• Farmer’s voices are essential to figuring out sustainability. Let’s listen up. (Environmental Defense Fund) http://bit.ly/2k6J4t2

• University of California Global Food Initiative http://bit.ly/2lggwLm                                                                                             UC is harnessing its resources to address one of the critical issues of our time: How to sustainably and nutritiously feed a world population expected to reach 8 billion by 2025.

• 15 Urban Farms and Activists That Are Changing the Way We Eat (The Root) http://bit.ly/2kTF3a1

• The disturbing lack of black organic farmers (grist) http://bit.ly/2mcHoMW

• Heirloom African Peanut Rediscovered and Marketed to Chefs (The Cornucopia Institute) http://bit.ly/2jJcl9v

• The Threats to the World’s Chocolate Forests (The Atlantic) http://theatln.tc/2kxM82l

Jim Hightower: We Need a Revolution on Our Plates (AlterNet) http://bit.ly/2lavgw7                                                                                                  “Farm policy hasn’t come up even once a presidential debate for the past 16 years.”

• Organic farm leader Jim Riddle seeking common ground with Donald Trump, conservation (cleveland.com) http://bit.ly/2l8kXsX

• Make food systems climate resilient now – UN (Eco-Business) http://bit.ly/2krpl91                                                                                  Agriculture holds the key to soling two of the greatest problems now facing humanity: eradicating poverty and hunger, according to the UN food and agriculture chief as he called on funding and technology partners to support farmers.

• We Need Labels on Food from Factory Farms (Organic Consumers Association) http://bit.ly/2jSOCUz

• So, THAT’s What That White Chocolate Is (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/2kmHH7h

• Growing Appetites For Learning and Activism in Food Systems (UC Food Observer) http://bit.ly/2keeUBP

• British Media Urge People To ‘Romaine Calm’ As Lettuce Crisis Grips UK (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/2loBHM0

• A step toward environmental justice in North Carolina’s hog country (Facing South) http://bit.ly/2kMFEKJ

• Quinoa genome unveiled in search for hardy crop to feed world (The Guardian) http://bit.ly/2kTlOjf                                                        Some strains can tolerate 38-degree days, salty soils, and high altitudes, say researchers

• Who First Farmed Potatoes? Archaeologists in the Andes Find Evidence (NYT) http://nyti.ms/2kXvw4h

• “Dark Forces” Are Coming for Your Organic Food (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/2kbOxR3                                                                                             So says the former Obama USDA appointee who helped create national organic standards.

• Frederick Douglass On How Slave Owners Used Food As A Weapon Of Control (NPR) http://n.pr/2kWDXdu

• 400 Million Acres Of Farmland Could Disappear – Unless This Woman Gets Her Way (Rodale’s Organic Life) http://bit.ly/2lnsuWM

• Metro Buses Converted Into Mobile Food Markets For Low Income Neighborhoods (Back Business) http://bit.ly/2kX5ahW

• Farming Behind Barbed Wire: Japanese-Americans Remember WWII Incarceration (NPR) http://n.pr/2kNMA8C

• Chef Stew of Food Network Fame Aims to Create Jobs in Baltimore with Culinary Program (Atlanta Black Star) http://bit.ly/2m1WHZf

 

Food and Culture

• How Syrian Refugee Women Are Using Food to Fight President Trump (Time) http://ti.me/2l8bBxm

• First Look: Sweet Home Café Puts Black History On A Plate (dcist) http://bit.ly/2kKkIWK

• The Simple, Soulful Dish These Somali Refugees Brought to America (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/2kBcm39                                          A recipe sustained one family through civil war, 20 years of refugee camp living, and immigration to Oakland, California.

 

Hunger, Food Access & Security, Obesity & Malnutrition

• Cities Hire Food Systems Experts To Address Obesity, Food Access (Civil Eats) http://bit.ly/2mi2pFW

• Unless It Changes, Capitalism Will Starve Humanity By 2050 (Forbes) http://bit.ly/2kyh6bC

• Building on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s Success: Conquering Hunger, Improving Health (American Journal of Preventive Medicine) http://bit.ly/2lgYppe
  • The Challenge in Improving the Diets of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Recipients: A Historical Commentary (American Journal of Preventive Medicine) http://bit.ly/2kFKf3T
  • Federal anti-Poverty Programs Primarily Help the GOP’s Base (The Atlantic) http://theatln.tc/2kCqy8L

• Why giving surplus food to charities is not a solution to food poverty (Eco-Business) http://bit.ly/2lQILBl                                          The laudable kindness in helping a hungry stranger should not obscure the fact that solving food insecurity requires government action, writes University of London’s Martin Caraher.

