Happy Friday, and welcome to Food Fix. If you work in the food space, it’s worth upgrading to also get Tuesday newsletters, which cover more topics and are (I’m told) a must-read. This week, paid subscribers got the scoop on a new food industry coalition aimed at preempting state laws that have proliferated in the MAHA era.
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Book event: If you’re in D.C., on Monday I’ll be interviewing Sam Kass about his new book, “The Last Supper,” at an event hosted by Bold Fork Books. We’ll be discussing food policy, past and present. Get tickets!
Special live taping: On Nov. 11, we’re hosting a special D.C. live taping of Forked, the podcast I co-host with Theodore Ross over at the Food & Environment Reporting Network. Mark your calendars and RSVP! The event is filling up fast, so get your tix ASAP!
As always, I truly welcome your feedback. Send me your thoughts by replying to this email, or drop me a line: helena@foodfix.co.
Alright, let’s get to it –
Helena
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The shutdown debacle enters its SNAP era — and it’s about to get ugly
When I wrote last week about how Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits were at risk for more than 41 million people, I hoped that Washington would figure this all out before the worst came to pass.
Not funding November SNAP benefits would be a disaster, not just for the millions of low-income households that rely on this to feed their families, but also for grocery retailers that will face countless distraught shoppers and, frankly, less business.
A lot of folks don’t appreciate the scale of SNAP: We’re talking about 1 in 8 American households and something like 12 percent of all grocery sales in the U.S.
We are 24 days into this government shutdown with plenty of consequences, including so many people working without pay, but we’ve seen nothing compared to what’s coming if the feds miss next month’s SNAP benefits — and at this point, it looks like they’re going to.
The U.S. government has never defaulted on SNAP benefits, so we actually don’t know what will happen. There’s plenty of alarm on social media — some people are panicking about grocery costs, others are organizing mutual aid efforts, while some are wondering if there will be social unrest. It certainly doesn’t help that it’s just a couple weeks before Thanksgiving and the beginning of the holiday season for many.
Political games: None of my sources know how this is going to go. It’s like watching the worst game of chicken ever, and it’s not clear Democrats or Republicans really realize just how much is at stake. It’s possible that this pressure helps end the shutdown next week — as more lawmakers come to terms with the disaster that’s about to unfold — or maybe Congress steps in to just fund SNAP (Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) just introduced a bill to do that).
Maybe the Trump administration blinks and patches the money together at the last minute. They did as much for WIC when it came down to it (though as I’ve previously noted, that’s a much smaller program). Anti-hunger advocates have urged USDA to use its contingency fund (which some estimate at $6 billion or so) to at least partially fund SNAP benefits for November (the price tag for which exceeds $8 billion), or pull more funds from other pots, but so far we’ve seen nothing from USDA to indicate that this will happen.
Just do it: House Democrats today sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins “demanding” that she utilize the congressionally-authorized SNAP contingency fund — which they suggest is $5 billion — to pay out benefits for November.
The letter, led by Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.), ranking member of the House Agriculture’s nutrition panel, and Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee, was signed by nearly every member of the House Democratic Caucus.
“USDA still has significant funding available in SNAP’s contingency reserve – which Congress provides precisely for this reason – that can be used to fund the bulk of November benefits… Additionally, while the contingency reserve will not cover November benefits in full, we urge USDA to use its statutory transfer authority or any other legal authority at its disposal to supplement these dollars and fully fund November benefits.”
“There are clear steps the administration can and must take immediately to ensure that millions of families across the country can put food on their table in November,” the letter concludes. “Choosing not to ensure SNAP benefits reach those in need this November would be a gross dereliction of your responsibilities to the American people.” (By the way, I think there could be litigation on all of this soon — stay tuned.)
Danger zone: States are already delaying their processes for getting benefits out to EBT cards, which is what beneficiaries use in stores. That means we are already in the danger zone, where the absolute best case scenario here is that benefits will be delayed in some states. In California, for example, the state needs several days to accurately process and load roughly $1 billion in benefits for more than 3 million households participating in CalFresh (the state’s name for the program). For most states, that process is on hold while everyone awaits guidance from USDA.
State and local officials are scrambling to figure out what to do — some aren’t even really communicating with beneficiaries because they don’t want to spark panic.
In Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin declared a state of emergency to provide funding for SNAP in the state. “The Democrat Shutdown will cause SNAP benefits to run out for over 850,000 Virginians in need starting November 1, 2025,” Youngkin said in a statement. “I refuse to let hungry Virginians be used as ‘leverage’ by Congressional Democrats. I am declaring a State of Emergency due to the Democrat Shutdown to protect hungry Virginians in need.”
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, meanwhile, asked the state legislature for up to $10 million to help food banks, which are expected to be flooded with need if this all comes to pass.
Per Colorado Newsline: “Money for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program typically goes out on the first of the month, but it is almost certain that the government shutdown will prevent the November benefits from going out on time. That means the 600,000 Coloradans who rely on the program will not receive money to purchase food from grocery stores. About $120 million in SNAP benefits are distributed to low-income households each month in Colorado.”
“We have a role to play to fill the gap created by the closure of the federal government,” Polis told reporters during a Wednesday press conference.
