How bad are the SNAP cuts in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Act?
Helena and Theodore explain why Alaska senator Lisa Murkowski flipped to cast the deciding vote on Trump’s Big Beautiful Act: an exemption that rewards her state’s highest-in-the-nation SNAP error rates. They also take a look at how the law creates barriers to food assistance and healthcare, with paperwork, work requirements, and pushing administrative costs to the states. Finally, RFK Jr. has talked a big game about banning artificial dyes in foods – but it’s places like West Virginia that have taken action. Do people really want beet-flavored red M&M’s?
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Forked: Trump stopped immigration enforcement raids on food system workers – but not for long
In the “Double Take,” Helena and Theodore have Trump whiplash on the threat of mass deportations in the food system. In “Forks and Knives,” the discussion turns to the historic cuts to food assistance for low-income Americans that are playing out as the “One, Big Beautiful Bill” makes its way through Congress. And for “Good Vibes,” the federal Dietary Guidelines may drop recommendations for how much Americans should drink. Glass clinking sound or MAHA mistake?
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Introducing: Forked, presented by REAP/SOW
American food politics are a mess. The traditional forces driving policy in agriculture and nutrition have been wiped away, and ordinary people are struggling to figure out who is in charge, what they’re up to, and why. Every two weeks, Forked hosts Helena Bottemiller Evich of Food Fix and Theodore Ross FERN's Editor-in-chief cut through the confusion, providing context and analysis, hopefully leaving you feeling less… well, forked. New episodes every two weeks, from the Food & Environment Reporting Network.
FORKED takes on the politics and policy that are turning the American food system on its head. Every two weeks, hosts Theodore Ross (FERN editor-in-chief) and Helena Bottemiller Evich (founder and editor of the newsletter Food Fix) dive into the complex issues that are transforming agriculture and nutrition. FORKED makes sense of this moment of radical change for everyone who cares about what they eat and where their food comes from.
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