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Unions Sue USDA Over Faster Chicken Plant Production Speeds
Unions representing workers at 10 chicken processing plants in six states are suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture to challenge a policy that allows companies to increase production speeds that the unions say puts workers at risk
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Wakanda, Fictional Home of Black Panther, Listed as Free Trade Partner by USDA
Wakanda’s free trade agreement with the United States wasn’t forever.
Until Wednesday afternoon, the fictional country from the popular 2018 Marvel superhero movie “Black Panther” was listed as a free trade agreement partner of the United States on the Agricultural Tariff Tracker maintained by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
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Stop! Washing Your Thanksgiving Turkey Could Spread Germs
Go ahead and rinse your cranberries, potatoes and green beans. But food say experts say don’t — repeat don’t — wash the turkey before popping it in the oven on Thanksgiving Day. They say that could spread the germs lurking on your turkey in the kitchen sink or nearby food. But it’s been a challenge trying to convince cooks to...
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Tuna Maker Bumble Bee Foods Files for Bankruptcy
Tuna maker Bumble Bee Foods said Thursday that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, with an agreement from Taiwan-based FCF Fishery, its largest creditor, to purchase its assets for roughly $925 million. The bankruptcy proceedings are meant to reduce Bumble Bee’s debt burden caused by “recent and significant legal challenges” and help facilitate the sale. In 2017, the...
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Trump Rule May Mean 1 Million Kids Lose Automatic Free Lunch
Nearly a million children could lose their automatic eligibility for free school lunches under a Trump administration proposal that would reduce the number of people who get food stamps. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has released an analysis that says as many as 982,000 children could be affected by the change. About half would have to pay a reduced price...
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Parents Who Live in Food Desert Learn Healthy Cooking Tips Through DISD Class
Parents at Nathaniel Hawthorne Elementary get a bag of free fruits and vegetables through the Brighter Bites program. Now they are getting cooking classes through DISD to learn how to use those ingredients in healthy meals.
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Parents Who Live in Food Desert Learn Healthy Cooking Tips Through DISD Class
Parents at Nathaniel Hawthorne Elementary get a bag of free fruits and vegetables through the Brighter Bites program. Now they are getting cooking classes through DISD to learn how to use those ingredients in healthy meals.
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‘Flash Drought' Brings Dust and Dread to Southern Farmers
A furnace-like “flash drought” is intensifying as it blasts away the little moisture left across a vast swath of the South, shriveling up crops and backyard gardens and raising alarm among farmers
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Famed Pecos Cantaloupes From West Texas Now Rare, Few Farms
Pecos cantaloupes are on the verge of extinction. A number of factors explain this decline. The most recent, obvious culprit is oil.
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Concerns Raised About Egrets at Texas Park, Nearly Airport
Sometime this fall, the hatchlings on Bird Island at Elmendorf Lake Park will be old enough to fly. And that could spell the end of the beloved bird site.
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Should You Wash That Chicken? The USDA Says ‘No'
Should you rinse raw poultry? Advice over the years has been conflicting. Even cooking legends Julia Child and Jacques Pepin disagreed, but a new study from the Department of Agriculture has a definitive answer: Don’t do it! “The sink could be a source of cross contamination,” warns the USDA’s Dr. Mindy Brashears.
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Trump Plan Didn't Note Threat to 500K Free School Lunches: Dems
The Trump administration determined that more than 500,000 children would no longer be automatically eligible for free school meals under a proposed overhaul to the food stamp program, but left that figure out of its formal proposal, NBC News reported, citing House Democrats. The U.S. Department of Agriculture wants to crack down on eligibility for food stamps, estimating that 3.1...
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Snake Stows Away in Man's Bag on Trip From Florida to Hawaii
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the 20-year-old Virginia man was not aware of the animal until it emerged after he arrived at a vacation rental property.
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‘Sell By' or What? US Pushes for Clarity on Expiration Dates
If milk is a few days past its “Sell By” date, is it safe to drink? U.S. regulators are urging food-makers to be more consistent with labeling terms like “Best By” and “Enjoy By” that cause confusion. By clarifying the meaning of such dates, they are trying to prevent people from prematurely tossing products and to reduce the mountains of...
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Perdue Recalls Over 31,000 Pounds of Chicken Strips, Tenders and Nuggets
Perdue Farms, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has recalled 31,703 pounds of ready-to-eat chicken products, including gluten-free chicken nuggets sold under their Perdue Simply Smart Organics brand. Announced in a news release Friday, the recall applies to Perdue’s Simply Smart Organics refrigerated gluten-free breaded chicken breast tenders, refrigerated whole grain chicken breast strips, and refrigerated whole grain...
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Dallas-Based Company Recalls Salad Sold at HEB
Dallas-based Taylor Farms Texas Inc. is recalling a ready-to-eat Caesar salad with chicken sold at H-E-B due to misbranding and undeclared allergens, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.
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Food Poisoning Remains Persistent Problem, US Report Finds
As recent illnesses tied to raw turkey , ground beef , cut melon and romaine lettuce suggest, U.S. food poisoning cases don’t appear to be going away anytime soon. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report Thursday that the frequency of several types of food poisoning infections climbed last year, but that the increases could be...
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Quest for Food Stamp Data Lands Newspaper at Supreme Court
In the summer of 2010, reporters at South Dakota’s Argus Leader newspaper decided to request data about the government’s food assistance program, previously known as food stamps. They thought the information could lead to a series of stories and potentially help them identify fraud in the now $65 billion-a-year program. They sent a stream of what they thought were routine...
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Mainstream Retailers Embrace CBD Despite Murky Status
Mainstream retailers are leaping into the world of products like skin creams and oils that tout such benefits as reducing anxiety and helping you sleep. The key ingredient? CBD, or cannabidiol, a compound derived from hemp and marijuana that doesn’t cause a high. Retailers are taking advantage of the booming industry even as its legal status and health benefits remain...
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Houston Company Recalls Some Meat, Poultry, Salad Items
A Texas company has recalled more than 3,300 pounds of ready-to-eat meat, poultry and salad products amid concerns about possible listeria contamination