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WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it is providing $600 million in funding to produce new at-home COVID-19 tests and is restarting a website allowing Americans to again order up to four free tests per household — aiming to prevent possible shortages during a rise in coronavirus cases that has typically come during colder months. The Department of Health and Human Services says orders can be placed at COVIDTests.gov starting Sept. 25, and that no-cost tests will be delivered for free by the United States Postal Service.

Plastic produce bags will soon be a thing of the past for California grocery shoppers. The state will effectively ban plastic produce bags from supermarkets after a new bill, SB 1046, was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on Sept. 30 Alternatively, stores must replace the bags with either paper bags or compostable bags, according to the bill. California will be the first state in the nation to outlaw the produce bags after banning single-use checkout bags from supermarkets, pharmacies and convenience stores back in 2016. The ban will take effect starting January 1, 2025.

TheHill.com BUSINESS & LOBBYING Abbott border inspections threaten fresh produce supply in US BY KARL EVERS-HILLSTROM - 04/15/22 5:18 PM ET SHARE TWEET ... MORE Getty Images Semi-trucks wait for inspection before crossing the border at the Zaragoza International Bridge, in Juarez, Mexico, across the border from El Paso, Texas on May 31, 2019. – President Donald Trump escalated his abrupt tariff threats against Mexico, triggering alarm about the likely economic fallout, spooking global markets and raising the prospect of US trade wars on multiple fronts. Trump unexpectedly announced his readiness to levy tariffs on all Mexican imports, beginning at...

More than a hundred million dollars worth of Mexican produce is stuck at the U.S.-Mexico border due to a trucker blockade on the Mexican side over Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s new border search policy, according to Bloomberg. The disruption could leave some US supermarkets without produce ahead of Easter weekend. Abbott’s controversial truck-inspection program ignited discontent with Mexican truckers who shut down the Reynosa International Bridge, one of the busiest trade crossings in the Rio Grande Valley and handles a large volume of fresh produce, four days ago. The Washington Examiner reports the bridge was forced to reopen Thursday after...

ew vaccine mandates for truck drivers are likely to increase the cost of produce. The cost of transporting fruit from California and Arizona to Canada climbed 25% last week, the CEO of Canadawide Fruits, George Pitsikoulis, told Bloomberg on Monday. The Montreal-based executive pointed to a lack of truck drivers who are able to cross the border between the US and Canada due to a vaccine mandate that cuts US trucking capacity in half, according to data from the American Trucking Association. The group estimates that only about 50% to 60% of US truck drivers have been fully vaccinated. Stephen...

As Turkey touts its humanitarian aid deliveries to Syria's Idlib, critics weigh the six truckloads of supplies against its thousands of tons of allegedly looted Syrian grain. Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported that on Monday, two Turkish charities had sent six trucks carrying humanitarian aid to the rebel-held province of Idlib in northwest Syria. “Truckloads of supplies including flour, clothing and dry food [donated] by the Adana Dosteller and Eskisehir Gunisigi charities entered Idlib through the Yayladagi border crossing in Turkey’s southern Hatay province. The aid will be distributed among families living in tents in Idlib,” Anadolu reported. Turkey’s...

CHICAGO (WLS) -- You may have heard stories of farmers having to dump milk in Wisconsin or plow under potatoes in Idaho. Since there are no farmer's markets in operation, and most restaurants have severely cut back on their regular orders, a lot of farmers in the area have been pivoting, working with companies that have existing distribution channels. ABC7's Hungry Hound talked to a couple of them this week, to see how they're helping downstate farms stay in business. **SNIP** That's why he's turning to people like Jon Schiff, the CEO of Real Good Stuff Company, which focused on...

Police in Illinois are looking for two men who caused nearly $10,000 in damage after they entered a Walmart with a “Caution I have the Coronavirus” sign and started spraying a mystery substance. Joliet Police were called to the store off Route 59 just after 4 p.m. Tuesday. One of the two men is seen on surveillance video spraying the substance on produce, clothing, and health and beauty products, according to a press release.

Bizarre footage shows a woman laying horizontaly on produce in a Kroger supermarket in Stone Mountain, GeorgiaShe's seen rubbing the lettuce on her legs and neckWhen approached by Loss Prevention, she started screaming 'rape and abuse' The officer in the video appears dumbfounded by the situation   Make sure to triple wash your greens after buying them from your local grocery store.  Bizarre footage from a Kroger supermarket in Stone Mountain, Georgia, shows a woman laying horizontally on top of fresh produce and appears to be 'bathing' it in.The unidentified woman takes the lettuce and rubs it on her legs and...

