On July 16, 2015, by a 28-2 vote, the United States Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Agriculture, Rural, Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriation Bill (S.1800) for fiscal year 2016. This bill, commonly referred to as the Federal Farm Bill, supports agriculture cooperative conservation and rural community programs implemented by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).  Through these programs, the USDA promotes and financially supports essential nutritional needs for the elderly and for children and their families, as well as food and drug safety.

Child labor is alive in the United States. Almost a century after the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act was passed and despite numerous amendments, loopholes still remain that allow young children to work for excessive hours in dangerous environments with unfair compensation. The agricultural field, more precisely the tobacco industry, has benefited from child labor due to the shortcomings of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Liquor industry giant Sazerac Co. (Sazerac) has been involved in numerous trademark infringement lawsuits in recent years. For example, in September, Sazerac filed suit against Stout Brewing Company LCC claiming that Stout Brewing tried “to pass off its own product [Fire Flask] as Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey.” The companies settled the dispute on Sept. 22, and Stout Brewing agreed to “cease selling its product with infringing labels and redesign its label.

On July 21, 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced $349 million in funding to be used for the improvement of electric infrastructure in thirteen states. The funding for the projects is provided through the USDA Rural Development’s Electric Program. According to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, the goal of the funding is to improve electric systems in rural communities in an effort to “build a sustainable and dynamic future for rural residents and businesses.

Dr. Dickson Despommier, professor of public health at Columbia University, created the concept of “vertical farming” back in 1999. Dr. Despommier and his students discovered that with a city, like New York, instead of looking towards flat land for food growth, the city should start looking up. Dr. Despommier and his class on medical ecology estimate that 30-story vertical farm towers could feed 50,000 people.