margins, high energy costs, and less available funding from venture capital as interest rates rose. Nona Yehia, behind Vertical Harvest, also believes that few eaters are seeking out vertically farmed produce. That’s why she’s targeting a specific part of the market: schools, hospitals, and local grocers. 

The article asks whether vertical farming can truly compete with soil-based agriculture. And while some business leaders interviewed like Mike Zelkind, Co-Founder of 80 Acre Farms, believe that vertical farming will never be a replacement, Zelkind says there’s still “value there” in the work that is being done by the industry’s pioneers.

Federal Court Dismisses Challenge to Animal Welfare Regulations

A federal judge recently rejected the U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit against the state of California, Governor Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Rob Bonta and other state officials over California’s Proposition 12.

First passed in 2018 and going into effect in 2024, Prop 12 strengthened protections for California’s livestock by banning the in-state sale of products that came from the extreme confinement of egg-laying hens, pigs, and newborn calves for veal. The U.S. Supreme Court already upheld the constitutionality of Prop 12 in 2023 after it was challenged by the National Pork Producers Council and American Farm Bureau Federation—a decision that Harvard Law School’s Animal Law & Policy Clinic called “a momentous win for the animal protection movement.”

Then in 2025, the DOJ filed a lawsuit taking issue with the Proposition’s egg provisions, arguing that regulating eggs falls under the purview of the federal government. They said that Prop 12 was, on its face, meant to increase animal welfare by reducing threats to the health and safety of California’s eaters. But it was actually “driven by activists’ conception of what qualifies as ‘cruel’ animal housing, not by consumer purchasing decisions or scientifically based food safety or animal welfare standards.”

Last week, however, U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi, appointed by President Trump, tossed out the complaint, calling the allegations by the DOJ “undisguised legal conclusions in search of substantiating facts. The Judge also expressed concerns about “the potential for abuse of the federal courts” if the case moved forward simply because decision makers at the agency don’t like a state law at odds with their politics.

Companies and animal welfare advocates are now turning to Michigan where they are awaiting the results of a similar lawsuit against the state over cage-free egg laws.

More Countries to Face Critical Food Insecurity if World Heats by 2°C

A new analysis from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) finds that the number of countries falling into critical food insecurity could almost triple if global temperatures increase by 2°C.

The burden is expected to be felt unequally, with low-income nations and countries facing conflict—whose systems are already fragile—expected to see the greatest decline in food availability and nutritional variety. Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Haiti, and Mozambique, are some of the most affected countries.

Rising temperatures are expected to widen the food security gap between rich nations and poorer ones, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. But the IIED states that richer countries are “far from immune” from the climate crisis, and “strain induced by climate change shows first in supply chains and countries’ underlying ability to keep quality food accessible over time—even in the rich world.”

According to Ritu Bharadwaj, Director of Climate Resilience for the Institute, “This research shows that, yet again, it’s the poorest countries with the least responsibility for climate change that will suffer its worst effects.” But she adds that catastrophe isn’t inevitable. She adds that the investment in social protection schemes can keep disasters from “becoming full blown crises.” This includes helping farmers adapt to extreme weather by improving water management, soil quality, and crop variety. 

New Initiative Launches to Support Climate-Resilient Agriculture

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) announced the launch of the Collaboration for Agricultural Transformation through Advanced Learning, Science & Technology, or CATALYST.

The initiative is focused on strengthening relationships between research and industry to deliver solutions for farmers, which Himanshu Pathak, Director General of ICRISAT, calls “essential to scaling climate-resilient agriculture.” It will focus on four broad areas—research for development, consulting and advisory, technology and digital solutions, and training and capacity building—and is meant to provide a structured platform for industry leaders to engage with ICRISAT’s research. 

This will help accelerate crop productivity, strengthen seed systems, expand agribusiness opportunities, and advance climate-resilient farming across the drylands of Asia and Africa.

Côte D’Ivoire Builds Tech Hubs for Women Farmers

Côte d’Ivoire is developing the country’s first technology hubs designed to empower women farmers.

Led by the country’s Ministry of Women, Family and Children and the Ministry of Digital Transition and Digitalization, the initiative will support women’s adoption of digital tools and strengthen their agricultural processing skills to improve their productivity. 

The Ministries are currently working to select sites for the hubs, where women will be exposed to modern technologies. Women will also have access to training and mentorship programs that will help accelerate the growth of women-led enterprises in the food and agriculture sector. 

This initiative is part of a broader plan to build modern agricultural processing centers across 15 localities in nine districts, which will be used to convert raw staple crops into value-added products. The centers will also include laboratories, processing workshops, training rooms, and exhibition spaces.

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The 150-acre regenerative operation works with a network of community partners, including food kitchens such as Loudoun Hunger Relief, Food for Others, Arlington Food Assistance Center, and DC Central Kitchen, to get produce from field to table as quickly as possible. “In many cases, food pantry partners are picking up and distributing our food on the same day it is harvested, often straight out of the field,” the farm’s Executive Director Samantha Kuhn tells Food Tank.

Through this network, the JK Community Farm has grown and distributed close to 1.5 million pounds of organic produce to food-insecure neighbors. The farm operates with a staff of just three people, relying heavily on its volunteer community to plant and harvest. Staff members work alongside volunteers in the fields, providing clear instruction and creating an environment where people of all ages and skill levels—from complete beginners to experienced gardeners—feel capable and valued.

Since its founding in 2018, the farm has welcomed over 32,768 volunteers. Each year, roughly 4,500 people volunteer through individual shifts, internships, and corporate group projects. Kuhn explains this model helps keep production costs low while maintaining high output and quality.

As a regenerative farm, the JK Community Farm uses no chemical fertilizers or pesticides in its production model. “The quality of food we provide is something that is uncommon in emergency food settings,” says Kuhn.

Research from the National Library of Medicine notes that many food pantries receive surplus, waste, or gleaned produce and protein from grocery stores and for-profit farms and markets, supplemented by shelf-stable processed items. While that food serves an important purpose, the produce and protein are often already days or weeks past harvest and less nutritionally dense, while the packaged goods lack the nutrients found in fresh whole foods.

That same research states that in the United States, “[food bank] parcels are often insufficient in dairy, meat, FV [fruits and vegetables], and micronutrients” including calcium, iron, and vitamins A and C. 

The JK Community Farm operates on a universal access model, providing fresh food through partner pantries at no cost to anyone who needs it, regardless of financial circumstances. According to Kuhn, demand for fresh food has been growing.

Data from Feeding America reveal hunger has increased by 4.4 percent since 2020. There are now more than 1 million food-insecure Virginians, about 12.1 percent of the state’s population. They also estimate that roughly 39 percent of those food-insecure Virginians earn more than 200 percent of the federal poverty level, making them ineligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and some other nutrition assistance programs.

The JK Community Farm also places a strong focus on youth education. Through its partnership with FoodPrints DC, it developed a food education curriculum that offers robust hands-on activities and field trip opportunities for visiting students. By participating in the harvest and knowing their work feeds local families, students learn how they can make a tangible difference in their community.

“Many children are growing up far removed from how food is grown, while highly processed food is heavily marketed to them. We believe it is important for kids of all backgrounds to understand where real food comes from, how it is grown, and how it supports their bodies,” says Kuhn.

The JK Community Farm believes that when children have an opportunity to connect to their food system, they will learn to love it.

“I have had a child introduce himself as an ‘indoor kid’ when he arrived, and by the end of the morning he was fully immersed in the farm, eager to help and explore,” Kuhn continues.