The strain of E. coli causing the current outbreak in romaine lettuce has been found in a reservoir on a farm in Santa Barbara County, California, the US Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday... Water and sediment at the irrigation reservoir on the property of Adam Bros. Family Farms in Santa Maria tested positive for E. coli O157:H7 that was a nearly identical genetic match to the strain found in people who have fallen ill, Williams said. But the contaminated water at that farm does not fully explain all of the illnesses,...

CHARLESTON, SC The brown liquid a man sprayed onto to some of the produce in a Charleston grocery store has been determined to be feces. Pau S. Hang, 41, is accused of spraying a brown liquid from a spray bottle on produce at a Charleston Harris Teeter on Oct. 15. The brown liquid has tested positive for components of fecal matter, according to the Charleston Police Department. Hang was originally charged with damage to personal property. An additional charge of tampering with human drug product or food item has been filed against Hang, according to public information officer Charles Francis....

McALLEN — Amid a time of uncertainty for business along the border, Scantech Sciences is doubling down with a new technology it predicts will revolutionize food safety practices. Scantech, a developer, manufacturer and operator of food treatment systems and facilities, already has a building in the Sharyland Business Park in McAllen. But the Atlanta-based company has not had an electronic cold-pasteurization food treatment center before. Scantech began construction Thursday on a 100,000-square-foot facility connected to its current building. It’s expected to open, at the latest, by the beginning of 2018. Bret Erickson, president of the Texas International Produce Association for...

The Japanese lettuce production company Spread believes the farmers of the future will be robots. So much so that Spread is creating the world's first farm manned entirely by robots. Instead of relying on human farmers, the indoor Vegetable Factory will employ robots that can harvest 30,000 heads of lettuce every day. Don't expect a bunch of humanoid robots to roam the halls, however; the robots look more like conveyor belts with arms. They'll plant seeds, water plants, and trim lettuce heads after harvest in the Kyoto, Japan farm. "The use of machines and technology has been improving agriculture in...

GM Debate Not Settled, Say European Scientists Controversy erupts after World Food Prize awarded to Monsanto By Justina Reichel, Epoch Times | October 24, 2013 In the wake of biotech giants Monsanto and Syngenta being awarded the World Food Prize, a European coalition of scientists is challenging claims that the debate around genetically modified foods is settled and that GM foods are safe. The European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility, which consists of more than 90 scientists, academics, and physicians, released a statement Monday in response to “sweeping claims” that GM products are safe. “We strongly reject...

Justine and Brian Denison sat they adhere to all the growing practices required for organic certification, yet if they label their beans and tomatoes "organic" at the farmer's market, they could face federal charges and $20,000 or more in fines.

First they came for the donuts, and few dared to defend partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Then they came for the soft drinks, declaring high-fructose corn syrup verboten. Now they’re after lima beans, peas, and corn, moving us ever closer to a national diet of tofu and kale. “They,” in this latest case of dietary despotism, is the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). As required by Congress, the agency recently proposed stricter nutrition standards for school-based breakfast and lunch programs. More than 98,000 elementary and secondary schools will be affected—at a cost exceeding $3.4...

Imagine a scenario in which the media outlet most afflicted with Barack Obama Sycophancy Syndrome (BOSS) – the place Chris ‘thrill up my leg’ Matthews calls home – presented a ’smoking gun’ that could implicate the Obama White House in a cover-up akin to that of Watergate but with the added scarlet letter of murder. The notion of such a thing would be like Woodward and Bernstein ignoring Deep Throat. Impossible, right? Yes, unless it did so unintentionally. It looks like that honor may just go to none other than Michael Isikoff who, in September of 2010, wrote about an...

In Lake Elmo, Minn. farmers are threatened with 90 days in jail and $1,000 in fines for selling pumpkins or Christmas trees grown outside city limits.

First Lady Michelle Obama told the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Legislative Conference on Wednesday that her “Let’s Move!” campaign to end childhood obesity requires grassroots efforts in communities across the nation, such as planting community gardens and making fresh produce more readily available, including in liquor stores. Obama cited a group in Detroit as a “wonderful example” of how local communities can make the campaign succeed. - snip - / “They drive a truck through the city, selling fresh, affordable produce,” Obama said. “And they’ve set up a small market. They’ve planted a community garden. They’ve even convinced some of...

With a pedigree dating back thousands of years, the vineyards of France have long regarded themselves as the toast of the wine world. But in a humiliating blow to Gallic pride, winemakers have been accused of trying to pass off their bottles as New Zealand produce to cash in on the popularity of brands from down under. Sauvignon blanc from New Zealand has soared in popularity A tribunal in Australia has ruled Loire Valley-based firm Lacheteau labelled its sauvignon blanc Kiwi Cuvee in a nod to the quirkily-named New Zealand and Australian white wines. The wine is currently sold in...