 

Gleaning, Reuse, Recycling, Composting & Waste

• Nutrition Education Summit To Tackle Food Waste (UC Food Observer) http://bit.ly/2jUvTwQ

• The Compost King of New York (NYT) http://nyti.ms/2kuBk5Z

• We think fresh is best. But to fight food waste, we need to think again (Washington Post) http://wapo.st/2lpJdZK

• India Banned Literally All Disposable Plastic in Delhi, a Major Win for Planet Earth (Global Citizen) http://glblctzn.me/2kBU1og

• 8 bits of plastic you can quit right now (Sarah Wilson Blog) http://bit.ly/2lIy06Y

 

Healthy/Safe Food

• 5 Benefits of Farro, a Healthy and Nutritious Ancient Grain (AlterNet) http://bit.ly/2lScPfl

• The Nutrition Source: Dark Chocolate (Harvard School of Public Health) http://bit.ly/2m255bm

• How the Microscope Challenged Vegetarianism (The Atlantic) http://theatln.tc/2lWY5vG

 

Children & School Food

• The Radical Origins of Free Breakfast for Children (Eater) http://bit.ly/2kPjclQ                                                                                              How the Black Panther Party and women’s organizations fueled American food policy.

• Poor kids eating free breakfast? Not if congressional Republicans have their way (Daily Kos) http://bit.ly/2ktGjUc
  • A record number of poor kids are eating breakfast – thanks to a program many conservatives hate (Washington Post) http://wapo.st/2kWqpR0

• Rep. Jack Kingston Proposes That Poor Students Sweep Floor In Exchange For Lunch (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/2kuP1Oh

• UC Launches Good Food For Local Schools Website (UC Food Observer) http://bit.ly/2kzP24n

• Revenge of the Lunch Lady (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/2kqpkOV

 

Labor/Unions/Coops

• ‘Our agricultural system would collapse’ if Trump starts mass deportations, says farm worker advocate (Business Insider) http://read.bi/2jSdpYR
  • How Trump’s Immigration Policies Could Nearly Double the Price of Milk (AlterNet) http://bit.ly/2lQDtG1                                      If Trump’s wall goes up, so will food prices.

• North Carolina needed 6,500 farm workers. Only 7 Americans stuck it out. (Washington Post) http://wapo.st/2lv84eK                  Here we go. Alabama, Georgia, Arizona, and California have all been there, now the rest of the country will see…

• Latino laborers fear deportation, but officials tell California farmers not to fret (The Guardian) http://bit.ly/2kVbvY9
• Michigan farmers say they can handle one day, but a week without immigrants would “cripple us” (Michigan Radio) http://bit.ly/2miHgLw

• Walmart join CIW’s Fair Food Program! (Coalition of Immokalee Workers) http://bit.ly/2lusMba

• Can going green help pick the slavery out of cotton? (Eco-Business) http://bit.ly/2lS3ML2                                                                        With the global cotton industry under scrutiny for using forced and child labor and polluting the environment, Western companies are starting to work with farmers to clean up fashion’s leading natural fiber – and its complex supply chain.

• California Farmers Backed Trump, but Now Fear Losing Field Workers (NYT) http://nyti.ms/2k7Wc2K                                                    We have seen this before…

• 2011: Alabama immigration: crops rot as workers vanish to avoid crackdown (The Guardian) http://bit.ly/2kzvIn1
• 2011: Georgia immigrant crackdown backfires (Politico) http://politi.co/2l8793w

• Trump Winery Again Granted Permission to Hire Foreign Workers (NBC29) http://bit.ly/2kWlDAN

• Immigrant workers plan strike Thursday as part of ‘Day Without Immigrants’ protest (Washington Post) http://wapo.st/2l9tZFZ    José Andrés and Andy Shallal, both immigrants themselves, will be among those closing restaurants in the region on Thursday.

