5@5: Organic's deforestation loophole? | More government oversight for CAFOs

Does a loophole in organic standards encourage deforestation?

Buying products that use organic palm oil doesn't necessarily guarantee that rainforests weren't obliterated in order to produce the ingredient. And this is just one facet of ecosystem destruction that organic production is currently responsible for according to the National Organic Standards Board; the group is trying to push for legislation that will close the loophole and ensure that no organic farming results in the destruction of native ecosystems. Read more at Civil Eats... 

Two new bills would blunt impact of factory farms on public health and the environment

Two pieces of legislation introduced this month seek to give FDA the authority to investigate CAFOs implicated in foodborne illness outbreaks as well as banning new large CAFOs. The bills were brought to the Senate by New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand and Senator Cory Booker, respectively. Read more at New Food Economy...

Facing a 'food desert,' Oklahoma City wants Dollar Stores to sell fresh food

Zip code 73111 in Oklahoma City is one of the unhealthiest in the nation–largely because residents don't have access to grocery stores and get most of their food from Dollar Tree and Family Dollar. This week the City Council is holding a public hearing that could require new retailers in the area "to designate at least 500 square feet of space to fresh food" in order to address this lack of access. Read more at The Wall Street Journal...

Obesity is linked to food insecurity. SNAP cuts may make both worse

Over 11% of households in the U.S. are food insecure, a status that in most cases leads to poorer mental and physical health. Thus, the Trump administration's most recent rule change, which will likely take away SNAP benefits from almost 700,000 people, . Read more at NPR...

Cultured or cell-based? The struggle to find the right name for lab-grown meat

The deadline is coming for lab-grown meat companies to decide on a unifying term for their product before the first iterations hit shelves in 2020. As one cell-based meat producer states, such companies are aligned on pretty much everything, including mission and infrastructure, but "the nomenclature question just rarely comes up." Read more at Quartz...