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
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
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
Corn is ubiquitous. Americans eat a lot of corn products. There’s the obvious…corn tortillas, corn flakes and corn chips just to name a few. Beyond that the manufactured food industry uses processed corn in a majority of foods served to the public. Sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup. Thickeners like corn starch. Additives like dextrose, […]| Investigate Midwest
Over 500,000 immigrants lost work authorization, causing labor shortages and a projected 14.5% rise in food prices by 2028.| Investigate Midwest