USDA issues grants to expand local meat processing capacity
Five independent processors will receive grants totaling $59 million to expand local meat processing capacity, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Tuesday. The grants are part of a $1 billion initiative by the administration to strengthen the food supply chain and introduce more competition into the meat processing sector.
Baristas and fast-food workers behind sharp uptick in strikes in 2022
Nearly a quarter of a million American workers went on strike in 2022, with Starbucks employees and fast-food workers leading the charge, according to a report released on Tuesday by Cornell University’s Worker Institute. It found that work stoppages have increased by more than 50 percent in the past year.
Injuries rise from grain bin explosions, but no deaths last year
Grain dust explosions are a recurring hazard for grain handlers and processors, said a Purdue report on Tuesday, with nine explosions during 2022, above the 10-year average of 7.8 explosions. But for the first time since 2015, there were no deaths.
TODAY’S QUICK HITS
Supreme Court rejects Tyson appeal: The Supreme Court refused to hear a Tyson Foods lawsuit that said federal judges, not state judges, should handle lawsuits tied to Covid-19 deaths at its meatpacking plants, including a mammoth pork plant in Iowa. (Des Moines Register)
Rural backlash to renewable power: From Maine to Nevada, solar and wind power projects are drawing heated rural opposition that has prompted restrictions, moratoriums and bans. (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Sushi burrito in a pickle: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has recovered over $215,000 in back wages from Kazu Sushi Burrito, a fast-food chain in Jacksonville, Florida, that took a cut of servers’ tips and violated minimum wage laws for years. (Department of Labor)
Legislators defeat China bill: The South Dakota state Senate defeated a bill backed by Gov. Kristi Noem and aimed at China that would have created a Committee on Foreign Investment to review purchases of agricultural land by “foreign persons,” with the governor holding veto power over the transactions. (KOTA-TV)
Rehabilitating Turkish, Syrian agriculture: The FAO appealed for $35 million to help farmers and rural communities in Turkey and Syria restore food production through veterinary care, inputs such as seed, tools and animal feed, and cash transfers. (FAO)
Saudi coffee brews change: Saudi Arabia, which celebrated the Year of Saudi Coffee in 2022, plans to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into its national coffee industry as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plan to diversify the economy and rebrand Saudi identity. (Los Angeles Times)
