ST. PAUL, Minn. -- A federal lawsuit was filed this week over recent changes to how safety inspections are handled at pork processing plants.

It follows a separate federal suit filed in Minnesota last fall.

In 2019, the U.S. Department of Agriculture revised how inspections are handled at slaughterhouses by essentially handing most of those duties over to the companies themselves.

Ryan Talbott, a staff attorney at Center for Food Safety, one of the plaintiffs in the latest lawsuit, says shifting that responsibility opens the door to food-borne illnesses.

"It's safe to say that once you have the slaughter plant employees, who have no mandatory minimum training or education requirements, taking on the roles of trained federal inspectors -- this is a recipe for disaster," he states.

The USDA says the changes are intended to modernize the pork processing system. Many in the pork industry also support the changes, saying they will bring more efficiencies.

Last fall, several labor unions filed a federal lawsuit in Minnesota over provisions that remove maximum line speeds when bringing hogs to slaughter. That suit contends the changes compromise worker safety, as well as food safety.

Talbott says the threat to pork products sold in the U.S. would not be on a small scale. He says this could affect consumers in a big way.

"The government's expecting several dozen pork slaughter plants to adopt these rules, which is probably going to cover more than 90% of pork that's sold in commerce," he states. "So, the effects are going to be felt nationally."

The latest suit asks the court to dismiss the new rules. A hearing in the lawsuit filed in Minnesota is scheduled for later this month.


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Under a new project, locally sourced food is part of a food assistance program for members of the Lummi Tribe in northwest Washington.

The Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations is a federal program providing meals in the form of commodity boxes for low income residents. But food boxes have neglected to include culturally relevant food for the diversity of reservations across the country, instead providing options like catfish and buffalo.

Lummi Nation is part of a pilot providing a locally caught option: sockeye salmon.

Billy Metteba, food sovereignty project manager for the Lummi Nation, said salmon is food his ancestors ate and members of the tribe know how to prepare, unlike buffalo.

"Shifting the mind frame, the mindset to food sovereignty, we should be in charge of saying what is appropriate for our people," Metteba asserted.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded eight tribes, including the Lummi Nation, $3.5 million for a demonstration project to provide local food options to the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations. This fall, sockeye salmon became available for the northwest Washington tribe.

The Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations is meant to supplement meals for participating households. However, a 2016 study found the program was the sole or primary source of food for 40% of those households.

Jake Garcia, public policy manager for Northwest Harvest, said many folks from the Lummi Nation have spoken to his organization about the program's inadequacies.

"The economic insecurity that they experience, the food insecurity certainly; all these different pieces are indicators for economic success," Garcia explained. "They're directly tied to your food and so when that program is insufficient and not meeting the needs of the folks on the reservation, that's a real problem."

But Metteba acknowledged the allowance for more locally sourced foods in the program is a good sign.

"When they funded this program it's like giving us access to go out and harvest our own food that we've always harvested for as long as I can remember, for as long as my grandparents can remember," Metteba emphasized. "It's important that we pass this down to our kids because without this, without fighting for something, it eventually will be lost."

The original demonstration project was funded through the 2018 Farm Bill. Tribal leaders across the country hope lawmakers in Congress will broaden the project in the 2023 Farm Bill.

San Diego may seem like a wealthy area, but the mountain communities in the eastern part of the county still struggle with hunger and poverty.

Now, a new $100,000 grant from Save the Children's Innovation Lab will fund the development of a program to mailboxes of shelf-stable food to low-income rural families, starting next year.

Anahid Brakke, president and CEO of the San Diego Hunger Coalition, said the program has been a big hit in other communities.

"The parents said, 'It's like Christmas.' The kids feel like it's Christmas, you know, they get this food box; you know, it's for them," Brakke explained. "It really helps supplement the whole household."

A team from the San Diego Hunger Coalition is at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, this week to learn best practices from other communities. The funds will also be used to train community health navigators who can help people sign up for programs like CalFresh and WIC.

Esther Liew with Save the Children says food boxes that arrive by mail provide rural communities greater access to nutritious food.

"There's little public transportation in rural communities, meaning that they then have limited access to grocery stores and places where they can get fresh and nutritious foods," Liew pointed out. "That makes it really difficult to provide the food that they need for their children and their family members."

Hunger Coalition data showed about 35% of children in the Mountain Empire region live in poverty, which is nearly triple the rate for the rest of San Diego County.

In a recent community food survey of local residents, almost three-quarters said they would run out of food at some point in the last 30 days and did not have the resources to buy more.

One North Carolina Housing Authority in Robeson County has plans to launch a mobile "pay-what-you-can" food bus loaded with fresh fruits, vegetables and other foods that will serve families lacking transportation. The pilot program is one of a handful across the country to receive a $100,000 dollar grant from Save the Children's Rural Child Hunger Research and Innovation Lab to tackle rural hunger.

Colton Allen Oxendine, resident services director with the City of Lumberton's Housing Authority, said many residents have to walk miles to the nearest grocery store because they have no transportation.

"So this bus is going to reach well over 3,000 to 5,000 people," he said. "The goal is to make this a success."

He said residents will be able to use debit, credit, food stamps and whatever cash they have on hand at the mobile bus, and added he expects the program to be up and running by August. According to data from UNC-Chapel Hill, more then 30% of kids living in Robeson County live in food-insecure homes.

Allen Oxendine said many housing authority residents persist largely on processed, unhealthy foods.

"A lot of them resort to the smaller stores like gas stations, Family Dollar, Dollar General. We all know they do not carry fresh fruit and vegetables," he said.

Esther Liew, Lead Associate for Food Security Projects with Save the Children, said solutions to stop child hunger must come from within rural communities.

"What we're hoping is that they will be able to develop ways of working that maybe look a little bit different from how these similar types of programs would work in urban settings, so that we can help them to develop solutions that are specifically for rural contexts," Liew said.

A recent survey by Save the Children and the Child Action Network found 77% of rural parents report being worried they might not be able to afford enough food to feed their family.