To meet the community’s needs, the JK Community Farm likewise conducts annual surveys with both pantry partners and their clients. Partner feedback gathers data on client preferences, storage capacity, logistics, packaging, and food waste, helping improve distribution and prevent waste. Client assessments evaluate dietary patterns, produce and protein consumption, cultural food preferences, health challenges, and barriers to access.

This feedback allows the farm to grow culturally appropriate foods families already know how to prepare while providing education about unfamiliar varieties. The goal is to deliver nutrient-dense food that supports health, respects cultural traditions, and can be easily used by the families served.

“People should not have to choose between eating healthy food and paying for electricity. Showing families that this food is grown intentionally for them, rather than as an afterthought, reinforces dignity, care, and the belief that everyone deserves access to the highest quality food possible,” says Kuhn.

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Photo courtesy of the JK Community Farm

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We have a busy week ahead of us here at Food Tank!

At summits across the country, we’re bringing regional and global food system leaders together to break bread, share success stories, spotlight creative visionaries, and highlight ways we can build a stronger food system across urban and rural communities and sectors.

We’re tackling a lot—and that means there’s something for everyone! So I’m looking forward to meeting you all in person or seeing your faces in our livestream audiences as we learn together. I want to use this note to you today to highlight our upcoming events, and I hope you’ll find what resonates with you and inspires you.

Starting off, at the annual SXSW festival on March 11, I have the honor of emceeing the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP) Regional Forum, “A Recipe for Change: Cities Leading Food Systems Change.”

The program is hosted by the City of Austin in collaboration with the City of Baltimore, the City of Guadalajara, and Food Tank and aims to provide a platform for city food policy leaders to learn from one another, collaborate more effectively, and use the MUFPP framework as a pathway toward more sustainable, resilient food systems!

Plenary speakers include Karen Bassarab, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future; Moe Garahan, Food Communities Network, Just Food in Ottawa; Tia Schwab, BITE (formerly Food for Climate League); Raj Patel, University of Texas at Austin; Ashanté Reese, University of Texas at Austin; and more for a day of expert presentations, interactive sessions, and tangible deep-dive workshops.

Then, on March 12, we’re kicking off our 7th annual “All Things Food and Environment” Summit at SXSW in collaboration with Organic Valley, the City of Austin, and Huston-Tillotson University. If you’re in Austin, find more info on joining us by clicking on the title of each program. Otherwise I hope to see you in our livestream audience, which you can join HERE.

And with five distinct events throughout the day, the schedule is jam-packed! From 10 to 11:30 AM, in collaboration with the Environmental Working Group conversations will focus on reimagining systems of urban sustainability and food processing.

From 11:30 to 1:30 with Organic Valley, we’re tackling “Farmstead to Future: CEOs, Chefs, and Farmers Building a Better Food System.” Then, we’ll explore “From Cowboys to Carbon: Grazing Solutions for Carbon, Water, Biodiversity & Supply Chain Resilience” from 1:30 to 2:30 in collaboration with Grassroots Carbon.

After a short afternoon break, we’re hosting an amazing short film festival from 2:30 to 5:30PM in collaboration with American Farmland Trust and Common Table Creative. We’ll be able to see clips and selections from works including “America the Bountiful,” “Farm Hero,” “Food 2050,” and Food Tank’s debut original documentary short “Irish Farmers: A Love Story.”

To close out the day, we’re handing over the stage to the folks who know the food system inside and out—farmers. From 5:30 to 8:30 PM, we’re excited to present “Voices of Female Farmers: A Love Story” with Whole Foods Market and in collaboration with Harvest Earnings.

Here’s the lineup of amazing speakers who will be joining us: Xiye Bastida, Climate Justice Activist; Sara Burnett, ReFED; Capri Cafaro, Host, America the Bountiful; John Chester, Farmer and Filmmaker; Richard Chute, Kerry Dairy Ireland; James Clement, EarthOptics; Katie Collins, ROAM Ranch; Chef Kareem El-Ghayesh, KG BBQ; Oliver English, Common Table Creative; Simon English, Common Table Creative; Scott Faber, Environmental Working Group; Brooke Freeman, Food Systems Coordinator, City of Kansas City, MO; Jerome Foster II, OneMillionOfUs; Vanessa Fuentes, Austin City Councilmember; Filippo Gavazzeni, Milan Urban Food Policy Pact; Johanna Hellrigl, AMA; Michelle Hughes, National Young Farmers Coalition; Steven Jennings, Ahold Delhaize; Diana Johnson, Bezos Earth Fund; Ora Kemp, New York City’s Mayor’s Office of Food Policy; Taylor LaFave, City of Baltimore; Jenny Lester Moffitt, American Farmland Trust; Chef Adrian Lipscombe, 40 Acres and Muloma Heritage Center; Finian Makepeace, Kiss the Ground; Gerardo Martinez, Wild Kid Acres; Edwin Marty, City of Austin; Amanda Masino, Huston-Tillotson University; Melanie McAfee, Barr Mansion; Chef Joshua McFadden, Chef and Author; Shawna Nelson, Organic Valley; Jim O’Toole, Bord Bia; Raj Patel, University of Texas at Austin; John de la Parra, The Rockefeller Foundation; Chef Colter Peck, Dashi Hospitality; Ashanté Reese, The University of Texas at Austin; Carina Roseingrave, Burren View Farm; Grace Rude, City of Minneapolis; Rick Simington, Organic Valley; Dr. Jason Slipp, Rodale Institute; Brad Tipper, Grassroots Carbon; Stephanie Tranel, Tranel Family Farms; Todd Wagner, FoodFight USA; Jake Wedeberg, CROPP Cooperative; Haven Worley, Filmmaker; Laura Zaspel, Farm Hero; and more.

Again, please CLICK HERE to join us in-person, and our livestream link is HERE to bookmark in advance.

Then, we’re heading to Boston for Food Tank’s inaugural Blue Foods Summit on Sunday, March 15, presented alongside our friends at Better Food Future, Marine Stewardship Council, the Culinary Institute of America, and Bluefina, taking place at WBUR-NPR’s CitySpace starting at 2:00PM.

I hope you’ll lend your voice to these important conversations we’re having on the future of aquaculture, either in person by CLICKING HERE or in our livestream audience, which you can join HERE.

Throughout the afternoon, we’ll be joined by experts to discuss everything from traceable supply chains and sustainable protein sources to diversifying blue food systems and strengthening retail leadership—plus a book giveaway opportunity by celebrity chef and seafood expert Barton Seaver.

Our speaker and moderator lineup includes: Deb Becker, WBUR; Daisy Berg, New Seasons Market; Jayson Berryhill, Wholechain; Imani Black, Minorities in Aquaculture; Adam Brennan, Thai Union Frozen and Chicken of the Sea; Niaz Dorry, NAMA; Alexandra Emery, Wakefern Food Corp; Alicia Gaiero, Nauti Sisters Sea Farm; Citlali Gomez Lepe, COMEPESCA Mexico; Kelly Hilovsky, ButcherBox; Robert E. Jones, Culinary Institute of America; Mark Kaplan, Wholechain; Charlotte Langley, Nice Cans; Jackie Marks, Marine Stewardship Council; Barton Seaver, Chef and Author; Huw Thomas, Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability; Manuel Vazquez Escudero, Baja Aqua Farms Group; and Andrew Young, Baja Aqua Farms Group.

