Latest from Food Politics: Weekend reading: Food education standards

Food and nutrition education is hard to come by these days.   As Laura Reiley wrote in Civil Eats, The end of SNAP-Ed leaves underserved communities with even fewer resources.  The One Big Beautiful Bill Act eliminated the program in July, giving ...

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By Marion Nestle February 06 2026 Weekend reading: Food education standards Food and nutrition education is hard to come by these days.  As Laura Reiley wrote in Civil Eats, The end of SNAP-Ed leaves underserved communities with even fewer resources.  The One Big Beautiful Bill Act eliminated the program in July, giving program administrators 90 days to dismantle a nationwide network of nutrition classes and outreach efforts. You would think that educating SNAP recipients about choices and cooking methods would be good for everyone, but no such luck. Some groups are trying to fill the gap.  Alex DeSorbo-Quinn, the Executive Director of Pilot Light Chefs, sent me a press release   Pilot Light today announced the release of its updated Food Education Standards, the first-ever comprehensive framework for integrating Food Education into PreK-12 classrooms. The revised standards build on five years of real-world implementation by educators across the United States and expand access to include PreK students for the first time. …The 2025 edition of the Food Education Standards: Incorporate greater diversity in food system expertise, ensuring all students see themselves reflected in Food Education. Reflect best practices in teaching and learning based on five years of classroom implementation. Include competencies tailored to PreK students for greater accessibility and early childhood engagement. Here’s an example of competency #4: Food behaviors are influenced by external and internal factors for grades 6-8 (I can’t get the resolution higher, sorry): The standards come with suggestions for activities designed to meet them. For anyone teaching K-12, this ought to be useful. It also should be useful to anyone who has a K-12 kid. The post Weekend reading: Food education standards appeared first on Food Politics by Marion Nestle      Related Posts Texas elementary schools are selling ice cream in competition with school lunches (OK, USDA-approved, but still) California defines ultra-processed foods and bans them from school meals—by 2035 (!) California legislature passes bill banning ultra-processed foods from schools—and defining them   Now Available: What to Eat Now My new book, What to Eat Now, is officially out! It's both a field guide to food shopping in America and a reflection on how to eat well—and deliciously. For more information and to order, click here. You can explore the full archive of this (almost) daily blog at foodpolitics.com, where you'll also find information about my books, articles, media interviews, upcoming lectures, favorite resources, and FAQs. Visit the Site » ​​​​​​​ Marion Nestle Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, Emerita © Marion Nestle. You're receiving this email because you've signed up to receive updates from us. If you'd prefer not to receive updates, you can unsubscribe. Safely Unsubscribe • Archives • Preferences • Contact • Subscribe • Privacy

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Latest from Food Politics: Recent events in pet food safety and ingredients

If I counted right, the FDA oversaw 17 recalls of pet food and animal feed in 2025. The causes included Salmonella, Listeria, aflatoxin, bird flu, plastics, and “presence of particulate matter” Not yet on that list is an even more serious case ...

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By Marion Nestle February 05 2026 Recent events in pet food safety and ingredients If I counted right, the FDA oversaw 17 recalls of pet food and animal feed in 2025. The causes included Salmonella, Listeria, aflatoxin, bird flu, plastics, and “presence of particulate matter” Not yet on that list is an even more serious case involving Darwin’s raw pet food (thanks to  Phyllis Entis for writing and sending) : Darwin’s raw pet food linked to human case of E. coli O157:H7 in four-year-old child. The contamination came to light after food-safety attorney, William Marler, initiated third-party testing of an previously unopened package of BioLogics All-Natural and Grain Free, Beef Recipe for Dogs found E. coli O157:H7 in the raw, frozen product. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) confirmed that the strain found in the pet food was a match for the strain recovered from the child. In addition to the E. coli O157:H7-positive sample, the third-party lab recovered Salmonella Infantis and Salmonella Hadar from previously sealed packages of Darwin’s chicken dog food and duck dog food, respectively. This example is notable for two reasons.  The company refused to recall the products (recalls are voluntary) and continued to sell contaminated food: Darwin’s pet food tests positive for Listeria and Salmonella: The FDA has again found bacterial contamination in Darwin’s Natural Pet Products dog food and the producing company, Arrow Reliance, is again refusing to recall its products.Read more  As I keep insisting, pet food is not a separate entity; it is part and parcel of the food supply for humans.  Contaminated pet food can and does infect pet owners and their children.   It is made from the same foods that go into the human food supply and is an early warning of problems to come (hence my book, Pet Food Politics: The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine) That is why safety and other pet food issues are well worth tracking. SAFETY APHA reveals Salmonella findings in animals and pet food: Reports of Salmonella in raw meat-based pet food in the United Kingdom have declined again from the record levels seen in 2022.The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) collected data on Salmonella from animals, feeding stuff and animal by-products (ABP) in England, Wales and Scotland.Read Dog food, treats linked to Salmonella outbreak in Canada: The Canadian government reports 27 confirmed cases across four provinces connected to handling various dog food products. Read more Dog Food Recalled Nationwide Due to Bacterial Contamination: FDA: North Carolina-based Viva Raw said the recalled dog and cat foods were contaminated with Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes. INGREDIENTS Report: China dominates critical vitamin, amino acid supplies: New IFEEDER research reveals U.S. dependence on Chinese-produced feed additives essential for animal nutrition and food security. Read more Shark-based pet snacks rising in popularity, include regulated species: DNA barcoding of shark-based pet treats in Thailand identified eight species of shark. Biologists have classified many of those species as near threatened, while also under international trade regulations. Read more Good fatty acids boosted by BSFL insect protein in dog food: Nevermind humans, dogs didn’t need to be convinced of insect-based pet foods’ value. In preference testing, dogs showed no significant difference in consumption between traditional and insect-based diets. Read more Tesco issues urgent recall over contaminated dog food fears: The retailer has issued an urgent recall notice after a foreign body contamination was detected in Lily’s Kitchen branded dog food cans…. Read more The post Recent events in pet food safety and ingredients appeared first on Food Politics by Marion Nestle      Related Posts The FDA’s promised work plan for 2026: ambitious, yes, but doable? Today’s dysfunctional FDA: Could staff losses have something to do with it? Not good news: The FDA is conducting fewer foreign inspections   Now Available: What to Eat Now My new book, What to Eat Now, is officially out! It's both a field guide to food shopping in America and a reflection on how to eat well—and deliciously. For more information and to order, click here. You can explore the full archive of this (almost) daily blog at foodpolitics.com, where you'll also find information about my books, articles, media interviews, upcoming lectures, favorite resources, and FAQs. Visit the Site » ​​​​​​​ Marion Nestle Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, Emerita © Marion Nestle. You're receiving this email because you've signed up to receive updates from us. If you'd prefer not to receive updates, you can unsubscribe. Safely Unsubscribe • Archives • Preferences • Contact • Subscribe • Privacy

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