"A boom in avocado production in Mexico has led to illegal deforestation and an influx of drug cartels dominating the lucrative trade. But Indigenous communities have fought back against the gangs and turned to traditional practices to grow avocados and save their forests."

"As synthetic food dyes increasingly come under public and federal scrutiny over health concerns — in part bolstered by the Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, movement — slightly altered flavors in some of Americans’ favorite snacks are just one of the concerns and challenges with switching to dyes made from radishes, cabbages, beets, carrots, butterfly pea flower extract, turmeric, paprika, hibiscus and other natural foods."

"Farm groups were cheering moves announced this week by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that will alter endangered species protections to allow for easier use of certain pesticides in agriculture."

"Daily exposure to certain chemicals used to manufacture household plastics may be connected to more than 356,000 cardiovascular-related deaths in 2018 alone, a new analysis has found."

"Federal health officials announced plans Tuesday to phase out synthetic food dyes made from petroleum, marking a significant shift in how the U.S. regulates chemical additives in food."

"The abrupt cancellation of a beloved farm-to-school grant program threatens food access, school gardens, and small farms nationwide."

"For years a textile mill gave farmers its sewage sludge as free fertilizer. Today the land is full of “forever chemicals.”"

"Up to 17 percent of the planet’s agricultural land may be contaminated by toxic heavy metals, a new study has found. As many as 1.4 billion people reside in areas with soil dangerously polluted with compounds like arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, nickel and lead, according to the study, published in Science."

"When President Donald Trump named Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his choice to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services, one group of health researchers was cautiously optimistic that their cause would finally have a champion at the highest levels of government: those focused on food and nutrition."