Following the Summit, we’re headed to the 4th annual Night at the New England Aquarium, an invite-only opportunity to continue the conversation around traceability, transparency, and needed change within seafood supply chains.

At the Aquarium, in collaboration with Wholechain, Envisible, BlueYou, Pesca Con Futuro, Sea Pact, and Better Food Future in support of the UN Global Compact Ocean Stewardship Coalition, we’ll hear from leaders including Mark Kaplan, Wholechain; OB Bera, Beacon Fisheries; Sam Grimley, Sea Pact; René Benguerel, BlueYou; Nick Andoni, Envisible; Blake Stok, Chicken of the Sea; Erin Taylor, Wholechain; Stephanie Pazzaglia, JJ McDonnell; Jon Black, Floribbean; Alex Golub, Acme Smoked Fish; and more to be announced. More info can be found HERE.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Vitolda Klein, Unsplash

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The Federal Operation Metro Surge, launched in December, brought several thousand agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) into Minneapolis. During this period, Department of Homeland Security agents shot and killed two Minneapolis residents, 37-year-old Renee Good and 37-year-old Alex Pretti, as well as taking children into custody. The White House reports that more than 4,000 arrests were made.

Although the Trump-Vance Administration recently announced the surge’s end, many immigrant families report they still fear leaving their homes, including for school and work.

Over the last few months, Joyce Uptown Food Shelf shifted their processes to ensure that households can still access food and other necessities. For Matthew Ayres, Executive Director of Joyce Uptown, this flexibility will remain important to keep families safe. 

Ayres says he began to see the number of drop-ins decline months before the start of Operation Metro Surge, as federal agents began moving into the city. “Two years ago, we saw a huge influx of Ecuadorian families coming in… and they disappeared, starting in September, October,” he tells Food Tank.

Located within two miles from where both Good and Pretti were killed, the food shelf has become a prominent site for donations and volunteers, both locally and nationally, Ayres says. At the height of the Surge, he estimates the shelf was running at 130 percent capacity, with an approximate 120,000 pounds of food going out in February.

When asked how things changed after the killing of Good, Ayres tells Food Tank, “We started getting money and attention and volunteers and donations. Everything changed for us, but not for the people that were getting food.” 

The organization altered their model to help get food to families unable to visit in person. In the past, long-term clients came in to shop at the shelf, while others picked up pre-made bags. Today, Joyce Uptown fills emergency food bags stocked with essentials: apples, potatoes, onions, eggs, chicken, rice, beans, pasta, milk, and canned goods. 

Through a partnership with local schools, teachers come by to retrieve the bags for their students, or the food shelf delivers the bags to the schools themselves. Patrons of the food shelf and other volunteers are also bringing bags to families unable to leave their homes.

Ayres says that Joyce’s Volunteer Coordinator didn’t have a model to work off to deliver groceries at the start. “She really created this from scratch,” he says.

The food shelf also streamlined their processes to deter ICE, Ayres says. “People move through here so fast. It used to be a five to eight minute wait, now it’s one to two.” They found that if people aren’t lingering at the food shelf, ICE is less likely to use it as a staging area.

Although Ayres says the work is exhausting, he also calls it deeply rewarding. “Random people are coming up and giving us hugs or crying… this in particular is the center point of hope, but also despair.”

Ayres tells Food Tank that since the end of Operation Metro Surge, “Joyce has seen a few more Spanish-speaking shoppers come in, but [their] deliveries and school pickups are still steady or growing…You still have tons of families sheltering, classroom chairs are still empty, and people are still pretty reluctant to get out.”

But since the start of the year, organizations like Joyce Uptown and other mutual aid programs “have finally found a rhythm,” Ayres says. Processes have become streamlined and mutual aid groups have professionalized.

To food pantries across the country who may need to step up similarly in the coming months or years, Ayres shares what he’s learned: “Connection to schools is important…[so is] listening to and learning from mutual aid groups.” He also sees the importance of defining clear roles. “My lane is being able to purchase large scale eggs, beans and potatoes. Those schools need to be getting produce.”

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Joyce Uptown Food Shelf

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House Agriculture Committee Prepares for Farm Bill Markup

The House Agriculture Committee’s Farm Bill markup will take in the coming days after being delayed due to a winter storm.

But the latest draft of the House Farm Bill has been a source of concern for some anti-hunger and sustainable agriculture advocates. Ty Jones Cox, Vice President for Food Assistance, at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says that the latest draft “fails to address the crisis created by cuts to SNAP enacted last summer.” And Abby J. Leibman, President and CEO of MAZON, says that the legislation “is not a viable or reasonable legislative response to the sabotaging of our federal anti-hunger programs, and [House Agriculture Chair Glenn] Thompson knows it.”

This past week more than 100 hunger organizations—worried about cuts to a bipartisan food security program for rural seniors—also sent a letter to House and Senate Agriculture Committee leaders. They urged Congress to preserve the Delivering for Rural Seniors Act in the Farm Bill.

On the agriculture side, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) says that the draft “falls unmistakably short.”  NSAC notes there are some bright spots, such as a greater investment in 1890 land grant universities and updated Agriculture and Food Research Initiative priority areas, which include language around regionally adapted cultivars and breeding for environmental resilience. But they also worry that after significant cuts to the workforce of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the legislation does nothing to stabilize the agency or increase staffing levels to ensure farmers can access the federal programs they rely on. 

U.S. Farmers Reject Bid for Land

The Guardian reports that U.S. farmers are rejecting multi-million dollar bids for their land as tech companies race to build the massive data centers needed to power artificial intelligence. A report from Hines, a real estate investment manager, estimates that 40,000 acres of land for datacenter development will be needed over the next five years to support new projects. That’s double the amount currently in use. 

But companies are facing resistance to their plans. One Kentucky farmer, Ida Huddleston, received an offer on the farmland worth more than US$33 million. But the land has been in her family for centuries, and she told them she wasn’t interested. Huddleston, who’s 82, says that her entire life “is nothing but the land,” which has provided her with “anything and everything” she has needed. When the offer came through, she responded, “You don’t have enough to buy me out. I’m not for sale.”

And when Timothy Grosser in Kentucky rejected his first offer of US$8 million, developers asked him to name his price. He pushed back again, telling them “There is none.”

Grosser reports that some neighbors are giving in—and he doesn’t blame them, especially when the offers are high and companies are warning they may invoke eminent domain to have the land seized. But around the country, many producers are continuing to hold out. One farmer in Pennsylvania rejected a US$15 million offer on his land last month. Around the same time another, based in Wisconsin, turned down an offer of US$80 million. 

It’s an encouraging story, especially in light of new U.S. Department of Agriculture data, which shows that the number of U.S. farms shrank by 15,000 in 2025.

Brazil Celebrates Drop in Deforestation

Satellite monitoring shows that deforestation has continued to decline in early 2026 and the clearing of trees between August 2025 and January of this year is at the lowest levels for this period since 2014. 

Brazil’s Environment Minister Marina Silva said that the progress is thanks to coordinated government action. Seventy of the 81 municipalities with the most deforestation have joined federal initiatives that are focused on reducing illegal clearing. Authorities are also leveraging resources from the Amazon Fund to further support enforcement and prevention efforts. 

According to Silva, if the current trend is maintained, Brazil could see the lowest deforestation rate in history this year. 

Major Food Brands Voices Support for the Food Date Labeling Act (FDLA)

More than 30 brands and food industry supporters recently signed onto an open letter from the Zero Food Waste Coalition and the Consumer Brands Association, which calls on Congress to pass the bipartisan Food Date Labeling Act. 

