The Trump administration’s goal to expel millions of immigrants laboring in the food system will likely increase the foreign workforce in the U.S., experts said Thursday. The administration has said it wants U.S.-born workers to replace the immigrants who harvest fruits and vegetables and cut and package protein. But the more likely outcome is that […] The post ‘We want workers but we don’t want people’: Trump’s immigration raids will likely increase foreign workers in US, experts...| Investigate Midwest
Rural Illinois is shrinking. Over the past decade, all of Illinois’ 21 farm-dependent counties – places where farming makes up a large share of jobs and income – have lost population. Meanwhile, the state’s rural areas tied to meatpacking and food manufacturing have seen immigration slow population losses and, in some cases, keep local economies afloat. […] The post Rural Illinois’ food economy depends on immigrants appeared first on Investigate Midwest.| Investigate Midwest
In Vicksburg, Mississippi, the south end of town near the municipal airport has no grocery stores, no food pantries. Mired in a federally recognized food desert, nearby families struggled to obtain healthy food. Then, in 2019, in a once-empty lot, a community garden sprouted. Families could pick their own blueberries, peas and okra. The nonprofit […] The post USDA’s DEI Purge: How Trump and Rollins are reshaping American agriculture appeared first on Investigate Midwest.| Investigate Midwest
Less than two months ago, the Environmental Protection Agency announced its intent to unconditionally register three new dicamba-based pesticides for over-the-top usage on soybean and cotton crops. To say EPA has a checkered history in trying to get dicamba registered is an understatement. The federal courts have twice revoked EPA approval of dicamba. In 2020, […]| Investigate Midwest
After decades of discriminating against Black farmers and ignoring their complaints, the USDA is promising to do better. Again.| Mother Jones
U.S. farmers are likely staring down another year in the red, faced with a familiar cycle: rising costs and weakening markets. After years of strong grain prices between 2021 and 2023, growing corn and soybeans is no longer profitable — a trend likely to continue and one that farm groups warn could spark a financial […]| Investigate Midwest
This story is supported by funding from the Chicago Region Food Systems Fund. Esta historia también está disponible en español aquí. In Beardstown, Illinois, the Cuban couple had spent the past year building a life they were proud of. Their arrival in the U.S. had followed a long and uncertain path: a northbound journey through […]| Investigate Midwest
Esta nota cuenta con el apoyo del Chicago Region Food Systems Fund. Read the story in English here. En Beardstown, Illinois, la pareja cubana había pasado el último año construyendo una vida de la que se sentían orgullosos. Llegaron a Estados Unidos después de un camino largo e incierto: un viaje rumbo al norte a […]| Investigate Midwest
After the Civil War, the U.S. government promised 40 acres, either from abandoned plantations or unused land, to formerly enslaved Black people. But then President Andrew Johnson intervened. He pardoned Confederates, returning their land. It became a common theme. In the following decades, some Black farmers gained land through deals with white landowners: After being […]| Investigate Midwest
You might recall in the wake of Donald Trump’s first inauguration how POTUS, angry about discussion over the size of his swearing-in crowd, trotted out press secretary Sean Spicer to set the record straight. Spicer dressed down the media, saying it was engaging “in deliberately false reporting,” and the facts indicated that “this was the […]| Investigate Midwest
What happens when immigration enforcement targets the very workers who help keep it alive? The conversation comes as Investigate Midwest launches a new grant-funded reporting series exploring how Trump-era immigration raids, stepped-up ICE enforcement, and delayed federal reform have reshaped the agricultural workforce — and the lives of noncitizen workers behind it.| Investigate Midwest
Iowa and Minnesota farmers are investing in new oat mill and pushing Quaker and General Mills to check out their product.| Investigate Midwest
The tariff wars waged by President Trump’s two administrations have reshaped U.S. agricultural trade with China. The first trade war, in 2018 and 2019, opened the door for South American countries to gain market share in soybean and corn sales to China. Unlike the first, this second trade war is global in scope. Its full […]| Investigate Midwest