"The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing to expand a controversial loophole to allow some of the world’s most toxic chemicals to be added directly to food without a safety review."
"The United Nations agency for children, UNICEF, warns that one of the strongest El Niño events on record could bring floods, drought, displacement and disruption to education, urging governments to act before the crisis worsens." "More than 347 million children in nearly 100 countries and territories are expected to face unusually wet or dry conditions in the coming months as the 2026-2027 El Niño develops, UNICEF has warned."
"The US should review policies that allow major food crops to be sprayed directly with herbicides shortly before harvest, and should tighten related policies that allow for high levels of residues of those pesticides in finished food products, according to a petition filed Thursday with the government regulators."
"Nearly 93% of known plastic chemicals used to wrap food and make clothes, toys, and other common household and personal care products pose a high risk to human health, according to a new investigation provided exclusively to CNN."
"Seafood isn’t just a key source of protein and calories; it’s also where millions around the world get essential vitamins and minerals needed to build tissue, fight infections and grow. Yet, as modern mechanized fishing fleets plunder global waters, populations in low-income countries are losing out."
"Research scientist Ashish Rajurkar kneels in the dirt, lifting a large clod of soil tangled around a soybean plant. He knocks away pieces of earth from the plant’s roots, which slope straight down instead of out to the side like typical soybean plants."
"A group of commercial fishers, fishing guides and seafood processors in southwest Louisiana is suing liquefied natural gas company Venture Global, claiming that dredging operations in preparation for the construction of a new terminal resulted in a sediment spill that killed millions of oysters and diminished catches of finfish, crabs and shrimp."
The Farm Bill — omnibus legislation that affects the food supply of millions of Americans, as well as their air, water and soil — is bogged down in hyperpartisan division. But as Backgrounder outlines, environmental journalists would be wise to track how Congress ultimately uses it to address matters like land and water conservation, rural water supply and pollution, pesticides and more.
"Bryce Black kneels in a wheat field battered by intense drought. He holds two strands, remarking on how small the seed head is compared with what’s normal."
