Biden pick for USDA throws Tom Vilsack back into food-policy fight [Wall Street Journal]
… The USDA’s dual role—overseeing food aid for Americans and regulating food production—is at the heart of a renewed debate over the agency’s focus, as Covid-19’s economic toll has deepened food insecurity in the U.S. while compounding challenges for farmers. … Mr. Vilsack’s selection drew both praise and criticism from agriculture and food-security groups, signaling the battles ahead for the agency as it guides farmers and consumers out of the pandemic. … Mr. Biden faced pressure from some consumer groups to pick someone with a focus on food aid after the pandemic sent U.S. unemployment to its highest level since World War II and families converged on food banks around the country.
California Farm Bureau welcomes President-elect Biden’s AG secretary nomination [KSBW TV, Monterey-Salinas]
The California Farm Bureau announced their support for President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for the next U.S. secretary of agriculture. On Friday, Biden announced that Tom Vilsack would be his nomination for AG secretary when he was sworn in in January. … “Given all the stresses placed on the food and agricultural system by the pandemic in particular, it will be good to have an experienced person resume administration of the Agriculture Department,” California Farm Bureau President Jamie Johansson said in a release to the press.
https://www.ksbw.com/article/california-farm-bureau-biden-ag-secretary-vilsack/34946820#
New coronavirus outbreaks reported at Foster Farms poultry processing plants [Los Angeles Times]
Foster Farms, one of the West Coast’s largest producers of poultry, is facing scrutiny for new clusters of coronavirus infections at its facilities in California’s Central Valley, which follow a deadly, months-long outbreak this year. California-based Foster Farms reported that at least 193 people at its Cherry Avenue plant in Fresno tested positive for the coronavirus over a recent two-week period, along with 12 people at another Fresno plant. … The disclosures come after a long-lasting coronavirus outbreak at the Livingston facility over the summer left nine workers dead.
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-12-12/covid-19-outbreak-foster-farms-poultry-plants
Endangered-species decision expected on beloved butterfly [Associated Press]
Trump administration officials are expected to say this week whether the monarch butterfly, a colorful and familiar backyard visitor now caught in a global extinction crisis, should receive federal designation as a threatened species. Stepped-up use of farm herbicides, climate change and destruction of milkweed plants on which they depend have caused a massive decline of the orange-and-black butterflies, which long have flitted over meadows, gardens and wetlands across the U.S. … Under a court agreement, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must respond by Tuesday to a 2014 petition from conservation groups on behalf of the monarch.
Fruit breeders plant seeds of global success [Bakersfield Californian]
… Two local operations whose intellectual property accounts for varieties covering tens of thousands of acres have recently poured money into new, state-of-the-art research facilities in Wasco and McFarland. One recently opened and the other is under development. The physical expansions at Sun World and International Fruit Genetics are another positive sign for a local food-innovations industry that, since being spawned by local growers such as carrot giant Bolthouse Farms, has grown to employ dozens of highly educated specialists.
Editorial: Biden election offers hope for preserving the Delta [Bay Area News Group]
… The first step for the Biden administration should be a thorough house-cleaning of Trump administration officials who put politics before science. … The Biden administration should instead follow Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ lead on California water issues. As a senator, Harris took the position that any funding for water projects should also provide environmental benefits. … The Bay Area’s political leaders should support the Biden administration’s infrastructure efforts and put a premium on projects that increase water supply and also improve the environment.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/12/12/editorial-water-5/
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