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A new rule from the FDA has gone into effect that aims to protect antibiotics used for human health by limiting their use in animals raised for consumption. Antibiotic use in farm animals is a highly contentious issue, as concerns over antibiotic resistance continue to rise.

As winter arrives, farm work slows down and agricultural conferences ramp up. There are many regional conferences working to promote and teach people about sustainable agriculture across the US. There are two prominent ones in the Mid-Atlantic region that are worth highlighting: Cultivate the Chesapeake Foodshed Conference organized by the Future Harvest Chesapeake Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture (CASA) and Farming for the Future put on by the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA).

The USDA announced that farmers transitioning to or striving to maintain organic certification will have more opportunities to utilize the cost share reimbursements that are meant to alleviate the costs of certification. Organic producers can now visit more than 2,100 USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices to apply for federal reimbursements, making the cost share programs much more accessible.

Last week the USDA proposed three rules to protect family farmers and ensure their fair treatment by processors. The rules are a step in President Obama’s executive order released in April this year, “Steps to Increase Competition and Better Inform Consumers and Workers to Support Continued Growth of the American Economy”, meant to enhance competition in order to help consumers, workers, and small businesses get a fair shake in the economy.

The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) voted unanimously last month to exclude the next generation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) from U.S. organic standards. “Traditional” genetic engineering techniques were already excluded from organic standards, however the NOSB will likely continue to update the standards as new technology develops.

As if navigating your way around food labels wasn’t already challenging enough, it may get even more confusing. The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is seeking comment on its newly proposed guidelines for animal raising claims made on food labels. Under the guidelines, certain claims would be allowed to be defined by the producers themselves, and thus would mean something entirely different from package to package.

On October 16th, 1945, 42 countries met in Quebec, Canada, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations was founded. The FAO was built on the belief that the elimination of hunger for all people of the world can be achieved, and a desire to effectively manage the global food system so that it works for everyone. Every year, World Food Day is celebrated on October 16th in order to honor that commitment.

The debate over what is healthy and what is not is a thriving one. Contradicting diet fads and contradicting studies abound. Chances are, through all of the noise, you have developed some sense of what you consider healthy to mean, and if so, the FDA wants to know about it.

There are plenty of things conscious consumers might try to avoid when purchasing food, such as high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, and artificial dyes. Plastic, however, doesn’t typically fall on this list. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what was found in Tyson Foods chicken nuggets.

Despite the fact that many grocery shoppers are opting to purchase meat that was raised without antibiotics, most don’t make the same consideration when dining out, likely due to a lack of transparency from restaurants. However, a new report has documented the 25 largest fast food and fast-casual chains and ranked them according to their antibiotic policies.

Last week, many people found themselves feeling shocked, and perhaps a little betrayed, at the news that in the 1960s the sugar industry paid scientists at Harvard to downplay the role of sugar in heart disease and instead play up the role of saturated fat. While the news is no doubt troubling, one thing it really shouldn’t be is shocking.

Ask the average person whether or not the government should require GMOs to be labeled, and chances are they have some sort of an opinion. Ask the average person what they think about the national GMO labeling law that passed this year, and they’ll probably have no idea what you’re talking about.