Civil Eats | Food and Agriculture News
Civil Eats is a news source for critical thought about the American food system. Read our latest reporting on U.S. food and agriculture.
How Four Years of Trump Reshaped Food and Farming
Nov 2, 2020 · In 2017, the EPA reversed an Obama-era ban on chlorpyrifos, a pesticide the agency previously determined was linked to brain damage in children. After battling lawsuits, the agency reaffirmed the decision in 2019 and in 2020, it released a new assessment of the pesticide that excluded several studies and found the science on its dangers “remains unresolved.”
‘Seed Money’ Explores Monsanto’s Troubling Past and ... - Civil Eats
Dec 20, 2021 · Chemical pesticides and herbicides became a big part of their business in the ‘40s, ‘50s, and ‘60s: chemicals like 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D—wonky names for sure, probably meant to make consumers not ask too many questions. Agent Orange was made up of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D, and Monsanto was the largest producer of Agent Orange by volume during the Vietnam War.
Who We Are - Civil Eats
Lisa Held. Lisa Held is Civil Eats’ senior staff reporter and a contributing editor. Since 2015, she has reported on agriculture and the food system with an eye toward sustainability, equality, and health, and her stories have appeared in publications including The Guardian, The Washington Post, and Mother Jones.In the past, she covered health and wellness and was an editor at …
What the Story of DDT, America’s Most Notorious Chemical, Can …
Jul 6, 2022 · Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane, or DDT, is a notorious pesticide that was once considered a panacea in the United States. It was unleashed with abundance from the 1940s to the 1960s, used to fight a wide range of agricultural pests and human diseases, but its toxicity and carcinogenicity in animals and humans soon came to light, and the chemical’s use was …
400 Years After the Slave Trade Began, Tracing the Roots of …
Dec 5, 2019 · After Emancipation in 1863, African Americans began to write cookbooks that reached the mainstream public. In 1881, What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking included a recipe called “Jumberlie” that looked a lot like modern-day jambalaya. As the dish evolved over time, it was commonly identified by the use of tomatoes or tomato paste, as well …
After ‘Super Size Me’: In Conversation with Morgan Spurlock
Nov 16, 2010 · In 2004, Morgan Spurlock‘s documentary film Super Size Me debuted. In it, Spurlock eats McDonald’s food for 30 days straight. This extreme experiment sought to document the adverse health effects of the all-to-common practice of over-eating fast food, using himself as test subject. Indeed, Spurlock gained weight, scared his doctors when his liver went south, […]
Project 2025 Spells Out Big Changes to US Agriculture - Civil Eats
Jul 22, 2024 · As of March 2024, the most recent month for which data is available, more than 301,000 farms had close to 25 million acres enrolled in CRP; that’s a lot of acreage, but it represents less than 3 percent of U.S. farmland.. Project 2025, a conservative Republican presidential transition blueprint spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation, proposes eliminating …
College Food Pantries Are Reinventing Ways to Feed Students
Jul 27, 2020 · Other college pantries affiliated with CCFB either closed or saw radical decreases in clients. In these instances, CCFB reduced programming, says co-CEO Natalie Capales, and “tried to fill gaps by increasing services through other agency partners serving the same geography, as well as creating programming to expand our reach.”
‘Food Chains’ Documentary Sheds Light on Farmworkers’ Reality
Nov 21, 2014 · A few years ago, Sanjay Rawal was driving past a farm in Immokalee, Florida and he saw a group of migrant farmworkers toiling away in the fields. Later that evening, he drove by the same field to find the same group still hard at work. Meanwhile, the farm managers were eating at a separate facility […]