Stabenow, Boozman urge Congress to make child nutrition a priority this year – March 19, 2021

Stabenow, Boozman urge Congress to make child nutrition a priority this year

Debbie Stabenow, chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and John Boozman, the committee’s ranking Republican, said on Thursday that Congress should apply the lessons learned during the pandemic to strengthen and expand key child nutrition policies this year. (No paywall)

 

SNAP numbers down from pandemic peak, but still higher than pre-pandemic levels

New USDA data show that SNAP enrollment declined last fall from a pandemic-driven high over the summer. In June 2020, 43 million Americans were enrolled in SNAP; by November, the number had dropped to 41.4 million.

 

House vote opens path to legal status for immigrant farmworkers

In a 247-174 vote, the Democrat-led House passed the Farm Workforce Modernization Act on Thursday, which would provide a path to legal status for almost one million immigrant farmworkers and reform the existing H-2A visa program for agricultural workers.

 

TODAY’S QUICK HITS

The Lorax is smiling: A trio of Democratic senators introduced the REPLANT Act, which will allow the U.S. Forest Service to plant 1.2 billion trees, carry out reforestation projects to address the climate crisis, and create nearly 49,000 jobs over 10 years. (Senate Agriculture Committee)

EPA reopens to media: In a webinar wiith the Society of Environmental Journalists, top communications officials at the Environmental Protection Agency pledged to have a “positive, productive, and transparent relationship with the media,” including direct and timely interviews with scientific staff and regional offices. (FERN’s Ag Insider)

 

WIC Act is back: A bipartisan group of legislators reintroduced the Wise Investment in our Children Act yesterday in both the House and Senate. The bill would expand food, nutrition, and other assistance to pregnant women, new mothers, infants, and young children. (FERN’s Ag Insider)

 

Utah bans battery cages for hens: Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a law banning the use of battery cages on Utah’s egg farms, becoming the eighth state to do so. (HSUS)

 

Seaweed and cow belches: A new study from the University of California Davis found that feeding seaweed to cows reduced emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, by up to 82 percent. (Phys.org)

 

Falsely labeled salmon: A Norwegian seafood company has agreed to pay $1.3 million to settle a proposed class action brought against its Ducktrap subsidiary, accusing it of falsely marketing its salmon as sustainably sourced, all-natural, and Maine-caught. The fish was allegedly raised on foreign aquaculture farms, using antibiotics. (Law360)

 

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