Happy Friday, and welcome to Food Fix. I finally got around to sorting through all the creative advice you sent me for making daily meals a little bit easier, especially for those who have kids or care for older parents. Here are some themes/tips that stood out to me:
–Have a snack section in your kitchen, or even in the fridge, stocked with quick, filling options that kids or other grazers can grab themselves.
–Use Chat GPT or other generative AI tools to create recipes based on what you have on hand – it works well when you don’t have time to run to the store.
–Don’t be afraid to use that freezer: learn to cook with frozen fruits & veg. Batch cook and freeze leftovers so you always have something that can be reheated in a pinch.
–Experiment with apps that can cut some of the labor of meal planning: Paprika (as one example) automatically generates a grocery list based on the recipes you want to make.
–Let someone else make decisions for you! Several of you recommended What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking, a Substack that gives you one recipe a week and sometimes makes full meal plans and grocery lists.
As always, I welcome your feedback – and tips for feeding humans. Reply to this email to land in my inbox, or drop me a line: helena@foodfix.co.
Alright, let’s get to it –
Helena
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Democrats see climate-smart agriculture as a winning issue
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack appeared in Hershey, Pa. on Thursday to tout the Biden administration’s investments in climate-smart agriculture – an effort to shift the American food system to be part of the solution to climate change.
“Future natural disasters, including droughts and floods and extreme weather will continue to be stronger and more devastating as a result of climate change,” Vilsack said at the event, where he appeared alongside Russell Redding, Pennsylvania’s agriculture secretary. “But I believe, and we at USDA believe, there is hope, as farmers and forested land owners become part of the solution to these challenges by adapting practices that will help us mitigate the impact of climate and to adapt to that changing climate.”
Climate-smart 101: For anyone who might be new to this concept, the goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and/or increase carbon sequestration through various agricultural practices — though there’s been plenty of criticism that these practices don’t always deliver.
Election countdown: Vilsack was speaking at an official USDA event, and there was no mention of Vice President Kamala Harris, nor of the campaign – there are strict rules about keeping elections and official government business separate – and it made sense to hold the event in Pennsylvania, where USDA’s climate-smart program first launched. Still, the fact that a climate-smart agriculture event was held just weeks before the presidential election in one of the most, if not the most, crucial swing states signaled to me just how much the politics around climate change in agriculture have shifted in recent years. Not long ago, this was a taboo topic in rural America — it was something agriculture groups didn’t want to talk about, but things have changed. And Democrats now see this as a winning issue.
The USDA event came just days after the Harris-Walz campaign rolled out a rural policy plan on the other side of the state, in Lawrence County, as part of a broader bid to fight for votes in rural counties that have in recent years voted overwhelmingly for former President Donald Trump. As I noted earlier this week, the goal for Democrats is not to win in these deep red counties, but to just lose by slightly less.
The plan Gov. Tim Walz unveiled in Western Pa. this week also touted climate-smart agriculture – along with a suite of other issues, including a major focus on health care – and it was one of the first policies he brought up as he spoke at a farm, flanked by hay bales.
“We need to be ready for this,” Walz said, noting that Harris had helped secure $20 billion to help family farmers promote sustainable agriculture and “increase resilience against extreme weather” – a nod to the Inflation Reduction Act, which directed billions of dollars to USDA to incentivize more climate-friendly practices.
“We move from drought to flooding within years now,” Walz said. “They keep telling us about thousand year floods — many of us have seen thousand year floods in our lifetimes now.”
The Inflation Reduction Act funding has become a major sticking point in farm bill talks on Capitol Hill in part because Republicans don’t think that money should be earmarked for climate-focused spending, but when you leave Washington, this issue doesn’t really seem polarizing. Farmers, agriculture groups, food companies, and NGOs are now getting real money – more than $3 billion – to work on climate-smart pilot projects. Vilsack said Thursday that there are already more than 40 climate-smart commodities now on the market as a result of USDA’s program, including rice, beer, dairy, beef, vegetables, and cotton. Last month, USDA also announced that in fiscal year 2025 there will be $7.7 billion available to ramp up on-farm conservation efforts, including up to $5.7 billion specifically for climate-smart practices thanks to IRA funding. The conservation programs we currently have are oversubscribed, which means there are more farmers who want to participate than there is money to go around.
“Reality is, only one in five projects are getting funded, so we need to get more money out the door to support real climate action happening in our rural towns,” said Jane Kleeb, chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party and a longtime advocate for Democrats focusing on rural issues. “Every farmer and rancher I know has individually done everything they can to deploy climate-smart ag. The biggest obstacle is funding.”
Message vacuum: The recent $7.7 billion climate-smart announcement barely made news – to be fair, USDA is seemingly always announcing money for all the things, so it’s hard to suss out what’s newsworthy; also, rural newsrooms have been gutted. But that’s a substantial amount of new money flowing. It’s more than double what’s been available for conservation in the past. I noticed this week that the Harris campaign has started putting out messages on climate-smart agriculture investments, in particular. I saw someone posting about this on X, so I asked where the images came from. Turns out they are from the campaign’s Reach app, which helps volunteers and other supporters share content on social media.
