The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on Monday it will make $12 billion available in one-time bridge payments to American farmers in response to temporary trade market disruptions and increased production costs. The package includes $11 billion in one-time payments to crop farmers through a new USDA bridge payment program and the remaining $1 billion will then go to specialty crops not covered by that program. It does not include livestock and poultry.
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A coalition of major food and beverage trade groups filed a lawsuit Friday seeking to halt a new Texas law that would require warning labels on products containing certain synthetic food additives. The American Beverage Association, Consumer Brands Association, National Confectioners Association, and FMI – The Food Industry Association – jointly lodged the suit, calling the proposed labels “false and misleading,” according to Reuters.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Tuesday announced a new Regenerative Agriculture Initiative that leverages existing programs, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), to advance regenerative practices. USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins made the announcement alongside U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz. She said the $700 million Regenerative Pilot Program would help American farmers adopt practices that improve soil health, enhance water quality, and boost long-term productivity, all while strengthening America’s food and fiber supply.
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The holidays bring large increases in food spending for both food at home and food away from home. Consumers’ decisions during this season can have important implications for food manufacturers. Seven in 10 consumers expect food prices to affect their holiday meal plans, according to a new survey. Of those, one in four say they will buy fewer items of less variety and serve less food overall. Some 24.5% of consumers say they will serve less meat. Altogether, 69% of those surveyed as part of the quarterly Gardner Food and Agricultural Policy Survey, conducted in November, said they expected prices to affect their meal plans, up from 61.1% in 2022 and 67.9% in 2023.
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San Francisco’s city attorney is suing major food manufacturers seeking a halt to “deceptive marketing” of “ultraprocessed foods.” The suit, filed in state court, also asks for an order requiring the companies to provide restitution and pay civil penalties “to help local governments offset astronomical health care costs associated with ultra-processed food consumption.”
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Key extended producer responsibility (EPR) deadlines are approaching in Washington. The state’s EPR law, the Recycling Reform Act, requires producers to appoint a Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) by January 1, 2026; and requires the PRO to register with the Washington Department of Ecology on behalf of its producers by March 1, 2026. Circular Action Alliance (CAA) has requested producers in Washington to register with CAA by December 15, 2025, to appoint it as their PRO. More information on registration can be found on CAA’s website, here. To help companies determine their EPR obligations, CAA has released guidance on covered producers and materials in Washington, available here.
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Republican Matt Van Epps held off Democrat Aftyn Behn in Tuesday’s hotly contested special election for Tennessee’s 7th District House seat. Van Epps — a former Army helicopter pilot endorsed by President Trump — led Behn by 8.9 percentage points, well below the 22-point margin by which Trump carried the district in last year’s presidential election.
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