Each week, Food Tank is rounding up a few news stories that inspire excitement, infuriation, or curiosity.
Frank Bruni’s Advice for College Graduates
In a recent op-ed, New York Times columnist and professor Frank Bruni reflects on what to say to students graduating into an uncertain America. He describes a teary student asking, “Where do you find hope?” amid government rollbacks, disregard for human dignity, and the glorification of autocrats.
But Bruni argues that this unpredictability is also a source of possibility. “We have by no means reached a point of helplessness,” he writes, “but we will most certainly get there if we declare defeat too soon. Hope isn’t an option. It’s an obligation.”
U.S. Pushes Anti-Trans, Anti-DEI, Anti-Climate Agenda on FAO
In its statement delivered at last week’s 177th Council of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the U.S. called for a “back to basics” approach. The U.S. affirmed its support for protecting and empowering women and girls but requested that the FAO use clear language that recognizes that women are biologically female and men are biologically male.
The U.S. urged the FAO to ensure its work does not include diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programming, explaining that DEI policies “diminish the importance of individual merit, aptitude, hard work, and determination when selecting people for jobs and services.” It also opposed the FAO’s “unnecessary and distracting” focus on climate and announced it would no longer affirm the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development or the Sustainable Development Goals.
USAID Changes Course, Restores Some Aid
The Trump-Vance Administration reversed some of its planned emergency food aid cuts after international outcry, including from the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP), which called the cuts a possible “death sentence” for millions.
The Associated Press reports that the additional cuts were intended for more than a dozen countries including Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Ecuador and Somalia. Programs in Yemen and Afghanistan remain suspended. The administration cited concerns that aid might benefit groups like the Houthis and the Taliban. AP reports that the cuts would terminate food assistance to 2 million people—including 650,000 malnourished children, mothers, and pregnant women—in Afghanistan and 2.4 million people in Yemen.
Farmer Mental Health
Farmers are 3.5 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population, according to the National Rural Health Association. A CDC study finds that male farmers and ranchers have a suicide rate over 50 percent higher than the average for men in other jobs. And research suggests that farmers have an increased risk of heart disease, caused in part by chronic job-related stress. At Food Tank’s All Things Food Summit last month, Michelle Hughes of the National Young Farmers Coalition shared that three farmers in their network recently died by suicide.
A recent story in The Guardian highlights a new model to address the mental health crisis among farmers, developed by social worker Kaila Anderson. Currently being piloted in several states including Kansas and Colorado, LandLogic helps healthcare providers adapt therapy to reflect the realities of agricultural life by grounding treatment in farmers’ relationships with their land. Anderson describes LandLogic as “a cultural adaptation of cognitive behavioral therapy [one of the most common forms of psychotherapy] designed for the agricultural community.” Virtual training sessions are now available nationwide.
Egg Prices and the Cal-Organic Investigation
The Associated Press reports that retail egg prices in the U.S. hit a record-high average of $6.23 per dozen last month, even as wholesale prices dropped. Experts attribute price spikes seen in January and February to the avian flu outbreak—30 million egg-laying chickens were slaughtered during those two months to prevent the spread of the virus. But in March, only 2.1 million birds were slaughtered, and none on egg farms, raising questions about whether the price increase is still related to avian flu.
Meanwhile, Cal-Maine Foods—one of the nation’s largest egg producers—is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for potential price-fixing. The Guardian reports that the company’s profits more than tripled compared to the same quarter last year.
It’s not the first time that major egg producers have faced scrutiny for using avian flu as cover for unfair pricing. In 2023, following another spike in avian flu (and egg prices), the organization Farm Action released an open letter alleging that the dominant egg producers in the U.S. were using the virus as an excuse to engage in price gouging, price coordination, and other unfair actions.
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Photo courtesy of Martin Adams, Unsplash