• Restaurants Will Test If The US Can Stomach ‘A Day Without Immigrants’ (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/2lm9loc
• ‘You and your family are fired – Love you’: Oklahoma restaurant fires 12 workers after ‘Day Without Immigrants’ (Raw Story) http://bit.ly/2lhkSTC
• ‘Day Without Immigrants’ Shuts Down Pentagon Food Court Restaurants (Fox News) http://bit.ly/2m0EY4B

• Cheap Eats, Cheap Labor: The Hidden Human Costs Of Those Lists (NPR) http://n.pr/2kCBIv0
  • Income share for the bottom 50% of Americans is ‘collapsing,’ new Picketty research finds (Market Watch) http://on.mktw.net/2kL3YhL

• The Mystery of the Disappearing Cooks (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/2ke3uNi                                                                                    America’s foodie meccas are short on kitchen talent. And have been for years…

• The People Prepping Produce for Your Fast Food Aren’t Too Happy With Their Working Conditions (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/2l2bQvT                                                                                  Processor Taylor Farms has come under fire for safety and labor violations.

• Workers unionize at Whole Foods in Duluth (workday Minnesota) http://bit.ly/2ke2pWL

• Andrew Puzder Withdraws From Consideration as Labor Secretary (NYT) http://nyti.ms/2kznvOz
  • Andy Puzder Withdraws As Nominee For Labor Secretary (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/2lkYLhc
  • How The Fast-Food Chain Led By Trump’s Labor Nominee Stiffed Workers Again and Again (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/2jLnTJA                                                                                  While Andy Puzder ran Hardee’s, its franchisees altered timecards, deducted pay for uniforms and even broke child labor law.

• Why Over 100 Food and Farm Groups Oppose Trump’s Labor Secretary Pick (AlterNet) http://bit.ly/2laspSV
• Mob Lawyer Mentored Trump Labor pick (Politico) http://politi.co/2l5YNKJ

 

Protests

• Today’s ‘Day Without Immigrants’ Is giving Trump What He Wants (The Nation) http://bit.ly/2kXEyxr                                    Immigrants across the country are showing that America can’t run without immigrants.

• Dozens of businesses across Chicago close to support immigrants on Day Without Immigrants (Chicago Tribune) http://trib.in/2kuR097
• Triangle Restaurants to Close on “A Day Without Immigrants” (Indy Week) http://bit.ly/2lTk1Z7
• A Day Without Immigrants: Bay Area Participants (Eater San Francisco) http://bit.ly/2loUlpo
• The Capitol’s Hottest Restaurants Will Shut Down To Protest Trump (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/2lkXcOt

• Hundreds Join Sanctuary Restaurants Movement to Create Safe and Inclusive Spaces (AlterNet) http://bit.ly/2lQPtqV                      The nationwide Sanctuary Restaurants Movement provides safe spaces free from hate and discrimination.

• Sanctuary Restaurants http://bit.ly/2lBxyHU

• East Bay Coffee Shops Are Helping to Lead the Resistance (East Bay Express) http://bit.ly/2kHZ6LJ

• More Than 1,000 Bodegas in New York Are Striking to Protest Trump’s “Muslim Ban” (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/2k6MFqS            It’s an unprecedented protests against a ban that would hit the local Yemeni community hard.

• Jam the courts, blow the whistles, shut down the kitchen: Here are The Resistance’s latest strategies (grist) http://bit.ly/2lb6jCC

• This Website Lets You Send Pizza to Protestors Around America (Munchies) http://bit.ly/2jPZZNb

• Carl’s Jr. In Oakland Disrupted By People Protesting Andrew Puzder (CBS SF Bay Area) http://cbsloc.al/2lh1ecR

• Defiant French farmer Cédric Herrou given suspended fine for helping migrants cross border from Italy (The Telegraph) http://bit.ly/2kZSR2T

• Samba drums up opposition to factory farming (Eco-Business) http://bit.ly/2lCNvNj                                                                                                 A musical protest at the Rio carnival will stress the damaging impacts of factory farming on indigenous people and on global warming.

