Food + Politics
Cropped shot of a woman shopping in a grocery store. June 2021
Some states are ending their Covid-19 emergency declarations. For many, SNAP payments will drop dramatically.

06.15.2021
by H. Claire Brown
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue and Senator John Cornyn tour the Houston Food Bank, one of USDA’s partners in the Houston area helping feed Americans in need through various nutrition programs administered by the USDA Food, including USDA’s Farmers to Families Food Box Program, which has distributed nearly 40 million food boxes in support of American farmers and families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, on July 16, 2020, in Houston, TX.
Food banks welcome $1 billion investment by USDA
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue and Senator John Cornyn tour the Houston Food Bank, one of USDA’s partners in the Houston area helping feed Americans in need through various nutrition programs administered by the USDA Food, including USDA’s Farmers to Families Food Box Program, which has distributed nearly 40 million food boxes in support of American farmers and families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, on July 16, 2020, in Houston, TX.
06.11.2021
by Zachary Smith
Two Ivorian gendarmes walk towards a child caught drying cocoa in the sun in the village of Opouyo in Soubre, on May 7, 2021 during an operation to remove children working on cocoa plantations. June 2021
Can U.S. chocolate companies be liable for child-labor abuses in the global cocoa supply chain?
Two Ivorian gendarmes walk towards a child caught drying cocoa in the sun in the village of Opouyo in Soubre, on May 7, 2021 during an operation to remove children working on cocoa plantations. June 2021
06.02.2021
by Simran Sethi
Tilman Fertitta, CEO of Landry's Hospitality, makes remarks during a roundtable with Restaurant Executives and Industry Leaders at the White House on May 18, 2020. Landry has given more than half a million dollars to Texas Governor Greg Abbott. May 2021
Restaurant lobbying groups and CEOs contributed to many of the GOP governors now ending pandemic unemployment benefits
Tilman Fertitta, CEO of Landry's Hospitality, makes remarks during a roundtable with Restaurant Executives and Industry Leaders at the White House on May 18, 2020. Landry has given more than half a million dollars to Texas Governor Greg Abbott. May 2021
05.28.2021
by Jessica Fu
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and Georgia Senator Rev. Raphael Warnock sit behind two tables. May 2021
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack hit the road in rural Georgia to talk about historic debt relief for Black farmers. The audience was skeptical.
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and Georgia Senator Rev. Raphael Warnock sit behind two tables. May 2021
05.24.2021
by Neesha Powell-Twagirumukiza
GOP governors’ cutoff of Covid benefits hits hard in rural America
05.24.2021
by Aallyah Wright
Transitioning from being a field worker to now farming her own land, organic farmer Celsa Ortega tells her sons what to do, and how to do it, as they all weed one of her fields of celery on September 20, 2020 in Salinas, California. May 2021
Young farmers struggle with child care and health insurance
Transitioning from being a field worker to now farming her own land, organic farmer Celsa Ortega tells her sons what to do, and how to do it, as they all weed one of her fields of celery on September 20, 2020 in Salinas, California. May 2021
05.12.2021
by Shoshanah Inwood + Andrea Rissing + Florence Becot
Biden’s American Families Plan would fix SNAP eligibility for formerly incarcerated people banned from benefits
04.30.2021
by Simran Sethi
Economic Research Service logo in front of hands pulling weed from soil. April 2021
Vilsack confirms that USDA research arms will not return to Washington, D.C.
Economic Research Service logo in front of hands pulling weed from soil. April 2021
04.29.2021
by Jessica Fu