Tag: food

Shoppers face surge in ‘dynamic pricing’ as supermarkets adopt digital technology to change grocery prices based on demand

Shoppers may face higher prices as retailers look set to use digital labels that could change the cost of products based on demand.

The Bank of England warned that these ‘market-responsive pricing tools’ will be adopted by one in three companies in the coming year, up from one in five in the year before.

These ‘dynamic prices’ will change based on algorithms and AI, with the labels adjusting to ‘demand, capacity or competitors’ prices’, according to a business survey commissioned by the Bank.

Factors that could affect these prices may take into account the weather, the time of day, and how busy the shop is. For example, if it is a hot day, then the price of sunglasses may be increased.

This is something that online retailers, like Amazon, have already adopted. Hospitality and travel businesses do much the same, with prices changing based on popularity or times of the year. 

The study then suggests that electronic labels in supermarkets could be the next frontier – something which is ‘already widespread in Europe’.

UK retail food prices are already 38 per cent higher than pre-Covid levels and experts fear further significant increases if disruption caused by the war in Iran continues.

Keep reading

Soon after massive honeybee deaths, Trump moves to close the nation’s premier bee lab

Mark Welsch is no stranger to the difficulties of beekeeping.

The Omaha beekeeper has been caring for hives for the last nine years — and he understands that not every colony makes it through the cold winter months. But the winter of 2024-2025 was particularly brutal for him.

“I had 12 hives going into the winter,” Welsch said. “I lost nine of them.”

He wasn’t the only one. About 1.6 million colonies died across the U.S. between June 2024 and March 2025, according to surveys from bee research nonprofit Project Apis m.

The losses hit commercial beekeepers as well as backyard honey producers, with many losing 60% to 80% of their colonies.

“Last year there was a really swift and sudden cry for help from beekeepers,” said Danielle Downey, executive director of Project Apis m.

For decades, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Beltsville Agricultural Research Center has been the one to answer such cries for help — a place where beekeepers turn when major disasters happen. Six months after the massive die-off, scientists from the USDA facility identified a likely cause: viruses spread by pesticide-resistant mites. But now, the Trump administration plans to close the research lab, leaving beekeepers to question the future of federal research.

‘A really deep history’

The Beltsville Agricultural Research Center has been the site of major developments in food and farm research in its 100-plus-year history. The Thanksgiving turkey was developed at Beltsville, as well as the first methods used to keep butter cold and fresh. Researchers there linked trans fat consumption to increased cholesterol and uncovered the smallest known plant disease agent.

The facility opened in 1910 as the “Government Farm,” but the history of its bee research laboratory begins earlier. Federal honeybee research in the Washington, D.C. area started in 1891, and the lab was relocated multiple times before permanently landing at Beltsville in 1939.

“There’s a really deep history of that station for supporting U.S. agriculture that’s unique,” Downey said.

Keep reading

Iran War Hikes Fertilizer Prices, Squeezing Farmers in Planting Season

Much of the economic focus during the war in Iran has been on oil and gas supplies, but the interruption of an essential byproduct, fertilizer, may soon affect farmers as planting season begins.

Fertilizer that farmers use in crop production is derived from natural gas or is processed using natural gas.

About 30 percent of the world’s fertilizer product passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has constricted, according to an April 1 report by the International Food Policy Research Institute.

The United Nations reports that the rate of shipping through the strait has fallen to fewer than 10 ships daily from an average of more than 100.

Consequently, over the past month, prices rose sharply for five of the eight major fertilizer types, according to DTN, an agriculture data analytics firm. Prices for urea were up by 35 percent over the past month, jumping from $677 per ton to $826 per ton in the past week alone, and anhydrous ammonia and UAN32 fertilizers were both up by 20 percent over the previous month.

“The world is now learning just how important the Strait of Hormuz is,” Caleb Jasso, a policy expert at the Institute for Energy Research, told The Epoch Times. “A great deal of trade of all kinds goes through that choke point, including a very sizable portion of the fertilizer market for the world.”

