Good Food News

We thought we’d start occasionally sharing some good new we find about food—food politics, agriculture, sustainability, and more. As of September 2026, we will be posting updates quarterly.

August 2026

• Madison facility addresses the ‘missing middle’ between farm to table
• Discovery of New Avocado Types Could Lead to More Superfood Choices and Resilience
• Microorganisms Advance Agroecological Farming in Mexico
• TomKat Ranch Educational Foundation Wants to Build a Food System Grounded in Resilience
• Scaling Sustainable Farming in Nigeria
• Global Plan of Action for Sustainable Livestock Transformation is Approved
• 3D-printable architectural material is made out of yeast

July 2026

• Judge Orders USDA to Restore Half of Cancelled Grants for Young Farmers
• Restoring Native Health Through Food and Land
• The Best Healthy Eating Advice of 2026 (So Far) (gifted NYT article)
• 11 food festivals around Madison this summer
• Colombia’s New Law Aims to Tackle Illegal Deforestation
• How Transitioning Away from Chemical Fertilizers Pays Off for Farmers
• Sunshine Division opens new free food market in NW Portland

June 2026

• Unique Honeybees Found Only in Southern California Can Fend Off Deadly Varroa Mites
• FoodCorps and Teachers College Launch Food Education Microcredential
• Organic Farmland Investment: Turning Farmers into Owners
• In Colorado Springs, Food to Power Builds Resilience from the Ground Up
• Zero Waste Seafood Program Drives Program Blue Economy Boom
• An innovative backpack aims to save farmworkers from extreme heat. It only costs $20.
• Food Scraps Recycling Begins at the Streets Division Drop-off Sites on June 1, 2026

May 2026

• World Food Programme, Novo Nordisk & Grundfos foundations scale school meals program in East Africa
• Fiji advances organic farming policy to strengthen food security
• Preparing Home-Cooked Meals Once in a While May Reduce Dementia Risk in Seniors by 30%
• The ‘Miracle Berry’ Helps Chemo Patients Remove Metallic Taste So They Can Enjoy Food Again
• How a Minneapolis Farm Turned Front Yards Into Mutual Aid

April 2026

• Eating more plants linked to lower risk of dementia, even in older age
• Inside Buffalo Go Green’s Approach to Food, Health, and Care
• Jaden Smith’s vegan restaurant feeds homeless people on Skid Row for free
• In Oregon, a Local Seafood Movement Connects Consumers to the Coast
• In Southeast San Diego, a Model for Creating Community Wealth Through Food
• Food Scraps Recycling Drop-off Returns with “Towering” New Weight Goal

March 2026

• A Volunteer-Powered Solution to Food Insecurity in Virginia
• As Climate Stress Grows, SEWA Equips Women Farmers With New Tools
• Amazon deforestation on pace to be the lowest on record, says Brazil
• These Stories Prove How Inspiring Women Are Leading Food System Transformation
• Collective Action Confronts Food System Inequities in Connecticut
• Scientists Wanted Eco-Friendly Battery, Realized They Could Use the Brine Needed to Make Tofu
• Could ‘agrihoods’ — neighborhoods built around gardens — be the future of housing?
• How Artisan Grains Helped Skagit County Rebuild Its Economy

February 2026

• Small improvements in sleep, physical activity and diet are linked with a longer life
• Refugee Collective Farming Builds Resilient Food Systems in Texas
• Reviving Gaza’s Farmland to Reclaim Food Sovereignty
• USDA Launches $700 Million Regenerative Pilot
• Partnership With Farms Reinvents Kentucky School Lunches, Ending Days of Pan Pizza and Fruit Cups

January 2026 (we took off the month of December)

• Stingless bees from the Amazon granted legal rights in world first
• Indigenous Wisdom Offers Path Forward for Global Food Systems Reform
• Restoring the Reefs: Growing Oysters in the Baltimore Harbor
• 126 Food and Agriculture Organizations to Watch in 2026
• Community-Based Action Uplifts Small Farms in California
• New study: food banks divert a whopping 1.8 million metric tons of carbon emissions a year
• New research uncovers a surprisingly cheap way to farm kelp offshore

November 2025

• Virginia’s Styrofoam Ban: A Step Toward Less Waste
• Phase 3 Trial Shows Peanut Patch Treatment Helps Toddlers Build Tolerance to Deadly Allergy
• In this small Dutch town, every resident devotes 50% of the land to growing food
• Decade of slowing deforestation offers hope for forests
• Nations ratify the world’s first treaty to protect international waters