 

Business, Social Enterprise & Our Economy

• At This Immigrant-Owned Restaurant in DC, the Homeless Eat For Free (Eater) http://bit.ly/2mcVUnB

• Bay Area refugees find a home, and work, at new Berkeley café (San Francisco Chronicle) http://bit.ly/2lm8xfR

• Hardee’s And Carl’s Jr. Got Caught In An Immigration Audit Under Trump’s Labor Nominee (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/2khhA0w                                                                                    Before Andy Puzder adopted Trump’s hard line on immigration, his chain’s restaurants had to cut loose more than 1,000 undocumented workers.

• Dole and Del Monte also facing crimes against humanity charged for financing death squads in Colombia: report (Colombia Report) http://bit.ly/2kwqpp4

• Burger King, Tim Hortons parent to buy Popeye’s for $1.8B (SF Chronicle) http://bit.ly/2l3Haay

• For Food Manufacturers, ‘Sell By’ Labels May Have Reached Their Expiration Date (NPR) http://n.pr/2kX9xqN

• Switzerland Gets a Foothold in the Northern California Cheese Industry (KQED) http://bit.ly/2kykeD1

• Monsanto’s Mind-Meld; Spin Machine in High Gear (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/2kFDFtB

• All the brands that would feature in the largest food conglomerate merger in history (Quartz) http://bit.ly/2lWQ3DR

• Café X opens in San Francisco, brining robots to the coffee shop (Tech Crunch) http://tcrn.ch/2k6Lnwc

• The Next American Farm Bust Is Upon Us (WSJ) http://on.wsj.com/2l7GFzD
  • Jim Hightower: The Next Farm Crisis is Here and Farmers Can No Longer Afford to Be Ignored (In These Times) http://bit.ly/2kzIsci

• The trade war comes to the prairie (Politico) http://politi.co/2krHlAa                                                                                  What’s food for manufacturers could be a big problem for farmers.

• The first casualties of Trump’s Trade Wars are Texas Cattle Ranchers (Dallas Morning News) http://bit.ly/2lrYKbn

 

Food Fraud/Scandals/Weird

• ‘Drunk’ squirrel causes hundreds of pounds of damage (BBC News) http://bbc.in/2ll9CHU

 

Water & Our Oceans

• The Ancient Hopi Message about Water (Uplift) http://bit.ly/2l3WrbB

• Fracking Rule Text Disappears From Interior Department Website (EcoWatch) http://bit.ly/2lQLbA6

• Maryland moves to permanently ban fracking (Nation of Change) http://bit.ly/2k8RH3D

• Dakota Access Pipeline Approved a Week After Co-Owner’s Pipeline Spilled 600,000 Gallons of Oil in Texas (Desmog) http://bit.ly/2lIaKmz
  • “We taka all this risk for very little reward:” Bell’s Brewery takes stand on Enbridge’s Line5 (Michigan Radio) http://bit.ly/2kNzJnb

• Mexico City, Parched and Sinking, Faces a Water Crisis (NYT) http://nyti.ms/2kIjWpn

• ‘Pay for Your Poison’ or Have Water Shut Off (Rewire) http://bit.ly/2kzJvco

• From sea to plate: how plastic got into our fish (The Guardian) http://bit.ly/2l8pADn

• Microfibers are a source of ingestible plastic worse than already-banned microbeads (Dallas Morning News) http://bit.ly/2lxigTW
  • Microplastics found in supermarket fish, shellfish (CBC News) http://bit.ly/2m54HZO

• We’re Trashing the Arctic. Literally. (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/2lbxTQ9                                                                                              Check out h world’s coldest garage pile.

 

Government/Regulation/Policy/Farm Bill

• South Pacific islands ban western junk food and go organic (The Guardian) http://bit.ly/2l875hD                                                                Leaders of Vanuatu province want to turn local people and tourists away from unhealthy imports in favor of locally grown crops and seafood

• USDA’s Historic Role Doing Research and Educating the Farm Community on Hold? (The Cornucopia Institute) http://bit.ly/2jJ7JjU

• Imported Foods Sicken Lots of People. Trump Is Unlikely to Fix That. (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/2lpioUN                                                Food poisoning outbreaks from imported foods have spiked six fold since the ‘90s – and it’ll take a strong FDA to reverse the trend.