Gulf States a Critical Source

The International Food Policy Research Institute estimates that 36 percent of all global urea exports and about 29 percent of global ammonia exports are shipped through the strait, as well as 26 percent of diammonium phosphate fertilizer and 13 percent of monoammonium phosphate fertilizer.

“A large share of globally traded urea, ammonia, sulfur, and [liquefied natural gas-linked] feedstock moves through the Gulf, so the war’s effect is being felt primarily through shipping disruption, marine insurance costs, and vessel delays, rather than outright destruction of production facilities,” Peter Earle, senior economist at the American Institute for Economic Research, told The Epoch Times.

“The conflict is coming at nearly the worst possible time, the spring planting season, when Corn Belt growers are locking in nitrogen purchases for the highest-input crop in the U.S. agricultural system. If the bottleneck were to persist for several months, a likely outcome would include renewed food inflation pressure in the second half of the year, especially in protein-heavy and grain-based categories.”

Cyndie Shearing, American Farm Bureau Federation communications director, warned that “unless the delivery of critical farm inputs such as urea, ammonia, nitrogen, phosphate, and sulfur-based products is strategically prioritized, the U.S. risks a shortfall in crops.” She called the supply interruptions “a threat to [U.S.] food security—and by extension … national security.”

American farmers are struggling with shrinking margins and say that fertilizer prices were already rising before the Iran war started, with many blaming what they say is a “duopoly” in the fertilizer supply market.

Keep reading

Maine Lobsterman Asks the Supreme Court To Strike Down a Rule Allowing the Government To Track His Boat 24/7

In March 2022, a rule was finalized requiring all federally permitted lobster vessels in 10 East Coast states to install GPS tracking. Now one lobsterman is asking the Supreme Court to overturn the regulation.

Last week, Frank Thompson, a fifth-generation Maine lobsterman, filed a petition to the Supreme Court challenging a rule set by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC). This rule required lobstermen to install a GPS device on their boats, which tracks and sends locations on a minute-by-minute basis to government agencies—even when the boat is being used recreationally. The systems—which are Bluetooth compatible and can collect audio—also record and update the boat’s location every six hours when it is docked or moored. Failing to comply with the rule could lead to fines, forfeiture of fishing licenses, jail time, and even a federal moratorium on lobstering in noncompliant states.

The rule was pitched as a way to save lobstermen time. Rather than using written logs, the GPS device would automatically track their day. It was also proposed to better track and reduce the environmental impact of the industry. However, these fishermen are already ecologically conscious because their livelihood depends on it. The industry has received praise from the state’s fishing commissioner for being a “model of conservation.”

Whatever the motivation, fishermen say the rule violates their constitutional rights. In 2024, Thompson challenged the regulation in federal court, arguing that it violated his Fourth Amendment right to protection against unreasonable search and seizure. Both the district court and appeals court sided with the government, saying that since lobstering was considered a “closely regulated” industry, it did not enjoy the same constitutional protections from warrantless searches that less-regulated businesses enjoy.

But “digital surveillance without a warrant is unconstitutional—regardless of industry,” says the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), a public-interest law firm that is representing Thompson. “The government cannot exclude licensed professions from the Fourth Amendment’s protections and compel lobstermen to submit to government trespass and around-the-clock” federal surveillance.

Keep reading

Minnesota Judge Hands Somali Fraudster Just 6 Months After $500K Theft in Child Food Scam

A fraudster in the massive “Feeding Our Future” scandal has received just six months in jail after stealing nearly half a million dollars in taxpayer money meant for children.

Zamzam Jama was sentenced to six months behind bars and ordered to repay $491,000 for her role in the scheme.

The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel, who was somehow appointed by President Trump back in 2018, one day after a co-conspirator received only a one-year term.

