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USDA Announces $472.5 Million Food Purchase to Support Domestic Producers and Food Banks

USDA Announces $472.5 Million Food Purchase to Support Domestic Producers and Food Banks

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plans to purchase up to $472.5 million worth of domestically produced food. This initiative aims to support American agricultural producers while simultaneously providing essential food supplies to food banks and other federal nutrition assistance programs. The planned purchases encompass a wide range of products, including $165.5 million in dairy products, $41 million in pork, and $20 million each in chicken and farm-raised catfish. Additionally, the USDA will acquire rice, legumes, various fruits, nuts, and Pacific whiting. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins stated that these purchases are designed to benefit both the agricultural sector and individuals facing food insecurity. The Agricultural Marketing Service, a division of the USDA, will be responsible for procuring these products, which will then be distributed through charitable organizations and federal nutrition assistance channels across the country. This action comes as part of broader efforts to st...
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Urban Garden Project Connects Individuals and Organizations to Community Gardening Network

Urban Garden Project Connects Individuals and Organizations to Community Gardening Network

The Urban Garden Project (UGP) offers an annual membership that links individuals and organizations to an expanding network of community gardeners. This membership provides access to shared resources and collaborative opportunities within the urban gardening sphere. While UGP memberships are non-voting, meaning members do not elect directors or vote on organizational matters, the UGP Board of Directors retains all governance decisions. The organization actively welcomes ideas and feedback from its members and provides avenues for involvement, including advisory and volunteer roles. The UGP aims to strengthen the urban gardening movement by fostering connections and shared knowledge.
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USDA Finalizes Rule to Modernize WIC Program with Online Shopping and Delivery Options

USDA Finalizes Rule to Modernize WIC Program with Online Shopping and Delivery Options

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has finalized a rule to modernize the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), allowing for online shopping and food delivery. This new rule, titled 'WIC Online Ordering and Transactions and Food Delivery Revisions to Meet the Needs of a Modern, Data-Driven Program,' aims to enhance program integrity and encourage innovation. It removes previous regulatory barriers that mandated in-person transactions and required WIC vendors to have a fixed physical location. The rule also supports the program's full transition to electronic benefit transfer (EBT) by streamlining and modernizing food delivery regulations and introducing secure technologies for food purchasing. The final rule will become effective on December 7, 2026, with some provisions requiring implementation by state agencies by February 4, 2027. This change makes online shopping, mobile pay, and remote benefit issuance permanent options for WIC state agencies, which were ...
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U.S. National Parks and Cities Highlighted as Top Family Adventure Travel Destinations

U.S. National Parks and Cities Highlighted as Top Family Adventure Travel Destinations

U.S. National Parks and Cities Highlighted as Top Family Adventure Travel Destinations
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Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins Unveils USDA Data Modernization Plan at Farm Progress Show

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins Unveils USDA Data Modernization Plan at Farm Progress Show

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins introduced the USDA's proposed data modernization plan at the 2026 Farm Progress Show. This initiative aims to enhance technological advancements already in use across the USDA, including satellite-based crop monitoring, geospatial analysis, cloud-based platforms, and improved online reporting tools. The plan also seeks to better coordinate the use of existing administrative data. According to Secretary Rollins, a key objective is to build trust and transparency with farmers by safeguarding producer privacy, clearly explaining data requests and usage, and providing avenues for farmer feedback. Iowa farmer Lance Lillibridge expressed encouragement regarding the USDA's efforts, noting that farmers are actively involved in the process and that improvements to agricultural data collection have long been necessary due to a perceived lack of trust in current reporting methods. Lillibridge emphasized the importance of accurate reporting for food and national security, stating ...
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USDA Finalizes Rule to Modernize WIC Online Shopping and Strengthen Oversight

USDA Finalizes Rule to Modernize WIC Online Shopping and Strengthen Oversight

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Administration (FNA) has published a final rule, effective December 7, 2026, to enable online shopping for participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). This rule removes previous regulatory barriers that mandated in-person transactions and fixed physical locations for WIC vendors, allowing state agencies to authorize retailers to accept WIC benefits online without waivers. The new regulations also introduce virtual visits as an allowable method for preauthorization and update definitions for routine monitoring and compliance buys to remove on-site requirements. These changes aim to leverage technology to enhance the shopping experience for WIC participants, improve administrative efficiency for states and vendors, and strengthen program integrity through modern, secure payment technologies and electronic benefit transfer (EBT) data insights to prevent fraud.
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Hawaiʻi Doctors May Soon Start Prescribing Fresh Food

