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The Industry Ties Within Trump’s Food and Ag Leadership

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Reposted by Lisa Elaine Held

Civil Eats @civileats.com · 1d

During his first term, President Trump appointed leaders to the government’s food and farm departments that had strong industry ties. This time, many top officials at the USDA, EPA, and FDA have connections to chemical, agribusiness, or fossil fuel interests.

@lisaelaineh.bsky.social reports ⬇️

Many of the president’s top officials at USDA, EPA, HHS, and FDA have connections to chemical, agribusiness, or fossil fuel interests.

How Civil Eats helps reporters and audiences understand federal food policy - Journalism Institute

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Reposted by Lisa Elaine Held

Civil Eats @civileats.com · 7d

"We believe everyone who eats should know how policy decisions shape their food options."

Hear from our Operations Director @mattwheeland.bsky.social and Senior Staff Reporter and Contributing Editor @lisaelaineh.bsky.social in a Q&A interview with @npcinstitute.bsky.social. ⬇️

As government cuts and the current shutdown threaten food safety and food access across the country, journalists need timely information about how communities may be affected. To connect federal food…

Booming beef demand could get a boost from dietary guidelines

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Reposted by Lisa Elaine Held

Food Fix @foodfixco.bsky.social · 8d

Why our agriculture secretary sees growing demand for beef (and whole milk) even amid high prices. Ben Carson dings processed foods, touting SNAP stocking rule. Plus, a new documentary turns up the heat on Big Food.

foodfix.co/booming-beef...

Why our agriculture secretary sees growing demand for beef (and whole milk) even amid high prices. Ben Carson dings processed foods, touting SNAP stocking rule. Plus, a new documentary turns up the he...

foodfix.co

Jessica Knurick Is on a Crusade to Correct MAHA Misinformation

Reposted by Lisa Elaine Held

Marcia Brown @marciabrown.bsky.social · 8d

At @civileats.com, @lisaelaineh.bsky.social is up with a fascinating interview with influencer Jessica Knurick, who recently rose to fame on Instagram with her reels fact-checking MAHA.

civileats.com/2025/09/30/j...

The researcher has been studying food and chronic disease prevention for years. Now she’s a leading fact-checker in a national conversation.

civileats.com/2025/09/26/u...

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Lisa Elaine Held @lisaelaineh.bsky.social · 12d

USDA Ends Program to Help States Fight Monopolies

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said Thursday she’ll investigate market conditions that lead to high input prices, but she also ended a program set up to do just that.

MAHA Report Moves Further Away From Restricting Pesticides

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Lisa Elaine Held @lisaelaineh.bsky.social · 29d

Our first story on today’s MAHA report release, with more to come. @civileats.com civileats.com/2025/09/09/m...

The final recommendations from the MAHA Commission align more with the agricultural industry’s goals than the MAHA movement’s asks.

EPA Approves Four New Pesticides That Qualify as PFAS

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Reposted by Lisa Elaine Held

Civil Eats @civileats.com · Sep 8

Despite MAHA promises to reduce chemical exposures, experts warn the Trump administration is approving a wave of ‘frightening’ pesticides.

@lisaelaineh.bsky.social reports ⬇️

Despite MAHA promises to reduce chemical exposures, experts warn the Trump administration is approving a wave of ‘frightening’ pesticides.

EPA Scraps Rules to Curb Pollution from Meat and Poultry Plants

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Lisa Elaine Held @lisaelaineh.bsky.social · Sep 3

While the Clean Water Act led to a massive reduction in pollution from other industries, the EPA has failed to regulate nitrogen and phosphorus from meat processing facilities in the same way. civileats.com/2025/09/02/e...

Administrator Lee Zeldin said the decision will support lower food prices, but environmental groups argue it will allow multinational meat companies to taint drinking water.

CDC Exodus Includes Lead Official Tracking Food Safety and Animal Agriculture Disease

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Lisa Elaine Held @lisaelaineh.bsky.social · Aug 28

4 key leaders resigned, including Daniel Jernigan, who led the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID)….responsible for tracking foodborne illness outbreaks, zoonotic diseases, and antibiotic resistant bacteria, which can develop on farms. civileats.com/2025/08/28/c...

Health expert warns that personnel losses and low morale are ‘strangling public health.’

It’s officially been one year since MAHA was born. Tracking the latest.

Reposted by Lisa Elaine Held

Food Fix @foodfixco.bsky.social · Aug 27

Taking stock of one year of MAHA. Kennedy: Dietary Guidelines on track for late September. The latest on SNAP restrictions waivers.

foodfix.co/its-official...

Taking stock of one year of MAHA. Kennedy: Dietary Guidelines on track for late September. The latest on SNAP restrictions waivers.

foodfix.co

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Reposted by Lisa Elaine Held

Ian James @ianjames.bsky.social · Aug 14

Factcheck: Trump’s climate report includes more than 100 false or misleading claims @carbonbrief.org interactive.carbonbrief.org/doe-factchec...

Factcheck: Trump’s climate report includes more than 100 false or misleading claims

interactive.carbonbrief.org

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Reposted by Lisa Elaine Held

Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · Aug 12

A really thoughtful piece by @lisaelaineh.bsky.social.

MAHA w/o addressing climate change and its ag causes, including confined animal feeding operations & biofuels, is a pathetic fig leaf while extractive ag keeps adding fuel to the fire.

Energy & ag policies need to change to address CC impacts.

Civil Eats @civileats.com · Aug 12

The #MAHA movement wants farmers to produce healthier food, but the climate crisis and Trump’s energy policies are making that harder to do.