Roughly one third of food goes to waste in the United States each year. According to data from ReFED, confusion over date labels leads to 4.3 million tons of food waste in the U.S. each year, which costs households and businesses more than US$22 billion annually. ReFED also reports that more eaters are discarding edible food prematurely due to date label confusion than they did a decade ago.

Now, major companies are backing legislation that can help curb the problem. FMI-The Food Industry Association, Walmart, Amazon, and Unilever are among the businesses that signed onto the letter, which urges policymakers to clarify date-labeling standards.

The Food Date Labeling Act would require that businesses choose from one of two standard date labels. The options are a Best if Used By label, which indicates when a product’s quality begins to decline, and the Use By label, which indicates when a product should be discarded. The Act also requires the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Food and Drug Administration to work together to provide education on the standardized date labels. And it makes donations of food past the Best if Used By date allowable if the products meet safety specifications.

Action on Food Waste Can Help Curb AMR Risks

A new review paper from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization looks at the risks of spreading anti-microbial resistance. According to FAO, food loss and waste can be “a reservoir and even an accelerator” for anti-microbial resistance (AMR) because it’s a good substrate for bacterial growth, especially in landfills and open dumps. The researchers say some studies have actually found a higher abundance of antimicrobial resistant genes in food waste than sewage sludge or swine manure. 

Although animal agriculture is a known contributor to AMR, the researchers say that their work shows that food loss and waste should be integrated into AMR surveillance and management strategies. And when conditions are optimized, composting, anaerobic digestion, and converting surplus food to animal feed can reduce antimicrobial resistance genes and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. 

Junxia [jun-shah] Song, Chief of the One Health and Disease Control Branch at FAO who helped lead the review, says that linking food loss and waste to AMR is “both timely and strategic” because “it creates an opportunity for coordinated action that reduces waste while strengthening global efforts to contain AMR.”

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The program provides free Instacart+ memberships and monthly stipends to help cover grocery delivery and service fees to up to 1,000 D.C. residents eligible for SNAP. Participants can shop from any store available on the Instacart platform, which includes over 80 retailers in the city, reaching 100 percent of SNAP households, DC Health tells Food Tank.

“Access to healthy food is critical to reduce the risk of many chronic diseases and improve health outcomes across the life span,” DC Health tells Food Tank. In 2023, nearly 9 percent of households in D.C. struggled to afford enough food, according to D.C. Hunger Solutions. The organization’s Grocery Store Report states that a severe lack of full-service grocery stores is one of the contributing factors for food insecurity in Wards 7 and 8, two of the city’s low-income areas. These Wards contain only seven of the city’s 80 full-service grocery stores, according to a 2025 report from D.C. Hunger Solutions.

In addition to improving food access, the program promotes healthy dietary behaviors by embedding health and wellness education into its eligibility criteria. To participate in the GAP program, residents must enroll in a health education class through Martha’s Table or another DC Health partner, which help build social support networks, teach parenting skills, and promote wellness practices for participants.

At these classes, educators offer an overview of the GAP program and identify those interested in participating. Residents then receive Instacart codes, which they can begin using right away.

This pilot builds upon the success of a similar program Instacart launched in 2023 in partnership with the City of Columbia, South Carolina, and its Mayor Daniel Rickenmann. The program provided Instacart+ memberships and monthly Instacart Health Fresh Funds stipends to residents living in Columbia’s food deserts. Results from the first year found that an overwhelming majority of participants were very satisfied with Instacart and were very likely to continue participating in the program, according to Instacart. Following this positive feedback, the city of Columbia announced a one-year extension of the pilot program.

“That pilot showed us what’s possible when you combine thoughtful public policy with technology that can meet people where they are,” Casey Aden-Wansbury, Instacart’s Vice President, Head of Global Public Policy, tells Food Tank.

She explains that after hearing about the success of the program in Columbia, DC Councilmember Christina Henderson introduced legislation to bring the GAP model to Washington, D.C. “Her leadership on this critical issue was instrumental in making this partnership with DC Health possible,” Aden-Wansbury says.

“Public–private partnerships have a powerful role to play in expanding food access because they bring together the strengths of each sector in a way that no one organization can achieve alone,” Aden-Wansbury tells Food Tank.

Governments understand the needs of their communities and policy levers available, while community organizations bring trusted relationships and on-the-ground insight, Aden-Wansbury says. Companies like Instacart can then provide the technology and infrastructure needed to implement programs at scale. “Collaborations like these allow us to move faster, tailor support to local needs, and ultimately help more people access the nutritious foods that help them thrive.”

DC Health is now leading an evaluation of the pilot to inform its longer-term strategies. “We know that bringing a full-service grocery store to a neighborhood requires long-term planning across agencies,” the agency says.

Looking ahead, Instacart plans to scale similar programs in other communities. Aden-Wansbury explains that the company is working with the Mayors Alliance to End Childhood Hunger to offer the Grocery Access Template Program, an opportunity for smaller cities and towns to partner with Instacart and offer access to online grocery and delivery for residents in underserved areas. “The success of our existing programs gives us a clear path to scale this work, and we’re excited to keep partnering with communities that are looking to expand food access,” she tells Food Tank

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Ronni Kahn founded OzHarvest in 2004, inspired to take action to prevent massive volumes of food from ending up in the landfill. Kahn was working in the event industry at the time and noticed that she was regularly tossing leftovers. “It was actually unconscionable,” she tells Food Tank.

This realization drove her to deliver the surplus to nearby charities. Seeing social and environmental benefits of this work motivated her to continue. “It became so fulfilling and so much more rewarding than my paid job,” says Kahn. When she decided to commit herself to this work full time, it led to the birth of OzHarvest.

Over the last two decades, the organization has evolved significantly, expanding beyond food rescue. To engage young people, they launched FEAST, one of several education programs they run. In a 10-week term, their curriculum for primary and high schools teaches students about sustainability, nutrition, and cooking. It’s “creating little eco-activists and climate warriors,” Kahn tells Food Tank.

And through OzHarvest Ventures, they advance commercial solutions by launching, partnering, and scaling mission-driven businesses aligned with the nonprofit’s work. “Innovation is in our DNA,” says Kahn, who now holds the title of the organization’s Visionary in Residence after stepping down as CEO last year. “I never thought of myself as an entrepreneur, but clearly what I care about most is innovation, creating, and recreating.”

The products supported by OzHarvest Ventures fit into a circular economy model, repurposing ingredients that would have otherwise gone to waste. Conscious Drink, for example, is a non-alcoholic beverage made from rescued blueberries and indigenous aromatics. Oh! Lemonaid is a sparkling lemonade made from imperfect lemons that couldn’t make it to market. The sales from OzHarvest Ventures then help the organization deliver meals to those in need.

“We really have to redesign society,” Kahn tells Food Tank. “Some people probably think I’m completely mad—they probably always have, and that’s okay—but I have set a goal that we need to end hunger because we’ve created it, so we can uncreate it.”

Listen to or watch the full conversation with Ronni Kahn on “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” to hear more about OzHarvest’s food waste solutions, bringing dignity to supporting neighbors, and “Voices of Australian Farmers: A Love Story,” presented by Food Tank and OzHarvest coming to the Adelaide Fringe Festival on February 20, 2026.

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Tribal Nations Move Toward Establishing Formal Agricultural Authorities

Tribal nations are increasingly moving to establish formal departments of agriculture as part of a broader effort to assert their sovereign authority and control over food systems. The Native American Agriculture Fund (NAAF) and the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative (IFAI) are encouraging tribes to occupy this regulatory space before state or federal agencies do so by default.