Hawaiʻi Doctors May Soon Start Prescribing Fresh Food

Hawaiʻi is launching a program where Medicaid patients can get prescriptions for fresh food
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Famine Early Warning Systems Network Enhances Food Security Monitoring with Interactive Visualizations

Famine Early Warning Systems Network Enhances Food Security Monitoring with Interactive Visualizations

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) has introduced new interactive visualizations to improve the monitoring and interpretation of food security data. These visualizations, accessible through the FEWS NET website and the FEWS NET Data Explorer (FDE), offer over 2,200 interactive maps and charts. Users can now explore a wide range of data, including acute food insecurity projections, population estimates, rainfall anomalies, and commodity prices. The initiative aims to make complex food security information more accessible and understandable, even for individuals without advanced technical skills. The new Visualizations section within the FDE allows users to customize, explore, and save their own visualizations, providing a more dynamic and user-friendly experience for tracking evolving food security conditions.
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USDA Expands Online Shopping for WIC Program, Enhancing Access for Mothers and Infants

USDA Expands Online Shopping for WIC Program, Enhancing Access for Mothers and Infants

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a final rule to strengthen and expand online shopping options for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). This change, set to take effect on December 7, 2026, aims to provide greater access to healthy foods for rural mothers and children across the country. Save the Children, an advocacy organization, has applauded this initiative, noting that a pilot online shopping program demonstrated a strong preference for this method among participants. Eyang Garrison, Save the Children’s Managing Director of Domestic Policy, stated that this expansion will reduce barriers for rural and Tribal families and is expected to increase nationwide participation in the WIC program, which currently serves nearly 7 million families across the U.S.
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Honolulu City Council Advances Bill to Crack Down on Off-Property Shopping Carts

Honolulu City Council Advances Bill to Crack Down on Off-Property Shopping Carts

The Honolulu City Council has advanced Bill 53, a legislative measure designed to prohibit the possession and use of shopping carts outside of the store properties to which they belong. The bill stipulates that shopping carts on Oahu must be identified by their legal owner and used exclusively on premises under the owner's legal control. While the Honolulu Police Department and the Retail Merchants of Hawaii support the bill, the majority of testimony received was in opposition. Critics, including Mandy Fernandes of the ACLU Hawaii, argue that the measure is 'cruel, unnecessary, ineffective, and expensive,' contending that it criminalizes homelessness and is too vaguely written, potentially leading to issues with cart ownership and enforcement. The bill, as currently drafted, classifies the offense as a petty misdemeanor. Dave Erdman, interim president of the Retail Merchants of Hawaii, highlighted the significant cost of shopping carts, ranging from $250 to $1,000, especially with shipping to Hawaii and t...
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Canadian National Food Security Strategy Addresses Structural Concerns with C$3.2 Billion Investment

Canadian National Food Security Strategy Addresses Structural Concerns with C$3.2 Billion Investment

Canada has launched its National Food Security Strategy, themed 'More Choice. More Control. More Canada.', with a C$3.2 billion investment over 10 years. Released on June 11, 2026, the strategy aims to tackle structural issues within the food system, including market concentration, limited processing capacity, import dependency, infrastructure gaps, and regulatory complexity. The government has outlined four primary areas of action: increasing grocery competition and consumer choice, boosting domestic food production and processing capabilities, expanding year-round fruit and vegetable production, and modernizing existing regulations. This initiative also emphasizes public interest dimensions, focusing on affordability and access for vulnerable, rural, remote, and northern communities, and fostering partnerships with Indigenous Peoples to advance self-determination and improve access to various food sources.
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El Niño Intensifies Global Hunger Concerns Despite Projected Record Crop Yields

El Niño Intensifies Global Hunger Concerns Despite Projected Record Crop Yields

A powerful El Niño event is intensifying global hunger concerns, particularly in vulnerable regions, despite projections for the second-largest annual crop on record for 2026-2027. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) indicates that global maize, wheat, and rice production is expected to be only 2.7 percent below the previous year's record. However, the primary concerns are localized production changes and food access, especially in Southern Africa. This year's El Niño is described as a 'super El Niño,' with sea-surface warming in the tropical Pacific potentially reaching unprecedented levels. The World Food Programme (WFP) warned in August that this El Niño could push an additional 49 million people into acute food insecurity by the end of 2027, bringing the total to 274 million. The current situation is exacerbated by a 'triple whammy' of high fertilizer costs, high energy costs, and massive droughts across the tropics, according to Berkeley Earth climatologist Zeke Hausfather. The impacts...