@lisaelaineh.bsky.social reports ⬇️

The MAHA Movement’s Climate Conundrum

Make America Healthy Again wants farmers to produce healthier food, but the climate change and Trump's policies are making that harder to do.

The MAHA Movement’s Climate Conundrum

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Reposted by Lisa Elaine Held

Civil Eats @civileats.com · Aug 12

The #MAHA movement wants farmers to produce healthier food, but the climate crisis and Trump’s energy policies are making that harder to do.

@lisaelaineh.bsky.social reports ⬇️

Make America Healthy Again wants farmers to produce healthier food, but the climate change and Trump's policies are making that harder to do.

Food Programs Scrounge While ICE Feasts - WORT-FM 89.9

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Reposted by Lisa Elaine Held

A Public Affair @apublicaffair.bsky.social · Aug 11

🎙️Journalist @lisaelaineh.bsky.social of @civileats.com says that food policy is never just one thing. It affects everything from rural communities and the environment to hunger, wellbeing, and immigration.

Listen to Lisa in conversation with Douglas Haynes here: www.wortfm.org/food-program...

Journalist Lisa Held decodes the opaque realm of federal food and agriculture policy from cuts to SNAP to immigration.

www.wortfm.org

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Reposted by Lisa Elaine Held

Civil Eats @civileats.com · Aug 1

Democrats and Republicans are co-sponsoring the Local Farmers Feeding our Communities Act, which has broad support among farm groups.

Bipartisan Proposal Aims to Make Up for USDA’s Cuts to Local Food Funding

Democrats and Republicans are co-sponsoring the Local Farmers Feeding our Communities Act, which has broad support among farm groups.

USDA Deputy Secretary Defends Reorganization Plan

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Reposted by Lisa Elaine Held

Civil Eats @civileats.com · Aug 1

During a Senate hearing, Stephen Vaden said the agency’s plan to move employees out of DC will reduce costs; senators complained about not being consulted.

During a Senate hearing, Stephen Vaden said the agency’s plan to move employees out of DC will reduce costs; senators complained about not being consulted.

EPA Proposes Eliminating Its Own Ability to Regulate Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Lisa Elaine Held @lisaelaineh.bsky.social · Jul 30

“The public health consequences will be immediate, widespread, and devastating.” That includes for farmers and the entire food system. @civileats.com civileats.com/2025/07/30/e...

The repeal of the ‘endangerment finding’ has profound implications for farmers and the entire food system.

USDA Cancels More Support for Regional Food Systems

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Lisa Elaine Held @lisaelaineh.bsky.social · Jul 16

I wrote about the Regional Food Business Centers for @civileats.com back in April. Today, USDA cancelled the program. civileats.com/2025/07/15/u...

The agency is eliminating the Regional Food Business Centers, a program meant to help small farms and other food businesses build local infrastructure.

USDA Announces ‘Great American Farmers’ Market,’ but Its Popular Weekly Market Is Gone

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Lisa Elaine Held @lisaelaineh.bsky.social · Jul 11

USDA denies it, but my sources say most of the employees working on the season-long farmers market took the administration’s offer to resign, leaving no one to run it. civileats.com/2025/07/08/u...

Sources say most staff working on the season-long market have left; the USDA disputes that claim.

Trump Administration Sues California Over Cage-Free Egg Laws

Lisa Elaine Held @lisaelaineh.bsky.social · Jul 11

Another Prop 12 challenge, this time it’s the DOJ and they’re targeting the provisions around egg production. @civileats.com civileats.com/2025/07/10/t...

In addition to the pork industry’s continuing challenges to Proposition 12, the Department of Justice is taking on another aspect of the state’s animal welfare laws.

Federal Agents Detain Farmworkers in Large-Scale Raids at Two Southern California Farms

Lisa Elaine Held @lisaelaineh.bsky.social · Jul 11

We covered A LOT of news in @civileats’ Food Policy Tracker this week. Working backwards: Yesterday Brian Calvert and I covered two large immigration raids on farms in Southern California. Brian was on the ground at one of the farms:
civileats.com/2025/07/10/f...

Officers pointed guns, threw smoke canisters, and shot rubber bullets at protestors.

Amid SNAP Debate, Are Lawmakers Ending Waste and Abuse—or Dismantling a Safety Net?

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Lisa Elaine Held @lisaelaineh.bsky.social · Jul 2

My latest for @civileats.com civileats.com/2025/07/01/f...

As lawmakers debate SNAP benefits, experts fear the shifts will squander money and increase hunger for millions of people.

The Civil Eats Food Policy Tracker is your daily, go-to source for actions taken by the President, federal agencies, and Congress that directly relate to or have significant implications for the food…

Reposted by Lisa Elaine Held

FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · Jul 2

We’ve been in court for a year defending a rule that protected H-2A and other seasonal farmworkers. Now, Trump’s DOL won’t enforce the rule, leaving workers at risk of “retaliation, fraud, and trafficking.” @lisaelaineh.bsky.social civileats.com/food-policy-...

Food Policy Tracker

Conservation Work on Farms and Ranches Could Take a Hit as USDA Cuts Staff

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Reposted by Lisa Elaine Held

Civil Eats @civileats.com · Jun 23

Close to 2,400 employees of the Natural Resources Conservation Service have accepted an offer to resign, leaving fewer hands to protect rural landscapes.

Read more from @lisaelaineh.bsky.social‬. ⬇️

Fewer hands now protect rural landscapes after close to 2,400 Natural Resources Conservation Service employees accepted an offer to resign.