• Trump Administration Sued For Delaying Protections For Endangered Bee (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/2l8riod
  • Now Trump’s Going After the Bumblebees (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/2lA9sJA                                                                                       The administration just delayed endangered status for a bumblebee species that’s on the brink of extinction.

• Farmers Supported Trump. His Proposals Have Them Thinking Again (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/2kLgTxB                  Farmworkers, employers and trade groups are all concerned with Trump’s plans on immigration and trade.

• Crops Rot While Trump-Led Immigration Backlash Idles Farm Work (Bloomberg) http://bloom.bg/2kWFArR
  • California Farmers Backed Trump, but Now Fear Losing Field Workers (NYT) http://nyti.ms/2k7Wc2K                                                We have seen this before…

• 2011: Alabama immigration: crops rot as workers vanish to avoid crackdown (The Guardian) http://bit.ly/2kzvIn1
• 2011: Georgia immigrant crackdown backfires (Politico) http://politi.co/2l8793w

• Absent Federal Policy, States Take Lead on Animal Welfare (Civil Eats) http://bit.ly/2ldoc2f                                                                                With hard-won federal gains in the balance, states might be the next battleground for animal welfare reform.

• Flint water crisis: Report Says ‘systemic racism’ played role (CNN) http://cnn.it/2lkN4VT

• Judge blocks Monsanto’s bid to stop California from listing glyphosate as carcinogenic (Nation of Change) http://bit.ly/2l5Mm1i

• California Regulators Allow Oil Companies to Continue Injecting Wastewater Into More Than 1,600 Wells in Protected Aquifers (truthout) http://bit.ly/2k0WEiY

• Colorado court rejects appeal; rancher who waged war on mosquitos to protect spouse faces jail (The Denver Post) http://dpo.st/2kpFhHy

 

GMOs/Cloning/Food Technology/Synthetic Biology/Nanotechnology

• Escaped GO Grass Threatens Oregon (The Cornucopia Institute) http://bit.ly/2kyg6Tr

 

Poisons

• Fast food with a side of fluorinated chemicals (Nation of Change) http://bit.ly/2kFnX1q                                                                                                Fast food packaging from popular spots like McDonald’s and Starbucks contains a potentially harmful chemical that leaches into the food.

• Yes There Are Still Chemicals In Your Fast Food Wrapper (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/2kcT6IV
• The Nasty Ingredients in Fast-Food Wrappers (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/2lvigo8

• Questions about EPA-Monsanto collusion raised in cancer lawsuits (Huffington post) http://huff.to/2lM9BL6

 

Pollinators

• A small city in Iowa is devoting 1,000 acres of land to America’s vanishing bees (Popular Science) http://bit.ly/2kD1Jd6                  Little habitats on the prairie to save our nation’s pollinators

• A Way to Save America’s Bees: Buy Free-Range Beef (The Atlantic) http://theatln.tc/2lpzqTi

• A Bee Mogul Confronts the Crisis in His Field (NYT) http://nyti.ms/2kv50zN

 

Animals

• Male chick culling in egg industry could end, thanks to Canadian technology (CBC News) http://bit.ly/2lajO5J                                            US egg producers group commits to end practice of killing male chicks, Canada could follow

• There’s More to the Bacon Shortage Than What’s Been Reported (AlterNet) http://bit.ly/2lS9NaG                                                                        By 2014, a virus had killed 7 million piglets in their first days of life.

• Palm Oil Workers Investigated For Killing, Eating Endangered Orangutan (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/2lWxgaV

• Someone Dumped 1,000 Tiny Chicks In A Field And Left Them To Die (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/2m8fDEZ

 

• Mobile grocery store sees interest grow after 1 year in St. Louis food desert (St. Louis Public Radio) http://bit.ly/2jQbJDI

• Wendell Berry’s Radical Skepticism (Civil Eats) http://bit.ly/2jaOctn

• The Black Panther Party: A Food Justice Story (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/2kooGov

• The Rights of Nature: Indigenous Philosophies Reframing Law (Intercontinental Cry) http://bit.ly/2jXjms7

• More soil organic matter makes more rain (Beef Producer) http://bit.ly/2jFvJ92                                                                                              New satellite data shows just how important is plant-soil evapotranspiration and how it lasts longer than once believed.

