A group of senators is pushing the incoming Biden-Harris administration to “restore” the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) — a program aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions by requiring oil refineries to blend in a minimum volume of biofuels. Under the Trump administration, oil refineries were granted numerous waivers for meeting that requirement. Critics argue the…
It’s been a tough year for essential workers — nurses, first responders, grocery store workers. But among the hardest hit are agricultural workers, who have been working non-stop to keep food on our tables while struggling to make ends meet themselves. Organizations like the Farmworker & Landscaper Advocacy Project (FLAP) are trying to help by…
Hemp is a hard crop to grow — just ask Jay Kata. “We were filthy and we were dirty and we were sweaty and it sucked and it was hot and it was miserable…
In late July 2019, a group of migrant farmworkers from south Texas was working in a cornfield in DeWitt County, Ill., when suddenly a crop duster flew…
In October, Purdue University’s Ag Economy Barometer recorded its highest-ever index, meaning farmers were at an all-time high level of optimism….
URBANA – Before the COVID-19 pandemic, rates of food insecurity were lower than they had been in more than two decades, according to hunger relief nonprofit Feeding America. Now that trend is reversing, and millions more Americans are facing hunger this year due to loss of employment and reduced access to school meals. Feeding America…
URBANA – Since March, Eastern Illinois Foodbank has distributed almost nine million pounds of food. At this point last year, that number was just over seven million pounds. And demand isn’t slowing down. “The volume of food that we’ve been putting out has definitely changed because of the pandemic,” says Molly Delaney, Vice President of Development…
Dusty Spurgeon is proud to be a female farmer. She and her mother-in-law, Eloise, run Spurgeon Veggies, a small vegetable farm located in Rio, Illinois….
It’s been almost ten months since the signing of the first phase of a trade agreement between the United States and China. In the lofty deal, China…
En las afueras de Rantoul, en el centro-este de Illinois, unos 100 trabajadores agrícolas migrantes están viviendo en un viejo hotel localizado en una…
Illinois’ 15th congressional district is one of two in the state where no incumbent is running. But this article is about the district itself, not candidates. All congressional districts are required to have roughly the same population, but there are no limits on territory. Illinois’ 15th District covers 14,696 square miles, or more land than…
On the outskirts of Rantoul, in east-central Illinois, about 100 migrant farmworkers are living at an old hotel in a sleepy part of town. Every day at…
URBANA — Previously confidential statewide data tracking coronavirus cases across Illinois shows that there have been at least 50 different outbreaks in Champaign County traced to restaurants, stores, churches, nursing homes, hospitals and in a county office. The internal database kept by the Illinois Department of Public Health has tracked case counts for nearly 2,600…
In the midst of what has otherwise been a heavy, unrelenting year, many Midwesterners have found solace in the dirt. So-called “COVID gardens” have…
At a campaign rally in Wisconsin last week, President Trump announced U.S. farmers will receive an additional $14 billion in coronavirus relief aid….