Fact check: There was a rumor going around that USDA might shut off all EBT cards from working at retailers in November, which would mean any remaining balances wouldn’t work going forward, but this is not true. That’s a relief for many, certainly, but it’s important to remember that the vast majority of SNAP benefits are spent within three weeks of being issued. Most households are not carrying a balance going into November — they are expecting their cards to be replenished. And as of right now, there’s no guarantee that will happen.
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What I’m reading
84 organizations tell U.S. senators — do not preempt states’ rights to regulate food chemicals (Open letter). “Our organizations strongly oppose efforts to limit the power of states to help ensure the safety of food and food contact chemicals. For many decades, the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, has failed to address the safety of food and food contact chemicals,” reads an open letter to lawmakers signed by dozens of groups, including Environmental Working Group and Center for Food Safety. “In response, states have led efforts to address the risks posed by food and food contact chemicals by enacting laws in five states and considering laws in more than 20 states. We understand that Congress may consider food safety legislation. As you do so, we urge you to reject efforts to limit the power of states to protect consumers. While we remain hopeful that FDA will fulfill their food safety responsibilities, we urge you to reject efforts to undermine the important supplementary role played by states.”
Trump’s Argentina beef deal angers America’s struggling farmers: ‘You’re selling us out’ (CNN). “President Donald Trump said this week he ‘loved’ America’s cattle ranchers. But those farmers, who overwhelmingly supported the president in the 2024 election, say they aren’t feeling the love right now,” writes Samantha Delouya. “Trump is facing criticism from many US cattle ranchers after signaling support for increasing low-tariff beef imports from Argentina to ease record beef prices in the United States. The move comes just weeks after US soybean farmers blasted a separate deal with Argentina that they fear will give South American producers a competitive edge in that market. Christian Lovell, an Illinois cattle farmer and the senior director of programs at Farm Action, a nonpartisan farm organization, said: ‘If Trump goes through with what he outlined, I do believe it’s a betrayal of the American rancher. It’s a feeling that you’re selling us out to a foreign competitor.’”
Nearly 1 in 5 urinary tract infections linked to contaminated meat, study finds (CBS News). “Nearly one in five urinary tract infections in a group of patients in Southern California were linked to E. coli from contaminated meat, a four-year study found. And researchers say the problem could be occurring across the United States,” Sara Moniuszko reports. “The researchers found 18% of the more than 2,300 urinary tract infections, or UTIs, in the study — published in the mBio journal on Thursday — were linked to E. coli strains found in meat samples from grocery stores in the same area. The meats most commonly found to test positive for E. coli were turkey and chicken, followed by pork and beef, the study found. ‘Urinary tract infections have long been considered a personal health issue, but our findings suggest that they are also a food safety problem,’ Lance B. Price, senior study author and professor at the George Washington University, said in a news release.”
Bird flu is back (New York Times). “Bird flu is back. After a quiet summer, the virus has hit dozens of poultry flocks, resulting in the deaths of nearly seven million farmed birds in the United States since the beginning of September,” write Emily Anthes and Apoorva Mandavilli. “Among them: about 1.3 million turkeys, putting pressure on the nation’s turkey supply in the run-up to Thanksgiving. Reports of infected wild birds have also surged this fall, and three states — Idaho, Nebraska and Texas — have identified outbreaks in dairy cows. The virus often flares up in the fall as wild birds begin migrating south; this year, the uptick is occurring during a government shutdown, as federal agencies that are typically involved in the response are working with skeletal staff. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which tracks human cases, and the Department of Agriculture, which monitors animal outbreaks, have both suspended routine communication with states, leaving many officials without up-to-date guidance on how to detect and contain the disease, or a clear national picture of the surge.”
How China weaponized soybeans to squeeze U.S. farmers – and spite Trump (Washington Post). “In retaliation for President Donald Trump’s tariffs, Beijing has cut off Midwestern farmers from their largest and most lucrative overseas customer: China accounted for half – or $12.6 billion – of U.S. soybean exports last year,” Christian Shepherd and Lyric Li report. “For Beijing, halting U.S. soybean imports has been an easy and relatively cost-free way to pile pressure on Trump ahead of a planned meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month. But while American farmers lobby Trump to get them back into China, there isn’t similar pressure within China for the government to allow purchases from U.S. suppliers. On Tuesday, Trump took to social media to call China’s decision to not buy U.S. soybeans ‘an Economically Hostile Act’ and said the U.S. was considering ‘terminating’ buying cooking oil from China as retribution. But Beijing has shrugged off Trump’s threats. Analysts say it is ready to extend the purchasing freeze for the rest of the year.”
Peanut allergies have plummeted in children, study shows (New York Times). “Food allergies in children dropped sharply in the years after new guidelines encouraged parents to introduce infants to peanut products, a study has found,” per Simar Bajaj. “For decades, as food allergy rates climbed, experts recommended that parents avoid exposing their infants to common allergens. But a landmark trial in 2015 found that feeding peanut products to babies could cut their chances of developing an allergy by over 80 percent. In 2017, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases formally recommended the early-introduction approach and issued national guidelines. The new study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, found that food allergy rates in children under 3 fell after those guidelines were put into place — dropping to 0.93 percent between 2017 and 2020, from 1.46 percent between 2012 and 2015. That’s a 36 percent reduction in all food allergies, driven largely by a 43 percent drop in peanut allergies.”
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