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‘Navigating in Guts’: a Former Worker Exposes Conditions Inside Slaughterhouse

The whistleblower has posted footage from inside a JBS pork plant, showing broken equipment and a near-impossible working environment.

Food•8 min read

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AI Promises Cleaner Farming in Tanzania — and the World. Now Comes the Real Test.

53-year-old Roland Daniel Sarikikya is captivated that his mobile phone, which he once used only for calls and texts, can diagnose crop diseases.

Food•7 min read

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How the Humble Hornwort Could Supercharge Agriculture

Scientists studying the plant have discovered a new way to boost the efficiency of rubisco — the enzyme that powers life on Earth — and hope to transfer the trick…

Research•6 min read

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In an Era of Mega-Farms, These Schools Still Serve (Some) Locally Grown Food

A Minnesota school district is sourcing food from small regional farms, channeling public dollars back into communities squeezed by agricultural consolidation.

Farms•6 min read

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Southern Right Whales Are Having Fewer Calves. Scientists Say a Warming Ocean Is to Blame.

After decades of recovery from commercial whaling, climate change is now threatening the whales’ future.

Climate•6 min read

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Do Trucker Log Loopholes Put Animals at Risk?

Undercover footage reveals some drivers falsify logbooks, while rules for livestock protections and driver fatigue can also be at odds, raising public safety concerns.

Factory Farms•7 min read

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Cattle Raised for Beef Are Heavier Than Ever, Raising New Concerns in the Industry About Animal Health and Welfare

A retired Cargill meat scientist urged the industry to take seriously a growing list of health concerns, including lameness, heat stress, congestive heart failure and late-term deaths in feedyards.

Food•2 min read

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Vegan Fine Dining Had a Moment. Now What Comes Next?

As some high-end restaurants reintroduce meat, young vegan cooks are adapting.

Food•17 min read

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American Horses Are Still Being Slaughtered for Meat

83% of Americans oppose slaughtering horses for food, yet efforts to ban horse meat remain stalled.

Food•6 min read

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Stretched Thin, Iowa Agency Issues Few Fines for Manure Pollution

The Department of Natural Resources division responsible for environmental oversight of 8,000 CAFOs hasn’t received a budget increase since 2016.

Climate•9 min read

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Budget-Friendly Foods Can Be Better, for Both You and the Planet

Cheap staples like canned beans and oats are not only easy to prepare, but better for you and the environment.

Climate•5 min read

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Dairy and Meat Industries Push for Access to H-2A Farmworkers While the Trump Administration Slashes Their Pay

The H-2A visa program, which recruits farm laborers largely from Mexico, has been likened to indentured servitude. The dairy and meat industries want in.

Policy•13 min read

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Oklahoma’s Ban on Chinese-Owned Farmland Made an Exception For Smithfield Foods

Despite China’s low ownership of land, fear and skepticism about Chinese influence continue to drive legislation in Oklahoma and across the country.

Food•9 min read

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Manure-to-Fuel Projects Expanding Nationwide, New Map Shows

Anaerobic digesters now stretch across the U.S. to supply California’s LCFS market, raising environmental concerns beyond state lines.

Climate•5 min read

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Georgia Communities Are Pushing Back Against Big Chicken

In Coffee and Seminole Counties, residents cite health, environment and community concerns in their fight against industrial poultry operations.

Food•7 min read

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Factory Farms in Iowa Generate 110 Billion Pounds of Manure Per Year. No One Tracks Where It’s Going.

Manure management planning could prevent fertilizer pollution. But an antiquated system isn’t doing enough to track manure, a former state employee says.

Climate•9 min read

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Maine Was First to Ban Spreading PFAS-Contaminated Sludge on Farmland. Now Sludge Is Filling up Landfills.

Well before the ban took effect, the “forever chemicals” linked to cancer, birth defects and other serious health problems had tainted drinking-water wells, vegetable roots, beef and milk in Maine.

Health•19 min read

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How New York City’s Largest Food Rescue Organization Stepped Up During the SNAP Crisis

City Harvest’s food rescue efforts are a win for both climate and food insecurity.

Climate•9 min read

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Heat Exhaustion, Amputated Fingers, Crushed Limbs: The Hidden Cost of American Turkey

Three charts reveal details of the 351 workplace injuries experienced by turkey industry workers in 2024, which include severed fingers, injured corneas and musculoskeletal disorders.

Food•8 min read

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How America’s Largest Meat Company Leverages Palantir’s Surveillance Tech

Palantir’s controversial software platform is capable of integrating vast amounts of data — but at what risk?

Food•10 min read

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Panama Shuts Indigenous Fishers Out of Ancestral Waters as Industrial Fish Farm Expands Nearby

The government has increased its restrictions in the name of conservation without subjecting nearby aquaculture facilities to the same scrutiny.

Climate•6 min read

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UN Climate Talks Are Built on Consensus. That’s Part of the Problem.

At COP, the requirement that countries find consensus before taking action has stalled climate progress for decades. Experts say there's a better way.

Climate•11 min read

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Iowa Food Companies Routinely Violate Water Pollution Permits — and Rarely Face Penalties

Sentient’s analysis finds 38 different agricultural companies were cited for noncompliance with NPDES permits, and only one was fined.

Meat Lobby•5 min read

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Immigrant’s Death at Oklahoma Poultry Plant Highlights Dangerous Working Conditions

Current and former employees describe a punishing pace of work and questionable safety standards.

