3 Research Questions Could Hold the Key to Sustainable Eating
Sarah Reinhardt, Senior Analyst, Food Systems and Health | March 16, 2021, 5:02 pm EDT
When it comes to healthy eating, there’s a lot we already know.
Just take a look at the scientific report issued by the
2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, the group of scientific experts behind the newly released
Dietary Guidelines for Americans. At 835 pages, the report spans a rigorous review of current research on dozens of topics, from whether eating peanuts early in life reduces the likelihood of peanut allergies (it probably does), to how much added sugar we can eat and still maintain a healthy diet (way less than what we’re eating now). It also outlines the broad contours of a healthy diet, which has changed little from past editions of the
USDA NRCS
Karen Perry Stillerman, senior analyst, Food and Environment | February 25, 2021, 2:40 pm EDT
Iowans have long prized their state’s deep, rich soils and its position as an agricultural powerhouse. In the heart of the Corn Belt, its farmers lead the nation in corn acres planted, and come in second in soybean acres. But there’s a dark side to all that: Decades of intensive, industrial-style production of those two crops and little else has decimated Iowa’s soil and fouled its waterways, leaving farmers and communities downstream and across the state vulnerable. Among the many issues state legislators are considering this month in Des Moines, soil health and water quality are arguably among the most urgent. And they need to act fast.
In the latest weird 2021 moment, meat and poultry giant Tyson Foods is running a marketing campaign involving chicken nuggets arranged into freakish bouquets for Valentine’s Day. Here at the Union of Concerned Scientists, we have some thoughts about Tyson’s Valentine offering to the nation:
Secretary Vilsack is no stranger to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. Here, he appears at a hearing on the Farm Bill in February, 2015. USDA photo by Bob Nichols/Flickr
Questions for a Once-and-Future Agriculture Secretary
Karen Perry Stillerman, senior analyst, Food and Environment | February 2, 2021, 9:29 am EDT This post is a part of a series on
The last time the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) got a new leader, I was decidedly unimpressed. Okay, understatement…I was incensed by a secretary who cared little for science and was fully in the pocket of big agribusinesses (looking at you, Dow). After four years of all that, it’s refreshing to see a new administration listening to scientists and pledging to address the multiple crises we face. At the same time, the hill facing us is steep, and bold actions are needed.
Photo: vodograj/shutterstock
Sarah Reinhardt, Senior Analyst, Food Systems and Health | January 15, 2021, 11:57 am EDT This post is a part of a series on
When President-elect Biden takes office next week, his fledgling team must begin to right a mountain of wrongs as the pandemic continues to rage. The previous administration’s nearly endless list of failures and sabotage has brought about many injustices, and among them is the dire situation of workers in the nation’s meat and poultry industries. These essential workers have faced life-threatening conditions, with few or no safeguards, for the duration of the COVID crisis.
The COVID relief proposal released yesterday by the president-elect would be a good start. In addition to expanding paid sick and family medical leave and emergency paid leave, the proposal calls for a new COVID-19 Protection Standard (also known as a Eme