Though tribes hold inherent powers of self-government and sovereign authority, including the ability to regulate food safety, land use, and public health, only a handful of the 574 federally recognized tribes have formalized that authority through dedicated agriculture departments.

One example is the Oneida Nation, which adopted a food sovereignty policy and established self-regulation to support local food enterprises. “It’s such a great example of exercising tribal sovereignty and self-regulation,” says Vanessa Miller, food and agriculture area manager for Oneida Nation.

NAAF and IFAI recently worked with the members of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) to pass a resolution supporting the establishment and empowerment of Tribal Departments of Agriculture.

Such departments can help tribes “steward their lands, support their people, and ensure agriculture leads to healthy food on tables, income for producers, and futures for our next generation,” according to NCAI President Mark Macarro. Kelli Case, senior attorney with IFAI, highlights the importance of food systems to sovereignty, stating, “Tribes cannot be truly sovereign unless they can feed themselves.”

Chile’s Wildfires Are Burning Far Larger Areas Than Usual

Chile is facing a severe wildfire season marked not by an unusually high number of fires, but by the scale and intensity of the land being burned.

Recent wildfires in central and southern Chile have swept through forests and farmland, and killed at least 20 people, forcing around 50,000 people to flee, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The fires have destroyed at least 325 homes and tens of thousands of hectares of land.

Scientists say the total number of fires this season remains within typical ranges, but the area burned is nearly three times larger than average.

“We are living [in] a particularly critical situation that is very far from the usual averages,” says Miguel Castillo, Director of the Forest Fire Engineering Laboratory at the University of Chile.

Experts link the fires’ rapid spread to high summer temperatures, prolonged drought, strong winds, and changes in land-use patterns that allow flames to move. Virginia Iglesias, Director of Earth Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder, says preventing future disasters will require reducing ignitions, managing fuels, addressing climate change, and redesigning communities to limit fire risk.

WHO Releases New Global Guidelines on Healthy Eating in Schools

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released new global guidelines to help Member States develop evidence-based policies that improve school food environments and promote healthy eating among children. The guidelines aim to address rising rates of diet-related disease by targeting the foods available, sold, and promoted in schools.

“Getting nutrition right at school is critical for preventing disease later in life and creating healthier adults,” says WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The recommendations call for increasing access to nutritious foods through standards for school meals and foods sold on campus, alongside “nudging” interventions that encourage healthier choices without restricting options.

WHO data show that 104 countries have policies on healthy school food, and nearly three-quarters include mandatory nutrition criteria, but only 48 restrict marketing of foods high in sugar, salt, or unhealthy fats.

The agency says stronger action is needed as childhood overweight and obesity continue to rise globally. In 2025, the number of school-aged children living with obesity—about one in ten worldwide—surpassed the number who are underweight, underscoring the urgency of healthier school food policies.

Ethiopia Faces Growing Hunger Crisis in the Face of USAID Cuts

Humanitarian conditions in Ethiopia have deteriorated following the suspension of U.S. food assistance, particularly in the northern Tigray region. Before the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) halted aid in 2023, Ethiopia, grappling with drought and civil conflict, received over US$1 billion in US emergency aid, making it the largest recipient of US assistance in sub-Saharan Africa and the fifth biggest in the world.

As a result of the aid cuts, over 2 million people missed out on food distributions in 2025, and an estimated 3.6 million could lose access to aid without an immediate increase in funding. Around 650,000 women and children are also at risk of losing access to malnutrition treatment. Armed conflict continues to trigger displacement and disrupt daily life, while years of strain have weakened health services, food systems, and other infrastructure.

In Tigray, where an estimated 80 percent of the population requires emergency support, funding cuts have severely limited food distributions. “It’s not conflicts that will ultimately kill us, but famine,” says Niyreao Wubet, a resident near the Eritrean border.

Although the U.S. has announced the partial resumption of aid, little has reached the hardest-hit areas. “It’s like pouring a glass of water in a lake,” says camp coordinator Abraha Mebrathu.

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Grocery Prices Continue Climbing Despite Administration Claims

President Trump has claimed his administration is lowering grocery prices, but recent data and economic analyses show food costs remain elevated. “Grocery prices are starting to go rapidly down,” Trump recently said during a speech in Detroit. However, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that grocery prices rose 2.4 percent in December compared to last year.

Staple goods have seen especially sharp increases. Coffee prices rose nearly 20 percent, while beef increased 16.4 percent and ground beef 15.5 percent. Prices rose in five of the six major grocery categories tracked by federal data, with only modest declines in dairy and eggs.

A report from the Center for American Progress (CAP) links the rising food costs to tariffs, a weakened labor market, and higher healthcare expenses. The Trump-Vance Administration’s economic agenda is “is making life less affordable for working families,” according to CAP .

The USDA projects food-at-home prices will rise by 2.3 percent in 2026, mirroring increases from 2025.

Billionaire Wealth Reaches Record High as Billions Struggle to Afford Food

A new report from Oxfam International finds that billionaire wealth surged 16 percent in 2025, reaching a record US$18.3 trillion. U.S. billionaires saw the sharpest increases, but fortunes rose globally at rates nearly triple the average of the last five years. Since 2020, billionaire wealth has grown 81 when adjusted for inflation.

The analysis highlights this trend alongside stark global inequalities. The world’s 12 richest individuals now hold more wealth than the poorest 4 billion people combined. Meanwhile, over 2.8 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet, according to estimates published in Nature Food.

A study in PNAS, highlighting that extreme wealth concentration threatens democracy, finds that more unequal countries are up to seven times more likely to experience democratic erosion when compared to more equal countries. The Oxfam analysis notes billionaires are over 4,000 times more likely to hold political office than the general population.

According to an open letter signed by nearly 400 millionaires and billionaires from 24 countries, “society is dangerously teetering off the edge of a precipice.”

Maryland Proposes Ban on Dynamic Pricing in Grocery Stores

Governor Wes Moore has introduced legislation to ban dynamic pricing in Maryland grocery stores, citing consumer protection and data privacy concerns. Dynamic pricing uses real-time algorithms to adjust product costs based on factors like demand, supply, and competition. The practice, also called “surge” or “surveillance” pricing, has raised concerns among advocates and legislators.

During a visit to the local grocery store PD Provisions, Moore said, “This is not a fair market, this is a stacked deck. This is about profit, profit squeezing—profit that’s extracted from people who are seeing their bills increase and who are struggling to afford basic goods.”

The bill would require prices to remain fixed for at least one full business day and prohibit the use of personal data, such as facial recognition or purchase history, to influence pricing. Critics Detroit Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib warn that combining algorithmic pricing with facial recognition could deepen inequality and exacerbate affordability issues.

If passed, Maryland would become one of the first states to restrict dynamic pricing practices in retail grocery environments.

Treaty to Protect Ocean Biodiversity Enters into Force

A landmark global treaty to safeguard marine biodiversity in international waters officially entered into force this week. Known as the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, the legally binding accord seeks to promote conservation and sustainable use of ocean ecosystems beyond the control of national governments.

The treaty, nearly 20 years in the making, establishes new frameworks for managing marine genetic resources, designating marine protected areas, conducting environmental impact assessments, and enabling technology transfer and capacity-building for ocean science.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres says the BBNJ fills a critical governance gap to secure a resilient and productive ocean for all. Countries that have ratified the agreement, such as China, Germany, France, Japan, and Brazil, are now legally obligated to implement conservation measures at the national level.