• How “Open Source” Seed Producers from the US to India are Changing Global Food Production (Resilience) http://bit.ly/2j1pCit

• Agroecology Booming in Argentina (Inter Press Service) http://bit.ly/2k1VEej

• A non-GMO approach to producing bigger, better wheat (Anthropocene) http://bit.ly/2k2aHVg

• South LA “Gangsta Gardener” Ron Finley Fights to Save His Garden From Eviction (LA Weekly) http://bit.ly/2jvnj3U

• The Hottest Thing in Farming (Civil Eats) http://bit.ly/2kqs8ev        New technology – and growing demand for local food – is making winter farming more possible than ever.

• A superbug resistant to every available antibiotic in the US kills Nevada Woman (PBS Newshour) http://to.pbs.org/2iwxUNd
  • When Your Healers Become Your Killers (Inter Press Service) http://bit.ly/2jWnape

• Trump and Trade: The Perils for Agriculture (Foreign Policy In Focus) http://bit.ly/2jH2suv

• Ken Cook: It’s Time We Get Serious About Organic Farming (Inter Press Service) http://bit.ly/2iMb18Q

• Brazil Drought Déjà vu Makes Coffee 2017’s Commodity Winner (Bloomberg) http://bloom.bg/2iEBaDh
  • Native Seeds Sustain Brazil’s Semi-Arid Northeast (Inter Press Service) http://bit.ly/2iMcc8g

• Drought Deals Harsh Blow to Cameroon’s Cocoa Farmers (Inter Press Service) http://bit.ly/2k2pr6L

• Beyond Trump: How Will a Billionaire’s Privatization of the Presidency Affect our Food? (Food First) http://bit.ly/2jNuirr

• Celebrity chef: Trump inauguration copied my cake for Obama (The Hill) http://bit.ly/2jNvnzc
  • Washington DC bakery comments on Trump inauguration cake controversy (Entertainment Weekly) http://bit.ly/2iRsHl5

• Hundreds Flock to New Vegan Soul Food Grand Opening in Oakland (The Post News Group) http://bit.ly/2jnszZ5

• 5 Sketchy Facts About Trump’s Pick for USDA Chief (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/2kpwl1E
  • What Will Trump’s Agriculture Pick Mean for Food Policy? (The Lunch Tray) http://bit.ly/2k0xXCs

• Food and More: Expanding the Movement for the Trump Era (Civil Eats) http://bit.ly/2kj57dR

• A Real-Life Stan Mikita’s Donuts Heads to Los Angeles This Weekend (LA Eater) http://bit.ly/2jjzAa5

 

Food and Culture

• Canadian food culture tells a story in cod tongues (The Toronto Star) http://on.thestar.com/2jNZ8A1

• Meet the culinary zealot fighting to preserve Syrian cuisine despite years of war (Los Angeles Times) http://lat.ms/2jefLEg

 

Hunger, Food Access & Security, Obesity & Malnutrition

• The Long Shadow of Childhood Hunger (Civil Eats) http://bit.ly/2jZpDmN                                                                                                A new study links food insecurity to poor health and behavior problems.

• Study: Transitions Into Food Insecurity Associated With Behavioral Problems Ann worse Overall Health Among Children (Health Affairs) http://bit.ly/2keDm6d

• Science Says This Weird Virus Could Make You Fat (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/2jv4SvQ                                                                                    Yet more evidence that there’s more to losing weight than diet and exercise.

• How the US Government Subsidizes Obesity (Inter Press Service) http://bit.ly/2ju1yEo

• The Popular Theory About What Causes Obesity May Be Very Wrong (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/2iZdWHT

 

Gleaning, Reuse, Recycling, Composting & Waste

• Swedish supermarkets replace sticky labels with laser marking (The Guardian) http://bit.ly/2jLN9mC                                                          Food retailers aiming to cut plastic packaging by ditching stickers on fruits and vegetables, instead using hi-tech ‘natural branding’

• What’s Better for the Environment, Paper Bags or Reusable Plastic Bags? (AlterNet) http://bit.ly/2kfJgTR

• Why Your Urine Is Too Good to Waste (Yes!) http://bit.ly/2jPHoVs                                                                                            Almost all of the nitrogen and phosphorous we ingest comes out of our bodies – what if we could return it to the soil?