Brasel has previously ruled in favor of mail-in voting and counting ballots days or even weeks after an election has concluded. Mail-in ballots are the most common method that Democrats use to cheat.

The case involves one of the largest fraud operations in recent U.S. history.

Keep reading

Ukraine rocked by new multimillion-dollar corruption scandal

An alleged corruption scheme involving the embezzlement of $17.7 million worth of grain has been uncovered in Ukraine, implicating senior officials of a state grain corporation and an unnamed foreign company.

The US-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), leading the probe, said on Thursday that the scheme dates back to 2021, when the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine (SFGCU) signed four contracts to supply corn to a foreign buyer.

The contracts required full prepayment. Instead, officials and the company allegedly colluded to hand over control of shipments without payment, investigators said.

NABU said no payment was made. Despite this, the corporation allegedly transferred key shipping documents to the buyer, giving it control over the cargo.

Keep reading

USDA Issues Public Health Alert Over Chicken Nuggets Sold in Walmart

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued a public health alert for frozen chicken nuggets sold by Oklahoma-based Dorada Foods as the products could be contaminated with “unsafe levels of lead,” the agency said in an April 1 announcement.

The warning is applicable to ready-to-eat chicken nuggets sold by the company in 29-oz. plastic bags under the name “Great Value Fully Cooked Dino Shaped Chicken Breast Nuggets.” The item, manufactured on Feb. 10, comes with the lot code 0416DPO1215 and has a “Best If Used By” date of Feb. 10, 2027, FSIS said.

The products were shipped and sold at Walmart locations across the United States. Great Value is a primary private-label brand of Walmart.

“Lead is especially dangerous for pregnant women, infants, and young children because it can harm developing brains and nervous systems, sometimes causing lasting problems. There is no safe amount of lead exposure,” FSIS warned.

“Guidelines from the Food and Drug Administration provide an interim reference level (IRL) of 2.2 micrograms. The amount of lead found in these nuggets could be as much as five times higher than this IRL for children. Health experts also say these nuggets may be a risk for women who are pregnant or who could become pregnant.”

In a January 2025 post, the Food and Drug Administration warned that lead toxicity can affect people of any age and health status.

Keep reading

NASA Astronaut Responds to Online Panic Over “Tentacled” Object on ISS

A tentacled object seen in a viral photo from the International Space Station alarmed some viewers over the last few days.

A photo of a purple, egg-shaped object with what appear to be tentacles protruding led some users to believe it was an extraterrestrial creature hatching in space.

However, NASA astronaut Don Pettit cleared up those rumors by revealing the object was just a potato.

In a post on X, Pettit wrote, “I flew potatoes on Expedition 72 for my space garden, an activity I did in my off-duty time.”

“This is an early purple potato, complete with a spot of hook Velcro to anchor it in my improvised grow light terrarium,” added Pettit.

One user on X responded to Pettit by writing, “I genuinely thought this was some kind of egg hatching.”

Per The New York Post:

An image of a tentacled growth in space has caused an uproar online with freaked-out viewers imploring astronauts to “kill it with fire.”

Viral photos showed the floating, purple egg-shaped object with tendrils exploding out of it like the poster for the 1979 sci-fi horror flick “Alien.”

Thankfully, the real item isn’t as insidious as it seems. In a viral X post, NASA astronaut Don Pettit explained that the anomaly was an “orbiting” potato, dubbed Spudnik-1, that he grew onboard the International Space Station as part of an ongoing interstellar horticulture hobby.

“This is an early purple potato, complete with spot of hook Velcro to anchor it in my improvised grow light terrarium,” the scientist explained.

Horticulture is not the only thing on NASA’s radar lately.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman revealed on Tuesday that the space agency plans to spend nearly $20 billion over the next several years to build a base on the moon.

