Corporate control

New territory: USDA puts spotlight on food supply chain resilience

An under-the-radar executive order signed by the Biden administration in late February could have big implications for our food system.

Five questions for Vilsack: What will be different in return to USDA?

When Tom Vilsack began his first term as agriculture secretary in 2009, IATP lifted up a series of challenges and opportunities for the department, urging him to follow in the path of another Iowan at USDA, Henry Wallace. We wrote: “the central challenges once again are markets run amok and the unsustainable farming practices they promote.” We pointed out “the real winners in the system are a tiny handful of agribusiness companies, who profit from the boom bust cycle and whose anti-competitive control of the market hurts farmers an

A roadmap for the Biden-Harris administration: Re-designing farm systems for the climate crisis

As the Biden-Harris transition team rapidly fills key cabinet positions and senior leadership, it also is setting priorities for the first 100 days. If the “Build Back Better” mantra is to become reality, particularly in advancing equitable solutions to the climate crisis, the transition team will have to think systemically — not just agency by agency.

After Trump’s payouts are gone, what happens to farmers?

A farm economy awash in an unprecedented infusion of public dollars directed by the Trump administration could face a reckoning soon. Close to $40 billion in agriculture-related payments this year mask structural problems in a badly broken market that doesn’t pay most farmers enough to continue farming.

New rules weaken protections for rural communities and the climate

One of the nation’s bedrock environmental protections is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and it’s particularly critical for rural communities.

Time to hold agribusiness accountable for its climate footprint

IATP’s new study on Big Dairy makes the connection between emissions and the rural crisis