Department of Agriculture
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Trump’s ag guy quit to lobby again
Michael Torrey was asked to pick between lobbying and transitioning the Department of Agriculture.
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Clinton might pick whatshisname — that ag guy — for Veep
That one guy from Iowa is aware he's boring.
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USDA rejects GOP demand to undo new school meal guidelines
The USDA won't back away from proposed guidelines for healthier school food, despite demands from Republican lawmakers that the agency eliminate cost increases.
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Crazy idea from the feds: Maybe companies should stop shipping contaminated meat
Here's a good way to prevent a food recall: Don’t ship contaminated food in the first place. Companies that process meat have to test it for salmonella, E. coli, and other buggies, but they can send it off to stores before they get results. The Department of Agriculture has recently caught on to the fact […]
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How to prevent your airplane from hitting a goose
I recently wrote a big-think piece for The Atlantic about how the federal government’s and New York City’s gassing of Canada geese in a misguided attempt to reduce the risk of bird-plane collisions actually represents the beginning of a new and disturbing era in Man’s relationship to the creatures of the sky. Particularly if you’re […]
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Sustainable ag meets the MSM — and wins!
TIME Magazine‘s current cover story wants you to know that our fossil-fueled, chemically intensive industrial food system is destined to fail. Granted, the second part of that sentence isn’t news to Grist readers. But the first part of that sentence is news. Personally, I wouldn’t have expected to read the following positively Philpottian (if not […]
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New Obama forest plan leaves roadless rule intact
The Obama administration will defend the Clinton roadless rule that has been ping-ponging in the courts for nearly a decade, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said in Seattle on Friday. If courts can’t resolve the forest-protection conflict, the administration will create its own roadless rule, he said. Vilsack laid out a broad vision for the […]
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The Non-Concession concession?
Henry Waxman and Ed Markey seem to have mastered the art of the non-concession concession: striking deals with potential opponents in ways that meet their needs while minimizing (though not entirely eliminating) the negative impacts. Similar to their distribution of allowances, which seemed at first glance to be a massive giveaway but turned out to […]
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Food safety in the 21st century
Just when America thought it was safe to go back into the grocery store, another food outbreak wakes us up to the fact that there is something seriously wrong with its food safety system. This time it’s Nestle Toll House cookie dough with E.coli, a treat that nearly every kid in America reaches for a […]