Tanzanian diplomat Mzee Ali Haji, who participated in the negotiations, notes that “everyone should bear in mind that there is now control of the activity in the high seas.” The treaty marks a step toward strengthening international cooperation over the two-thirds of the ocean that lie beyond national jurisdiction.

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“Pedro Sánchez was a scientist of rare vision and deep humanity,” says Mashal Husain, President of the World Food Prize Foundation. “He understood that research matters most when it reaches farmers’ fields, restores dignity, and creates lasting opportunities for communities that have been overlooked for far too long.” Sánchez devoted more than six decades to restoring degraded soils and advancing agricultural systems that improved livelihoods for smallholder farmers across Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

A native of Cuba, he grew up on his family’s farm outside Havana, traveling the country with his father, an agronomist. After earning his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from Cornell University, Sánchez began his academic career at North Carolina State University, where he helped establish the Tropical Soils Research Program. His early work demonstrated how acid tropical soils in Brazil’s Cerrado could become productive farmland and helped develop alternatives to slash-and-burn agriculture in the Peruvian Amazon.

Sánchez later held leadership roles at major international research institutions, including the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines and the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical in Colombia.

From 1991 to 2001, he served as director general of the World Agroforestry Centre in Nairobi, where he helped elevate agroforestry as a core strategy for sustainable development. Under his leadership, the organization evolved into a globally respected scientific institution, emphasizing farmer-centered, landscape-scale approaches.

After leaving Nairobi, Sánchez joined Columbia University’s Earth Institute, where he directed programs linking soil science to global development goals. As co-chair of the United Nations Millennium Project Hunger Task Force, he helped demonstrate that investments in soil fertility could double or triple food production across diverse agroecological zones in Africa.

In 2016, he joined the University of Florida as a research professor, where he taught graduate courses in tropical soils and continued mentoring young scientists. Sánchez authored the textbook Properties and Management of Soils in the Tropics, first published in 1987 and revised in 2019, which remains widely used in courses on tropical soils worldwide.

His work earned international recognition, including the World Food Prize in 2002, a MacArthur Fellowship in 2004, and election to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Upon receiving the World Food Prize, Sánchez and his wife and scientific partner, Dr. Cheryl Palm, committed the award funds to support farmers and scientists working to eradicate hunger in lower-income contexts.

Despite his many accolades, those who worked with Sánchez often point first to his character.

Sánchez’s contributions to today’s agronomic knowledge and the welfare of millions of smallholder farm households are immense, Thom Jayne, Foundation Professor emeritus of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics at Michigan State University, tells Food Tank. “As massive as those contributions are, what impressed me even more was his radiant warmth, altruism, and courageous heart,” Jayne says. “Equity and fairness mattered deeply to him. It was an honor to collaborate with Pedro and his partner, Cheryl Palm. Together, they stood up for African organizations and gave selflessly of their time and energy to support African-led agricultural research systems.”

“He was a humble giant among people,” says Jack M. Payne, former University of Florida Senior Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Sánchez passed away two years after the death of Palm. His legacy endures in healthier soils, strengthened institutions, and the many communities whose food security improved through his work.

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According to the Department of Justice, more than 600,000 people are released from United States prisons each year. Nearly two thirds of them will return within three years. But ALMA wants to disrupt this trend.

ALMA’s mission extends beyond food production. The organization wants to bridge the gap between criminal justice and food justice and demonstrate that sustainable agriculture can be a powerful force for healing land, people, and communities.

“There’s no shame in my story anymore,” says Dennis Meman, Associate Farm Manager and formerly incarcerated for 27 years. “Working here gave me a sense of trust, something I hadn’t felt in a long time.”

Meman traces his connection to farming back to his childhood in the Philippines where backyard gardens were an important part of his life. At ALMA, he found more than employment. He also reconnected with the land, which has driven personal and communal growth.

ALMA’s Co-founders Richard Garcia and Erika Cueller launched the project in 2013 to address food injustice and the growing need for long-term solutions to reentry.

“We didn’t want to replicate the same transactional models,” Garcia tells Food Tank. “At ALMA, work is relational. It’s about restoring dignity, not just getting people a job.”

Participants in ALMA’s program receive training in organic farming techniques, food safety, composting, and harvesting. Garcia describes the work as “caring for living things,” noting that the skills learned on the farm often mirror the emotional labor of rebuilding one’s life post-incarceration.

Garcia sums it up best: “Working with plants is like working with infinity. You plant one seed, and it keeps growing. That’s what we’re doing here, one person, one plot at a time.”

ALMA’s flagship farm in Compton is intentionally embedded within the community it serves and accessible to the public. Monthly public brunches and seasonal events transform the farm into gathering spaces, where neighbors come together over fresh, locally grown meals.

“When people visit, they don’t ask, ‘How long were you in prison?’” Garcia tells Food Tank. “They ask, ‘Where did you get this tomato?’ That changes the conversation.”

Garcia believes the farm’s community integration has helped shift perceptions. It also addresses food insecurity in a neighborhood where access to fresh, affordable produce is limited. As cities and states across the U.S. experiment with alternatives to incarceration, ALMA hopes it can offer a working model.

But the organization has challenges. Restrictive zoning laws, for example, can make it difficult to revitalize vacant lots. Garcia also describes a “tension between the city’s vision of development and our vision of community.” But, he says, “we believe money and resources follows mission. If we stay rooted in our values, the rest will come.”

With Los Angeles set to host the 2028 Summer Olympics, Garcia also sees a unique opportunity for ALMA to share its mission with a global audience. “When the world comes to L.A., I hope they’ll visit the farm,” he tells Food Tank. “I want them to see that transformation is possible, not just in sports, but in our justice system, our food systems, and in people’s lives.”

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Ocean Temperatures Hit Alarming New Record in 2025

The world’s oceans absorbed a record amount of heat in 2025, marking the highest level ever recorded, according to a new study published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences.

Oceans absorb about 90 percent of the excess heat trapped by rising greenhouse gas emissions, according to NASA, making ocean heat content a key indicator of the changing climate. “Global warming is ocean warming,” says Professor John Abraham of the University of St. Thomas, a co-author of the study.

Rising ocean temperatures can intensify extreme events like hurricanes, cyclones, and heavy rainfall, while also driving longer marine heatwaves that damage marine ecosystems. Warmer water expands as it heats, contributing directly to sea level rise and increasing risks for coastal communities worldwide.

The researchers conclude that ocean warming will continue until global greenhouse gas emissions reach net‑zero, warning that delaying emissions reductions will lock in further impacts on oceans and climate systems.

U.S. Withdraws from 66 International Organizations

The United States has formally withdrawn from 66 international organizations, nearly half of which are affiliated with the United Nations, according to a Presidential Memorandum signed by President Donald Trump. The affected bodies work across sectors including public health, climate change, migration, peacebuilding, and education.

The memorandum states that these organizations “undermine America’s independence” and “promote radical climate policies” that conflict with U.S. sovereignty and economic priorities. The administration claims the withdrawal will prevent taxpayer dollars from funding “ineffective or hostile agendas.”

Experts say the move marks a major shift in U.S. global engagement. Nina Schwalbe of Georgetown University’s Center for Global Health Policy and Politics calls the decision “ridiculous and dangerous,” adding that if exiting the World Health Organization in 2024 was like “cutting down a tree,” this broader withdrawal is akin to “cutting down the whole forest.”