 

Healthy/Safe Food

• Processed food NOT fat is the real cause of heart disease, claims heart surgeon who says a diet of natural food an even reverse the illness (The Daily Mail) http://dailym.ai/2iu3Nbb

• Palm Oil Products Are Being Pulled From Some Stores In Italy After A Report Linking It To Cancer (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/2iNOG7H
  • Report: Process contaminants in vegetable oils and foods (European Food Safety Authority) http://bit.ly/2jD0vSd

• Sugar, explained (Vox) http://bit.ly/2jPwlbX                                            Sugar is the dietary villain of our day. But the science is complicated.

• It’s Time to Stop Shaming Poor People for What They Buy With Food Stamps (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/2k5iGgh                            No, low-income people aren’t quaffing huge amounts of soda on the taxpayer dime.

• In the Shopping Cart of a Food Stamp Household: Not What the New York Times Reported (Talk Poverty) http://bit.ly/2jSe90K

• Study: US Salmon May Carry Japanese Tapeworm, Which Can Grow to 30 Feet Long (KTLA) http://bit.ly/2jBZhnC

 

Labor/Unions/Coops

• Andrew Puzder’s shad history: Trump’s labor secretary nominee is a habitual violator of labor law (Salon) http://bit.ly/2iIWozM
  • New Labor Secretary (nominee): Cutthroat Businessman and Anti-Minimum Wage (AlterNet) http://bit.ly/2jiTWnT        Andrew Puzder want to apply his fast food principles to federal policy.

• Report: Labor Secretary Nominee Andrew Puzder’s Employees Report High Rates of Wage and Hour Violations, Age Discrimination, and Sexual Harassment (Restaurant Opportunities Centers United) http://bit.ly/2iogXGt

• A Legal Fight In New York Could Cause Big Headaches For Uber (BuzzFeed) http://bzfd.it/2jJkCuM                                                                       A disputed workers compensation claim could end with Uber being declared the legal employer if tits on-demand workforce.

• Montgomery County (MD)to Raise Minimum Wage to $15 Per Hour By 2020 (NBC4 Washington) http://bit.ly/2j99Az3

 

Protests

• Beyond Standing Rock: As Pipelines Proliferate Across the US, So Do Protests (AlterNet) http://bit.ly/2jFMnp8

 

 

Business, Social Enterprise & Our Economy

• Spain’s ‘Robin Hood Restaurant’ Charges The Rich And Feeds The Poor (NPR) http://n.pr/2kxJtSJ

• 100km Foods (Edible Toronto) http://bit.ly/2jrLuCK

• West Oakland foods cooperative defies odds, serves people (East Bay Express) http://bayareane.ws/2ju5q7g

• How Big Dairy Is Producing Poorer Farmers, Sicker Cows and Unsafe Beef (AlterNet) http://bit.ly/2jNC70e                                            The conventional dairy industry has pushed cows to their physical limits.

• The Head of Obama’s USDA Just Took a Cushy Big Dairy Job (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/2jkOX3V                                                      Former agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack heads to greener pastures at the US Dairy Export Council.

• Trump Is Ready to Bless Monsanto and Bayer’s Massive Merger (Mother Jones) http://bit.ly/2jDKUBB

• The Restaurant Industry Prepares for the Trump Era (Civil Eats) http://bit.ly/2j7nMuH                                                                                                A look at how chefs, bakers, and eaters are lining up to resist the Trump administration on Inauguration Day and beyond.

 

Food Fraud/Scandals/Weird

• Thousands of Skittles end up on an icy road. But that’s not the surprising part (CNN) http://cnn.it/2j29JXz                                                  … The sheriffs’ department later found out that the Skittles fell off a truck that was hauling the red candies to be used as cattle feed… I guess we are still feeding cattle candy, it is cheaper than fodder.

