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U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

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Henry Holt, a farmer near Black River Falls, Wisconsin, in 1937, who was moved off land by the Resettlement Administration.

How the Government Helped White Americans Steal Black Farmland

There was once a thriving Black middle class based on farm ownership. But during the twentieth century, the USDA helped erase that source of wealth.
by Darrick Hamilton, Thomas W. Mitchell, Nathan Rosenberg, Dania Francis, Bryce Wilson Stucki via The New Republic on May 5, 2022
Photograph of a Black farmer, standing in a farm field.

The USDA Versus Black Farmers

Current attempts to correct historical discrimination by local and regional offices of the USDA have been met with charges of "reverse discrimination."
by Matthew Wills via JSTOR Daily on March 11, 2022
Aerial view of a combine harvester in a grain field.

Abolish the Department of Agriculture

The USDA has become an inefficient monster that often promotes products that are bad for consumers and the environment. Let’s replace it with a Department of Food.
by Gabriel N. Rosenberg, Jan Dutkiewicz via The New Republic on December 27, 2021
Illustration after American Gothic but in the context of the Black experience: African American farmers looking away, house foreclosed, lightning in the sky.

How Thousands of Black Farmers Were Forced Off Their Land

Black people own just 2 percent of farmland in the United States. A decades-long history of loan denials at the USDA is a major reason why.
by Kali Holloway via The Nation on November 1, 2021

How USDA Distorted Data to Conceal Decades of Discrimination Against Black Farmers

An investigation found that USDA promoted misleading historical data which ultimately cost black farmers land, money, and agency.
by Nathan Rosenberg, Bryce Wilson Strucki via The Counter on June 26, 2019
The poison squad, experimenters that tried poisons and studied their effects, drawn as men in suits striking dramatic poses.

Food Used to Be a Lot More Dangerous

Before the establishment of the modern FDA, anti-regulation attitudes ruled the world of food.
by Whit Taylor, Maki Naro via The Nib on March 4, 2019

How to Not Get Poisoned in America

"We should go back into history and ask: Why did we need the federal Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906?"
by Deborah Blum, Talia Lavin via The Sword And the Sandwich on April 30, 2025
Botanical drawing of a peach.

In 1886, a US Agency Set Out to Record New Fruit Varieties. The Results Are Wondrous.

The history and legacy of a beautiful project to record thousands of new fruit varieties.
by Sebastian Ko via Aeon on October 5, 2023
University of Arizona’s “Palm Drive,” 1914.

Dictating the Desert

Plants and settlers take root in a new mythology of Arizona.
by Natalie Koch via Lapham’s Quarterly on February 1, 2023
William Barber III standing in front of Vera Brown Farm.

Rebuilding the Homestead

How Black landowners in eastern North Carolina are recovering generational wealth lost to industry encroachment.
by Cameron Oglesby via The Margin on October 25, 2022
A picnic prior to a concert in the lyceum series at Pied Beauty Farm, 2019.

American Barn

The traditional wooden barn persists even as family farms have been almost entirely replaced by multinational agribusiness.
by Joshua Mabie via Places Journal on October 11, 2022
A cave in Kansas formerly used to store government cheese.

Why Did the U.S. Government Amass More Than a Billion Pounds of Cheese?

The long, strange saga of government cheese.
by Diana Hubbell via Atlas Obscura on May 24, 2022
Botanical drawing of a bunch of grapes.

Fruits of Empire

The plant explorers of the USDA succeeded in bringing the world’s fruits to American supermarkets. But at what human, ecological, and gustatory cost?
by Willa Glickman via New York Review of Books on November 12, 2021
The plough, the loom and the anvil book drawing

In the Common Interest

How a grassroots movement of farmers laid the foundation for state intervention in the economy, challenging the slaveholding South.
by Nic Johnson, Chris Hong, Robert Manduca via Boston Review on May 18, 2021
One man in white surgical coat and cap examines a cow in an enclosed pen.
partner

The Idea of Herd Immunity to Manage the Coronavirus Should Ring Alarm Bells

The Trump administration reportedly could be taking us down a dangerous path.
by Rebecca Kaplan via Made By History on October 30, 2020

When the Government Decided the Spread on Your Toast Should Be Pink

The ‘margarine wars’ explain the 19th-century struggle to regulate food.
by Ai Hisano via Zócalo Public Square on January 15, 2020

The Great Land Robbery

The shameful story of how 1 million black families have been ripped from their farms.
by Vann R. Newkirk II via The Atlantic on August 12, 2019

The Government Taste Testers Who Reshaped America’s Diet

In the 1930s, a forgotten federal bureau experimented with ways to make soy and other products more popular in the U.S.
by Michael Waters via Smithsonian on August 9, 2019

Fracturing Landscapes: A History of Fences on the U.S.-Mexico Divide

History tells us that Trump's proposed wall will not work, and that it will do more damage than good.
by Mary Mendoza via OUPblog on September 4, 2018
A drawing of a hippopotamus with its mouth open wide.

American Hippopotamus

A bracing and eccentric epic of espionage and hippos.
by Jon Mooallem via The Atavist on November 28, 2013
Egg yolk spilling from crushed egg shell

It’s Weird That Eggs Were Ever Cheap

What were we thinking, buying so many of these fragile, messy, remarkable ovals? Get used to high egg prices, it was a miracle they were low in the first place.
by Annie Lowrey via The Atlantic on February 27, 2025
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How the Federal School Lunch Program Became a Spicy Political Debate

A 1940s child nutrition program has been a subject of debate for decades, reflecting shifting political priorities.
via Retro Report on December 5, 2024
Black farmer harvesting kale.

Black Earth

In North Carolina, a Black farmer purchased the plantation where his ancestors were enslaved—and is reclaiming his family’s story and the soil beneath his feet.
by Christina Cooke via The Bitter Southerner on November 25, 2024
A variety of apples on a rustic wooden table.

Apples Have Never Tasted So Delicious. Here’s Why

Apple experts divide time into “before Honeycrisp” and “after Honeycrisp,” and apples have never tasted so good.
by Laura Helmuth via Scientific American on October 24, 2024
The Executive Board of UCAPAWA in 1937.

Challenging the New Deal’s “Contemptible Neglect”

In the midst of the Great Depression, one CIO union used the new administrative state to influence legislation on behalf of people considered outcasts.
by Jarod Roll via Nonsite on September 21, 2024
Chickens and eggs.

The Unending Quest To Build A Better Chicken

Maybe what we need is not just a new form of poultry farming but a complete revolution in how we relate to meat.
by Boyce Upholt via Noema on December 19, 2023
Senators Cory Booker and Chuck Grassley conversing.

How Washington Bargained Away Rural America

Every five years, the farm bill brings together Democrats and Republicans. The result is the continued corporatization of agriculture.
by Luke Goldstein via The American Prospect on May 24, 2023
Farmers working in an orchard.
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The Unlikely Supporters of a Bill That Would Increase Guest Workers

The history of guest worker programs should give pause to supporters of the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.
by Matt Garcia via Made By History on December 14, 2022
Collage of meat products emerging from Pat Buchanan's head.

How Food Became a Weapon in The Right’s Culture Wars

First came the politics of right-wing grievance. Then came the new foodie culture. Together, they combined to create one toxic food fight.
by Brent Cunningham via The Nation on December 12, 2022
Black and white image of workmen standing on or outside of a train.

Riding with Du Bois

Railroads—in the Jim Crow South just as in today’s Ukraine—employ physical infrastructure to create racial divisions.
by Manu Karuka via Public Books on October 18, 2022
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