Will 2026 See a New Farm Bill?

Congress has not passed a new five-year Farm Bill since the last one expired in 2023, instead opting for temporary one-year extensions. A new essay by Kathleen Merrigan and Christopher Neubert of the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University questions whether comprehensive five-year legislation will return at all.

Traditionally, Merrigan and Neubert explain, Congress has been able to pass Farm Bills because farmers in support of subsidies and anti-hunger advocates see the advantage in working together to build the bipartisan support needed to pass the legislation.

But the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed in July 2025, altered that dynamic, cutting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding by US$186 billion over ten years while increasing farm subsidies by US$60 billion. As a result of those changes and current divisions in Congress, the authors believe a regular five-year Farm Bill may be out of reach, writing that it’s more likely the stalemate in Congress “will continue indefinitely.”

Instead, Congress may continue to extend programs through smaller bills rather than attempt a full Farm Bill overhaul. Without new legislation, they conclude, food and agriculture advocates will need to reassess strategies for advancing their policy priorities.

Carson and Oz Praise Trump-Vance Administration’s Focus on “Real Food”

Dr. Ben Carson, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Advisor for Nutrition, Health, and Housing, and Dr. Mehmet Oz, Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, say the Trump-Vance Administration is “Making America Healthy Again” by shifting nutrition policy toward whole foods. In a joint op-ed, they argue that the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines finally prioritize the well-being of Americans after decades of ultra-processed diets.

Carson and Oz cite the USDA Plan for American Ranchers and Consumers and the US$700 million Regenerative Agriculture Pilot Program as steps to support local farmers and reduce long-term production costs. “By making milk, raising cattle, and growing wholesome fruits, vegetables, and grains, they hold the key to solving our national health crisis,” they write.

Organizations like Friends of the Earth applaud the intent of these programs, but note that these measures may fall short unless recent cuts to funding and staff needed to help farmers design and implement regenerative practices are reversed. The Trump-Vance Administration has also not addressed how millions of U.S. households will access whole foods following the largest cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in history.

Sudan Marks 1,000 Days of Conflict

Sudan has now endured 1,000 days of conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, a civil war that began in April 2023. The violence has triggered one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises: an estimated 33.7 million people, two-thirds of the country’s population, will need assistance in 2026, and 21 million are expected to face acute food insecurity, UNICEF reports.

Children make up half of those affected, with around 5,000 displaced every day due to ongoing violence. Hunger is also becoming “increasingly gendered,” according to Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Female-headed households are three times more likely to experience food insecurity, with 75 percent lacking sufficient food.

The U.N. is calling for urgent humanitarian access to hard-hit areas, including the cities of al-Fashir and Kadugli, where famine conditions are escalating under continued siege by armed groups. Officials warn that without immediate aid, conditions will further deteriorate.

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“In the food system, the profit is not meant for the farmer,” Kumar says in the Food 2050 film, which premieres January 2026 in partnership with Media RED, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Food Tank. “We need to create a movement around food. By 2050, we will show how farmers always can be profitable.”

Kumar developed Arakunomics, an economic model to produce nutritious crops while regenerating the environment and ensuring farmer profits. The initiative, named a Rockefeller Foundation Top Food System Visionary in 2020, emerged from Naandi Foundation’s work in India’s Araku Valley, where coffee farming is the primary livelihood for many Indigenous and smallholder communities. Despite deep agricultural knowledge and generations of experience, farmers there have struggled to earn a living.

“Our major livelihood is working in coffee fields,” says Tangula Ullash, a coffee farmer in the Boddaputtu village. “Though we work hard and harvest, we can’t make profits on those crops in this area.”

Kumar argues that this challenge reflects a broader failure in how food systems distribute value. “Food comes because somebody is somewhere growing it. If they do not make profits, you won’t get food tomorrow,” he says. “Profit determines the way the ecosystem works. So just by looking at profit as a focus, we can change the entire food system.”

Arakunomics aims to rethink food through what Kumar calls the PQR framework: Profits, Quality, and Regenerative production. 

In Araku, guaranteeing that every farmer could make sustainable profits meant addressing one of farmers’ biggest risks: upfront costs. When Naandi began working in the region, many farmers were operating in a barter-style economy and did not track their profits and losses. Kumar’s team introduced a system that paid farmers a cash advance for their crops and then guaranteed a buy-back of their harvest. This ensured farmers had a market before planting.

“In Araku, with every farmer, the cost of production is made nil, zero,” says Kumar. “Once that cost is taken care of, whatever you pay the farmer after that, which is called the price, is actually the profit.”

Quality is the second pillar of the framework, linking nutrition directly to value. “Food should move towards what is more nutritious,” Kumar explains. “If we look at it that way, it will bring out farmers to make more money who create more nutritious food.”

And that shift depends on the third pillar: regeneration. Life below the soil sustains life above the soil, says Kumar. The Naandi Foundation invests heavily in soil restoration, composting, and agroforestry, led by Chief Agriculture Advisor David Hogg, to make regenerative practices viable for farmers.

“[Hogg] taught me early on that food comes from agriculture, not farming,” Kumar says. “Because farming is an economic activity…Agriculture is a culture. It’s a way of life.”

In India’s Eastern Ghats, for example, soils are degraded and many forests have disappeared due to agricultural expansion, mining, logging, and other infrastructure projects. Naandi worked with farmers to rebuild soil health using compost made from crop residue—which would otherwise be burned, a practice that creates air pollution throughout the region—and cow dung. By teaching farmers how to produce their own compost, they reduced dependence on chemical fertilizers and pesticides while lowering costs. Today, Naandi continues to open more compost centers that collect biomass, add microbes, and return nutrient-dense soil to farms. 

And beyond these regenerative farming practices, Naandi has also provided farmers with machinery and other tools to reduce labor burdens. This has made a big difference, Kumar says, to “make farming have less drudgery in it.”

Since filming Food 2050, Arakunomics has demonstrated that guaranteeing farmer profits can lead to healthier soils, stronger livelihoods, and more resilient supply chains. So far, Araku Coffee shops have opened throughout both India and Paris, France. But for Kumar, the work is far from over.

“This can become a worldwide phenomenon,” says Kumar. “Every food that you eat, can you ensure that the farmer who produced it made profit? Can you ensure that it’s good for you? And can you ensure that it’s not at the cost of the planet?”

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USDA Releases Final Report Assessing Food Insecurity

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released its Household Food Security Report, finding that 47.9 million people lived in food-insecure households in 2024, an increase of about 500,000 people from the prior year. The report shows that roughly one in seven U.S. households experienced food insecurity, including more than 14 million children.

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the findings represent the highest prevalence of food insecurity in the U.S. in nearly a decade.

The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) warns that the situation is “a crisis that is set to deepen” as households face the impacts of reductions to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

The annual report is the “gold standard” for assessing U.S. food insecurity and constitutes the most comprehensive tool available for nationally representative and state-level food insecurity data, according to FRAC President Crystal FitzSimons.

But the Trump–Vance Administration has announced that this will be the USDA’s final annual Household Food Security Report. Joseph Llobrera of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says the decision means losing a “one of a kind data source.”

High Urban Costs Push Young Senegalese Toward Farming

Africa, the world’s fastest-urbanizing region, is seeing cities expand at an average rate of 3.5 percent per year, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. But a recent PBS article reports that rising living costs and limited job opportunities are pushing more young Senegalese to leave cities and return to farming.

