Federal agencies are required to buy products made from materials that were once living. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 mandated that if the products are reasonably priced and available, federal agencies have to buy them. A U.S. Department of Agriculture report released on June 1
St. Louis-based seed company Monsanto’s attempts to merge with Swiss chemical business Syngenta are still going strong – even though Syngenta deemed Monsanto’s latest offer “inadequate.” The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has followed the ongoing saga closely. On June 14, it reported that taxes will likely
Three U.S. agribusiness companies face a lawsuit regarding child labor at cocoa plantations. Plantation workers filed the case against Archer Daniels Midland, Cargill and Nestlé in 2005 when the workers were 12 to 14 years old. The case is now scheduled for a final ruling in the Supreme Court.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza – bird flu – has affected more than a dozen U.S. states and led to the slaughter of more than a billion birds. Poultry producers in Arkansas alone have had to kill more than 870 million broilers and about 30 million turkeys in attempt to control spread of the virus.
The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting hosted the "Covering the U.S. Visa System in Your Own Backyard" workshop April 10 - 12. Workshop events took place at Columbia College in Chicago, and speakers included veteran reporters and legal experts. Here's a summary of the first workshop event.
Each year, thousands of people are allowed to stay in the United States under special visas because they are victims of domestic violence, human trafficking or criminal activity. Nubia Willman, a staff attorney for the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago, spoke extensively about the U-visas and T
Miguel Keberlein Gutiérrez, supervisory attorney for the Illinois Migrant Legal Assistance Project, discussed the most common work visas in the United States during his session a Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting workshop on April 11. During his presentation, he also summarized one powerful
The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting hosted a workshop on "Covering the U.S. Visa System in Your Own Backyard" this April. During one of the workshop sessions, Knight Chair and veteran investigative reporter Brant Houston highlighted key resources reporters can use to research stories. The
Each year, thousands of students and exchange program participants enter into the United States under different visa categories. They are joined by tens of thousands who come to the country under diversity visas. Knight Chair Brant Houston discussed the programs and shared reporting tools during his
The EB-5 visa program, which has grown increasingly controversial due to its lack of quality oversight, basically gives foreigners looking to invest large sums of money in U.S. businesses a pay-to-play green card. Tim Novak, Chicago Sun-Times reporter, spoke about the program at a Midwest Center for
Mike McGraw, who currently leads KCPT Hale Center for Journalism’s investigative news efforts, spoke in detail about the H-1B and H-2B visa programs during his workshop session on April 11, 2015. The session was part of the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting's "Covering the U.S. Visa System
In February, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a forward-looking reporting on the state of U.S. agriculture. The department's Economic Research Service took the lead on the report, which outlines U.S. agricultural production and trade through 2024. Here are the highlights in one graphic.
