February 19: Stories That Caught Our Attention This Week

2015 was a great year for ag tech start-ups. Despite a drop in farm income across the nation and budget cuts at agriculture big wigs like Deere & Co., investments in young ag tech companies jumped from $2.6 billion in 2014 to $4.6 billion. “Ultimately the direction of agriculture is going toward an more technologically driven future,” AgFunder CEO Rob Leclerc told The New York Times.

The USDA proposed rules to expand SNAP access to healthy foods, requiring retailers to stock more healthy options for consumers to pick from. Opponents say that the new rules could disqualify some convenience stores from SNAP retailership, which would effectively limit food access to members in areas without larger grocery stores. The department said in response that it may consider lifting the requirements in some areas to avoid the unwanted effect.

Sarah Mock, an “agtechnologist” published a piece on Medium this week on the benefits of cattle and farm animals, even if humans don’t continue to eat meat. Goats, deer, elk, bison…all have different relationships with the land, and different effects on them. Grazers can help soil health and certain animal hoofs help aerate the soil. Interesting stuff, folks.

This week, Eater tackled the topic of the fast food industry’s cage-free promises. Many people don’t realize that the cage-free certification only requires a chicken to have one square foot of space to itself and does not mandate outdoor experience or access. It does, however, require a bunch of new infrastructure to be built, and could take much longer than the nine- and ten-year projections of fact food giants McDonald’s, Denny’s, and more. By 2026, will one square foot still seem like enough to the ever-growing conscience of American consumers? Time will tell.

Lastly, Mother Jones filled us in on six farm- and food-related things they want to ask the candidates vying for top spot in US politics this fall. If you find yourself in the position to ask the candidates anything – perhaps you run into one at dinner – refer to the list behind the link.