Filly Mangassa, a Senegalese farmer, said his family initially viewed his decision to return to the countryside as “a step back,” reflecting long-standing perceptions of agriculture. PBS reports that those views are shifting as new technologies and support programs make farming more viable. After presenting a business plan, Mangassa gained family support, secured land, and now grows peanuts, corn, vegetables, and fruit.

The World Food Programme launched a program in 2023 that has helped more than 61,000 people in Senegal start farms and diversify crops. One participant, 24-year-old Adama Sane, left Dakar after struggling as a construction worker and now raises poultry and peppers. “Discovering agriculture saved my life,” Sane says.

Senegal’s Agriculture Minister has said agriculture and livestock are the only sectors capable of creating jobs at the scale young people need.

A New Initiative in Nigeria Could Help Young People Scale Agroecology

The Enugu State government in Nigeria has launched a new initiative to strengthen agroecology among young people. The program will be led by 75 young people from various agricultural organizations, who will work to build networks and improve access to the state’s agricultural resources.

The initiative was announced during a capacity-building workshop organized by the state government in partnership with the South Saharan Social Development Organisation (SSDO) and ActionAid Nigeria. SSDO Head of Programme Udochukwu Egwim says that many agriculture groups in Enugu are “operating in silos,” limiting coordination and awareness of existing programs.

The new effort aims to improve collaboration among agroecology groups, civil society organizations, development partners, and government agencies to help scale practices that support farmers and the environment, Egwim says.

Peruvian Pollinators Are First Insects to Gain Legal Rights

Stingless bees in the Peruvian Amazon have become the first insects in the world to gain legal rights after two municipalities passed new ordinances recognizing their protection. The bees help sustain biodiversity and ecosystem health, with more than 175 species found in Peru, many long cultivated by Indigenous communities.

Rosa Vásquez Espinoza, founder of Amazon Research International, calls stingless bees “key to life in the Amazon,” citing their role in supporting crops and forest regeneration. But the insects face mounting threats from climate change, deforestation, pesticide use, and competition from European and African honeybees.

The ordinances, adopted in Satipo and Nauta, recognize the bees’ right to exist and flourish in a healthy environment and allow humans to file lawsuits on their behalf.

Constanza Prieto, Latin American director at the Earth Law Center, says the laws mark “a turning point in our relationship with nature” by recognizing stingless bees as rights-bearing subjects. Indigenous groups, conservationists, and researchers are now working to expand similar protections nationwide.

New Dietary Guidelines for Americans Unveiled

The Trump–Vance administration has released the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, urging people to cut back on highly processed foods with added sugar and sodium while emphasizing whole foods, including full-fat dairy and red meat.

Updated every five years, the Guidelines shape school meals, medical advice, and federal nutrition programs. At the Guidelines’ unveiling, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said, “My message is clear: Eat real food.”

The Guidelines continue to prioritize fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and call for limits on processed foods, sugars, artificial flavors, and dyes linked to diet-related disease. They mark a shift from past advice by encouraging full-fat dairy and calling for “ending the war on healthy fats,” while still recommending limits on saturated fat.

The update also promotes higher protein intake, including red meat, drawing concern from experts including Dariush Mozaffarian of Tufts University, who says Americans already consume enough red meat. Dr. Walter Willett of Harvard University has warned the guidance could promote diets that are less healthy for people and the planet.

How We’ll Eat in 2026, According to Kim Severson

In a New York Times article on food trends for the year ahead, national food correspondent Kim Severson writes that “the game has changed.” Drawing on interviews with market researchers, food executives, restaurateurs, and cooks, Severson says 2026 will be defined by strategic consumption. Eaters are turning to protein shakes and superfood bowls to meet nutrition goals while also returning to traditional, home-cooked foods.

Severson names vinegar the ingredient of the year and “value” the word of the year, noting that consumers are becoming more selective and want spending to feel worthwhile in quality and experience. The article also points to a growing emphasis on sensory dining, as chefs focus on color, aroma, texture, and lighting to counteract automation and constant digital engagement.

She also reports increased interest in locally sourced foods, including backyard and regional ingredients such as pawpaws, juneberries, and bison.

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Photo courtesy of Cícero R. C. Omena, Wikimedia

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“In China, we’ve been favoring ultra-processed products over whole foods. That has a huge public health impact,” Yi says in the Food 2050 film, which premieres January 2026 in partnership with Media RED, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Food Tank. “We here in China have consumed way more meat than is healthy for us, or healthy for the ecological system. The sheer size of China means that that overconsumption of meat has a huge environmental footprint and public health impact.”

Today, more than 23 percent of China’s 1.4 billion population is estimated to have cardiovascular disease or high blood pressure. Mama’s Kitchen, a Good Food Fund project that was named a Rockefeller Foundation Top Food System Visionary in 2020, aims to help reverse these trends. It helps reconnect people with food that is healthier for both people and the planet. The organization promotes plant-forward diets rooted in culinary tradition, ecological farming, and community education.

“A dramatic shift to more plant-based or plant-forward diets will see a major improvement of public health…animal welfare…and planetary health,” says Yi.

But Yi emphasizes that the project is not about eliminating meat entirely: “We don’t want people thinking that we are promoting vegetarianism. There might still be meat on your plate, but it is playing a secondary role.”

For Yi, change starts in the kitchen. He says it is not just a place for cooking but a bridge between nature, culture, and daily life. 

“For a long time we’ve been disconnected with food, how food is produced, who produced it, how it came to our dinner table…How can we redefine the role of the kitchen in our family, in our communities, in our country, in our world?” says Yi. 

Mama’s Kitchen brings eaters to ecological farms to “start from the source,” says Wu Hongping, Founder of Veggie Ark Farm in Dali, Yunnan, China. Participants learn directly from farmers and nutritionists about how the food is grown and its human and environmental health impacts. Then, they enjoy a chef-prepared, plant-forward meal with the farm’s produce.

“A truly delicious…nutritionally balanced, healthy meal has the power to touch people’s hearts,” says Melinda Hou, Executive Director of the Good Food Fund. “By the end of the event, people usually walk away with a much deeper understanding of healthy and sustainable eating.”

Yi and Hou say that restaurants are key partners in making this connection from farm to plate. Chef Lee, Founder and Head Chef at Xiao Lou, a plant-forward restaurant in Dali, interacts with local producers daily at the market to purchase fresh produce for his menu. Earlier in his career, he would have only cared about the flavors of his food, he says. But after working with Mama’s Kitchen, he sees the power of chefs to build connections with nature—especially by educating eaters.

“This journey has completed me as a person,” says Chef Lee. “As a chef, we must find a way to cook plant-based ingredients deliciously.”

Since winning the Food System Visionary Prize, Mama’s Kitchen has seen attitudes and habits shift within communities. “At the beginning, acceptance [of plant-forward diets] was usually quite low,” says Hou. But through tasting experiences and hands-on learning, participants became curious and began making changes, including practices like Meatless Monday. 

“Over the past two years, we’ve truly witnessed the transformation,” says Hou.

Ultimately, Mama’s Kitchen positions everyday food choices as a pathway to global change. “You can start from this small place called the Kitchen,” Yi says. “That thing can actually bring meaningful change…to humanity.”

In 2050, Yi envisions a Chinese food system rooted in care and connection, where vegetables are a staple in every diet. Given the scale of China’s economy, this brings Yi hope for positive global change.

“We have a lot of hope that, if we can bring even some small changes in the food system in China, it will be translated into really meaningful changes, globally,” says Yi.

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