Keep reading

GMO Wheat Sprayed With Chemical 166 Times More Toxic Than Glyphosate

A new report from Friends of the Earth raises alarm over the U.S. government’s recent approval of HB4 genetically engineered or GMO wheat, warning that it could pose serious risks to public health, the environment and U.S. farmers’ livelihoods, while offering no proven benefit.

The approval of HB4 wheat marks a critical turning point: after decades of public opposition and trade concerns that kept GMO wheat off U.S. fields, consumers now face the prospect of herbicide-tolerant wheat entering the food system.

However, it is not currently being grown commercially in the U.S.

Friends of the Earth is calling on companies and consumers to reject HB4 GMO wheat before it enters the market.

Developed by the Argentine biotechnology firm Bioceres Crop Solutions, HB4 wheat is engineered to tolerate the toxic herbicide glufosinate ammonium.

Glufosinate is banned in the European Union because it poses risks to human health. It is also linked to negative impacts on soil and ecosystem health.

“GMO wheat poses high risks with no clear benefits. It threatens farmers, consumers, and ecosystems,” said Dana Perls, senior program manager at Friends of the Earth.

“Companies and consumers should reject genetically engineered wheat and support proven, sustainable solutions. Organic farming and traditional breeding protect climate, biodiversity, and food security — without toxic trade-offs.”

The report unpacks the regulatory gaps, health implications, environmental concerns and trade risks at stake.

Key findings include:

We’ve been here before — and it failed

HB4 wheat is not innovation; it is a repetition of a well-documented failure — the chemical-dependent model introduced with Monsanto’s “Roundup Ready” crops in the 1990s.

GMO crops have driven massive increases in herbicide use, spawned herbicide-resistant superweeds and trapped farmers on a costly pesticide treadmill.

Glufosinate-tolerant corn and soy are already following the same path. HB4 wheat would extend this failed, toxic system to a global staple food — deepening chemical dependence, increasing costs for farmers and compounding environmental damage.

Keep reading

How War in Iran Affects Grocery Prices for Everyday Americans

Walmart has essentially eradicated all of the mom & pop grocery stores where I live in western Kentucky. Which, for better or worse, forces virtually the entire city’s population to descend on the store for grocery shopping. As you walk into the store, you will inevitably be bombarded with messages from the intercom to get a flu shot or some other seasonal vaccine. This will be followed by a reminder that soda and potato chips are on sale.

Shopping in the local Walmart presents a fair picture of middle America. The county’s poverty rate is above 17%, homes are unaffordable, drug addiction is rampant, and wages remain stagnant. Among all of these issues, the rising cost of grocery prices make it challenging for many people in the community to afford real, whole foods. The unfortunate alternative is to purchase cheap junk food, go to a local food pantry, or simply go without. The simple reality is that many Americans can no longer keep up with rising costs in the grocery store.

But what does this have to do with war in Iran?

We often hear that Congress has passed a new defense budget, ever again surpassing its previous allocations. The most recent appropriations allocated $838 billion to military services in FY26 and now both President Trump and his domestic allies are calling for an increase to $1.5 trillion. For everyday Americans, that number is frankly unfathomable. But have you ever questioned, how does America pay for war?

Income tax has not always been permanent in America. But to give you the short version of the story, it was created to fund war and then later adopted as a permanent fixture. During times of war, Congress has periodically increased taxes to fund operations. However, politicians can only raise taxes so much before citizens begin caring about where their dollars are going. As a result, we no longer increase taxes for the sole purpose of funding wars.

Instead, we use debt. Because the public would be unwilling to fund wars through taxes, the American government defers to borrowing money. But where does that money come from? There is never enough capital in circulation to fulfill the American bloodlust, so it must be printed.

The American government’s incessant use of debt as a means to pay for wars of choice directly devalues the dollar’s purchasing power by forcing banks to digitally print money. Every dollar borrowed inflates our currency which, in turn, increases prices for everyday goods while working class compensation remains stagnant. It has held true for decades that wages do not and will not keep up with inflation.

Keep reading