Food•10 min read

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Michigan’s Undocumented Workers Have No Right to Workers Compensation. A Legal Appeal May Change This.

Michigan’s Supreme Court heard oral arguments challenging the decades-long precedent.

Legal Action•3 min read

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Wisconsin Residents Spend Millions Removing Nitrate from Drinking Water

A new report details the toll of nitrate pollution linked to manure from growing industrial farms.

Climate•6 min read

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Journalism Has Become More Challenging, for Reporters and Sources

Researchers are more reluctant to give interviews since Trump returned to the White House.

Policy•4 min read

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‘Sweetheart Deal’ Reached for Polluting Slaughterhouse

Agri Star was fined just $50,000 for violating its water pollution discharge permit 60 times.

Climate•3 min read

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In the Arizona Desert, Where Your Neighbor Is an Alfalfa Farm

Water resource “hedge funds” and corporate farms are running the desert dry.

Climate•17 min read

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Meat Is a Leading Emissions Source – But Few Outlets Report on It, Analysis Finds

Sentient Media reveals less than 4% of climate news stories mention animal agriculture as source of carbon emissions.

Climate•7 min read

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How Agriculture and Data Centers Compete for the Great Lakes’ Most Precious Resource

Water demand is spiking from both agriculture and data centers. Without intervention, the Great Lakes could be strained past their limit.

Climate•7 min read

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Could the Fight Against Animal Testing Help Farm Animals? Some Advocates Are Shifting Tactics

To win over conservative lawmakers, some animal rights advocates are stressing spending cuts in their pitch.

Policy•8 min read

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Farmworkers Already Face Harsh Conditions. Now They May Have To Deal With a Pay Cut.

Hard-line immigration policy, climate change and labor shortages are colliding to create a real problem for U.S. farms.

Food•7 min read

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USDA’s DEI Purge: How Trump and Rollins Are Reshaping American Agriculture

The Trump administration has cut funding for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives as part of an effort to reduce what it deems wasteful spending.

Farms•11 min read

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A Boston Suburb Banned Foie Gras. Philadelphia Could Be Next.

Advocates persuaded 114 municipal lawmakers on Brookline to vote for the ban.

Local Organizing•4 min read

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People Dramatically Misjudge the Climate Impacts of Their Actions, Research Shows

Recycling is easier than going vegan, but it’s also a lot less effective.

Climate•7 min read

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The Words We Use To Talk About Nature Are Disappearing. Here’s Why That Matters.

We’ll need to do more than "touch grass" to revive them.

Research•7 min read

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EPA Drops Proposed Rules to Limit Slaughterhouse Waste Pollution

Trump’s EPA cites “unleashing prosperity” as it withdraws rules meant to curb pollution from slaughterhouse blood in the water supply.

Policy•6 min read

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Raising Slower Growing Chickens Could Reduce Their Suffering for a Lower Cost Than You Might Think

A new framework aims to quantify farm animal suffering for better decisions about the way we produce food.

Research•6 min read

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Workers Are Facing Dangerous Heat — Even Inside Fast-Food Restaurants

Rising temperatures and chronically broken cooling systems are turning the lunch rush into a deadly risk for some workers.

Policy•7 min read

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Factory Farms Don’t Just Stink — They Make It Harder To Breathe, Too

New maps show that where animal feeding operations exist, higher percentages of Latino and uninsured residents also live.

Health•7 min read

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Could the U.S. Switch to Regenerative Chicken? Only if Americans Ate This Much Less

Going from 100 lbs of chicken each year to 63 would be quite the change.

Climate•5 min read

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A Small Wisconsin Town Bet Big on a Biodigester. Now the Project Is Defaulting on Its Loans.

Pitched as a boon to small towns, the biodigester financed $41.5 Million via the town of Gillett, promising jobs and future tax revenue.

Climate•6 min read

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In Rural Pennsylvania, a Free-Range Chicken Farm and Solar Project Is Not What It Seems

At a township hearing, a developer revealed the 350,000 chickens would be kept mostly separate from the solar panels and probably “don’t go outside much.”

Climate•8 min read

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A Former Tyson Executive Now Oversees the Safety of the U.S. Meat Supply

Justin Ransom helped launch Tyson’s controversial label for “climate friendly” beef. Now he leads the federal agency charged with meat label oversight.

Policy•8 min read

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Food Banks Are Getting Into the Carbon Credit Business

To stay afloat, food banks in the Global South are considering selling controversial offsets for revenue.

Climate•8 min read

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‘The Price of Milk’ Aims to Expose Big Dairy

The new docuseries digs into the dairy industry’s widespread influence in America.

Food•6 min read

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How Water Pollution from Chicago’s Infamous Factory Farm Got Cleaned Up At Bubbly Creek

Once the home of the massive Union Stock Yards, the infamous dumping ground is now a popular recreational area.

Climate•10 min read

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Des Moines Banned Lawn Watering, but Polluted Tap Water Keeps Flowing: Inside Iowa’s Nitrate Problem

Amid rising cancer rates, citizens are demanding Governor Reynolds take more meaningful action.

Climate•9 min read

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The Save Our Bacon Act Is Republicans’ Latest Attack on Prop 12

Another day, another dollar, another attempt by the GOP to repeal the animal welfare law.

Factory Farms•7 min read