October 2025

• Updated FDA Guidelines for 2025 Including “Healthy” Food Labeling: How They Compare to the 2016 Guidelines and What it Could Mean for Health, Consumers, and Manufacturers
• India’s agroecology programme, ‘Zero Budget Natural Farming’, delivers biodiversity and economic benefits without lowering yields
• ‘DoorDash for Good’ Rescues 250 Million Pounds of Food from Becoming Waste
• WFP report finds 80 million more children now supported by national school meal programmes worldwide
• How to Start a Community Garden
• Immigrant Farmworkers Win Housing Rights in Vermont
• Denver’s Food Forests Provide Free Fruit While Greening the Environment

September 2025

• Multiple “Big Food” corporations (including Kraft Heinz, General Mills, and Kellogg’s) have committed to removing artificial dyes from some or all of their products in the near future
• Culinary Medicine Can Improve Nutrition Knowledge in Medical Trainees
• Four Diets Show Strong Evidence for Improving Type 2 Diabetes
• Steady Work, Lasting Change: How Maine is Leveraging Federal Nutrition Programs to End Childhood Food Insecurity
• Same space, two harvests: Euronews visits the first seaweed farm at an offshore wind park
• Scientists Engineer Yeast to Create Honey Bee Superfood – Colonies Grew 15-Fold
• Disasters Block Local Food Access. One Groundbreaking Group Has a Solution

August 2025

• Produce-prescription programs may lead to better health outcomes, study finds
• Ancient Grains as Functional Foods: Integrating Tradition with Modern Science 
• Sweden becomes the first country in the world to ensure all egg-laying chickens are cage-free — without any laws requiring it
• Spain strengthens ocean protection leadership
• Immigrant Farmworkers Win Housing Rights in Vermont
• US Importers Sued for ‘Greenwashing’ Mexican Avocados
• Capitol Vegetable Garden: Our demonstration garden at the Capitol Building in Madison
• Scaling Up Regenerative Agriculture by Changing the Culture of Farming
• Madison’s first Collard Fest combines storytelling and sustenance

July 2025

• ‘Food is medicine’ program shows potential for improving diet quality and food security
• The Nutritional Advantages of Regenerative Agriculture
• INTERNATIONAL OCEAN CONFERENCE ENDS WITH HIGH SEAS TREATY ON VERGE OF ENTRY INTO FORCE
• Scientists find a new way to help plants fight diseases
• Research shows how solar arrays can aid grasslands during drought
• New cheese packaging decomposes in 300 days, not 1,000 years: ‘The solution was in the cheese itself’
• Farmworkers Heal Climate-Scarred Land With Native Seeds
• ‘Food is more than what we eat’: East High hosts ECO Summit [LOCAL]

June 2025

• YouTube Series ‘Local Legends’ Inspires Food System Change
• Okra and Fenugreek Extracts Safely Remove Microplastics From Water in New Texas Research
• Dane County Opens 24/7 Food Scrap Drop-off Sites
• Former Cafe La Bellitalia space will host new community kitchen (Cap Times)
• Free Summer Meals Available for Wisconsin Kids Through DPI Nutrition Program
• Wisconsin agriculture conservation program yields farmers’ savings

May 2025

• Repurposing Food Waste in University Dining: A Triple Win
• Expanding the Table: How Regional Food Systems Planning Can Drive Lasting Change (Dane County mentioned!)
• Cleaner, Greener, Tastier: The Future of Shrimp Farming?
• NIH to Work with Food Companies to Get Harmful Synthetic Food Dyes, Approved for Decades, Out of US Grocery Stores
• Pollen Replacement Food for Honey Bees Brings New Hope for Struggling Colonies and the Crops They Support
• Adults With Life-Threatening Peanut Allergy Can Desensitize With Daily Doses, ‘Life-Changing’ Study Shows
• Activate climate’s ‘silent majority’ to supercharge action, experts say
• Flower strips could save apple farmers pest control costs
• An Ancient Irrigation System May Help Farmers Face Climate Change

April 2025

• 21 New Books to Inspire the Movement for Sustainable Food Systems
• Could Your Next Prescription Come from a Chef? Introducing CIA’s New Master’s in Culinary Therapeutics
• New Rice Cultivar Eliminates 70% of Methane Emissions While Boosting Yields
• People Are Paid to Return Coffee Cups in This City–Spoiler Alert, it Worked
• Technology makes pesticides stick to plant leaves
• Madison baker competes on ‘The Great American Baking Show’

Know of a positive food story you think we might want to share? Please send it to info@willystreet.coop.