The Reach app has new state-by-state breakdowns showing how the Biden-Harris administration has invested in climate-smart agriculture in key states.
Here’s one that zooms out to the whole country:
MAHA rolls on: While we’re talking about the campaign, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to insert chronic disease and food issues into the election landscape using the tagline “Make America Healthy Again.” The Associated Press this week noted that RFK Jr. has been saying he’ll have “significant influence on American agriculture policy if Donald Trump is elected president, the latest in a series of roles he has envisioned for himself in a second Trump administration.”
“The Trump campaign has said in a statement that formal discussions of who would serve in a second Trump administration are ‘premature,’” per that report. “But the former president himself has said at recent rallies that RFK Jr. is someone who could help his administration if he wins. The prospect of Kennedy influencing a wide array of federal policy has raised alarm bells among advocates of sound science.”
A new story from the Washington Post this morning digs into the Trump-RFK Jr. alliance and what this could all mean. I was quoted in WaPo’s newsletter about how this signals a real political realignment.
The Wall Street Journal also has a story on MAHA this morning, which quotes Joe Grogan, a White House health official during the Trump administration, who has “remained close to the former president’s circles.”
“It’s not a marketing thing. Trump has bought into it,” Grogan said. “It’s right in his sweet spot for what he likes.”
Mark your calendar: Former President Trump will appear at a virtual Make America Healthy Again rally next week, Oct. 22, alongside RFK Jr. and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. This is a pared-down version of the event that was scheduled for last week but was canceled last minute due to Hurricane Milton. If you tune in, send me your thoughts: helena@foodfix.co.
Regenerative sidenote: Interestingly, part of the MAHA platform includes supporting regenerative agriculture, which has a lot of overlap with climate-smart agriculture – soil health, cover crops and cutting back tillage, etc. – though both can be somewhat ill-defined. It’s really interesting to see left and right convergence on some of this stuff. While so many issues are becoming more politically polarized, I really wonder if some of the climate-smart/regenerative agriculture ideas are becoming entrenched enough on both sides of the political spectrum that we’ll see more of this regardless of who wins the election.
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What I’m reading
Is it time to freak out about bird flu? (STAT). “If you are more familiar with the history of this form of bird flu, you might be getting anxious,” writes Helen Branswell. “Ongoing transmission in cattle means that every day in this country, a virus that is genetically suited to infecting wild birds is being given the opportunity to morph into one that can easily infect mammals. So is this freak-out time? The answer, I’m afraid, is not comforting. Science currently has no way of knowing all the changes H5N1 would need to undergo to trigger a pandemic, or whether it is capable of making that leap.”
Veteran vaccine developer says U.S. response to bird flu outbreak in cattle is ‘frustrating’ (STAT). “Barney Graham, who for decades helped lead U.S. vaccine development efforts, said Wednesday that the lack of cooperation among U.S. agencies is hindering the country’s response to the H5N1 bird flu outbreak among dairy cattle,” writes Andrew Joseph. “He suggested the problems with the U.S. response raise concerns about any global effort that would be needed should the virus evolve to spread more efficiently among people — an outcome that could set off a pandemic.”
Cleaning Institute chief jumps to CBA (Politico). “The Consumer Brands Association has hired Melissa Hockstad — currently president and CEO of the American Cleaning Institute — to be the next head of the trade group,” writes Caitlin Oprysko. “Hockstad has been with the American Cleaning Institute for almost eight years, and before that she was an executive with the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers and Plastics Industry Association. She’ll be the third new leader for the Consumer Brands Association in two years, after former chief Geoff Freeman decamped for the U.S. Travel Association in 2022 and David Chavern departed in August to lead the American Council of Life Insurers.”
Water crises threaten the world’s ability to eat, studies show (New York Times). “The world’s food supply is under threat because so much of what we eat is concentrated in so few countries, and many of those countries are increasingly facing a water shortage,” writes Somini Sengupta. “That’s the conclusion of three independent studies published this week. All three recommend urgent course corrections. Those include plugging leaks, reducing food waste, restoring wetlands and setting corporate targets on sustainable water use.”
GLP-1 is going the way of gut health (The Atlantic). “The new blockbuster obesity drugs, made famous by Ozempic, are collectively known as GLP-1 agonists, for the hormone they mimic in the body: glucagon-like peptide 1. Now, of course, the wellness industry is trying to get in on the GLP-1 craze. Supplements that are labeled with the term are everywhere, ” writes Yasmin Tayag. “These GLP-1 supplements are marketed as an alternative to obesity drugs—even though they have little in common with the drugs. To the wellness industry, GLP-1’s actual significance doesn’t seem to matter nearly as much as its association with thinness. Stripped of all meaning, GLP-1 can be used to sell just about anything.”
Will Congress force this controversial alcohol study to stop? (San Francisco Chronicle). “Members of Congress are calling for a suspension of a controversial committee that could recommend that Americans reduce their alcohol consumption,” reports Esther Mobley. “For months, alcohol industry voices have expressed concerns that scientists on this committee — part of the review process for the upcoming revision of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines — have demonstrated biases against alcohol, which they say could render any recommendations they make untrustworthy.”
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