• Meet Nevada’s cow cops (High Country News) http://bit.ly/2jKeeq6

 

Water & Our Oceans

• More Lockdowns, Arrests as Indigenous-Led Direct Action Campaign Continues in West Texas (truthout) http://bit.ly/2iv6XuU

• Battle for the Amazon: Tapajós Basin Threatened by Massive Development (truthout) http://bit.ly/2jdMV79

• Crawling with crab (The Daily Astorian) http://bit.ly/2jZav90

• Obama Moves To Protect More California Coast in Mendocino, Humboldt, Santa Cruz (sfist) http://bit.ly/2jv9tyd

• Is Your Omega 3 Supplement Killing Seals, Penguins, and Other Arctic Animals? (One Green Planet) http://bit.ly/2jmjeP0

 

Government/Regulation/Policy/Farm Bill

• The Most Dangerous Bill You’ve Never Heard Of Just Passed The House (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/2jJDGdH                                      … the House of Representatives has passed a bill which would effectively repeal future standard setting under every important environmental, public health, consumer protection, labor standard, occupational safety and civil right law on the books.

• EPA Ordered to Freeze All Grants and Contracts (EcoWatch) http://bit.ly/2k0uxju

• Bumblebee Gets New Protection on Obama’s Way Out (NYT) http://nyti.ms/2iTJC2i                                                                                            The Rusty-Patch Bumblebee is the first bee to be listed as endangered from the lower 48 states…

• USDA Scientists Have Been Put On Lockdown Under Trump (BuzzFeedNews) http://bzfd.it/2jNYJf9                                            “Starting immediately and until further notice” the department’s main research division “will not release any public-facing documents,” according to an internal memo.

• ‘It’s Outrageous’: EPA Acknowledges Proven Dangers of Bee-Killing Pesticides But Refuses to Restrict Them (EcoWatch) http://bit.ly/2iu1kxh
  • EPA Acknowledges Neonics’ Harm to Bees, Then ‘Bows to Pesticide Industry’ (Common Dreams) http://bit.ly/2iv4SiV

• Obama Declared An Emergency In Flint One Year Ago. The Crisis Isn’t Over (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/2j1uxvA

• Obama Regulators Reject Fracked Gas Pipeline Across Oregon (AlterNet) http://bit.ly/2iUnAvY                                                                      FERC refused to approve a liquefied natural gas export project – for the first time ever.

• Organic Check-Off Program Advances (Civil Eats) http://bit.ly/2iBsVfR
  • Got Organic? USDA Proposes Organic Check-Off Program, Family Farmers Question Value (Beyond Pesticides) http://bit.ly/2kfGKwQ

• What’s at Stake for Ag Policy under Trump’s USDA Pick (Civil Eats) http://bit.ly/2jaMIOM
  • Trump’s Pick For Agriculture Secretary Is A Climate Denier, Too (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/2jQY1zQ

 

GMOs/Cloning/Food Technology/Synthetic Biology/Nanotechnology

• There Foods Aren’t Genetically Modified but They Are ‘Edited’ (NYT) http://nyti.ms/2jp7HkX                                                                                No, they are genetically modified, I don’t think this author understands basic biology…

• Burkina Faso says cotton production increases after it discontinues Monsanto variety (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) http://bit.ly/2jkOJJQ                                                                                            Burkina Faso estimates its production of raw cotton for the 2016-17 harvest will rise by 25 percent compared to the previous harvest…

• GMO Arctic Apples to Hit Shelves Next Month Without Clear Labeling (EcoWatch) http://bit.ly/2kfCRc5

 

Poisons

• Poison Fruit (The Intercept) http://bit.ly/2jY5Zbc                              Dow Chemical wants farmers to keep using a pesticide linked to autism and ADHD

 

Animals

• Ground-Breaking Animal Welfare Organic Rules Moving Forward (Civil Eats) http://bit.ly/2jCIeoz                                                                            The proposed rules were finalized just under the wire.

• Grass-Fed Beef, Sold One Cow at a Time (NYT) http://nyti.ms/2jKM104

• 6 fascinating facts about chickens (treehugger) http://bit.ly/2jFJWmH

• EPA Ignores Risks and Expands Uses of Toxic Herbicide Enlist Duo (Beyond Pesticides) http://bit.ly/2k4ZYX1

 

Other

• You May Be Eligible For A Cash Payout If You Bought Milk In This Timeframe (Huffington Post) http://huff.to/2j4U9rB