Works picking, bagging, and boxing lettuce on a Colorado River-irrigated region. Photograph: Photograph: Peter McBride]

• A proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency may threaten farmland across Arizona. The EPA wishes to tighten emissions regulation at a generating plant in the state, mandating technologies that would use valuable water resources from the Colorado River. The resulting hike in water rates could make irrigation prohibitively expensive for some local farmers. The Tempe Farming Committee and other farm advocacy groups are protesting the proposal in Washington.
• Speaking of the Colorado River, a new book by photographer Peter McBride describes the depletion of the 1,500 mile resource. Irrigation to the Southwest region of the U.S., primarily for agriculture, has nearly dried the formerly flowing waters. The temperate climate of the region allows for lettuce and carrot production all winter, creating a huge demand for water. City governments have started incentivizing residents to minimize water usage through planting desert shrubs instead of lawn grass, hoping to replenish the river.
• An article in the New York Times conveys the difficulty of eliminating long-entrenched subsidy programs. It spotlights the cotton and peanut subsidies, which provides funding for crop storage when farmers put off selling their items until prices rise. Both the Bush and Obama administrations have attempted to eliminate these pricey subsidies to alleviate debt, but lawmakers from cotton and peanut producing states have stopped these measures.
• Last week, several food manufacturers released a joint agreement to set industry nutrition standards for foods marketed to children. The companies are responding to Congressional efforts to introduce regulations mandating that child-targeted foods meet minimum nutritional requirements. The industry viewed their proposal as a compromise with the government and health advocates; however, some experts have little faith that the industry will follow through on their proposal.
• The state of Massachusetts last week issued regulations restricting what types of foods can be offered at public schools. The regulations prohibit foods with artificial sweeteners, trans fats, and caffeine from the schools' vending machines, a la carte lines, and all events and fundraisers. There are also guidelines for cafeteria foods like bread, which must be whole grain, and milk, which must have little to no added sugar. The regulations are among the most comprehensive school food improvement measures in the country.

About the Author: A student in Providence, Rhode Island, Leah Douglas loves learning about, talking about, reading about, and consuming food. Her work is also featured in Rhode Island Monthly magazine.