By Elaine Donnelly
Extending sexual misconduct to combat units

When Americans suspect that the United States is "becoming Europe," we don't mean that our art museums are getting a lot better.
The history of welfare programs in the United States is chock full of restrictions on how recipients go about their daily lives. Some are reasonable and in the public interest, but others are heavy-handed and unduly intrusive.

Eat fewer apples, strawberries and grapes, and more corn, onions and pineapples, and you'll protect yourself and your children from "toxic" pesticides, according to the Environmental Working Group's 2013 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has expanded its food stamp program to farmers markets around the nation, announcing a $4 million grant plan to entice recipients to buy fruits and vegetables.

A conservative group called out the Coca-Cola Co. on Wednesday for lobbying to keep soda and candy eligible for purchase with food stamps, asking why the company expects taxpayers to pay for poor Americans' unhealthy purchases from the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program.
Two years ago, an editorial in The Washington Times demanded an investigation of the billions of dollars in payouts to blacks who asserted that they were wrongly denied subsidized farm loans.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture have been quietly assuring illegal immigrants that taking food stamps and other government assistance won't slow their paths toward citizenship.
Watchdog organization Judicial Watch has released video of U.S. Department of Agriculture employees caught on video at a cultural diversity seminar banging on tables and chanting "the Pilgrims were illegal aliens."
Big changes are in store for the nation's forests as global warming increases wildfires and insect infestations, and generates more frequent floods and droughts, the U.S. Department of Agriculture warns in a report released Tuesday.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture submitted a proposal, congruent with Michelle Obama's campaign to combat childhood obesity, that will essentially ban unhealthy foods from schools nationwide.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has hailed its new automated inspection system as a "data-driven" approach to protecting the nation's food supply, but inspectors say systematic failures keep them stuck in front of office computers while potential public health hazards go unchecked.
First there were McNuggets. Then there were Chicken McBites. Now McDonald's could be adding "Mighty Wings" to its chicken menu.

Americans are becoming more and more dependent on Uncle Sam. Before the Great Recession hit, 1 in 11 Americans found themselves on the food stamp dole. Now the number is 1 in 6, or 47.7 million, according to data released last week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
A bankruptcy trustee and government lawyers have settled accusations that the Obama administration mishandled a multimillion-dollar loan awarded to a wireless company in the waning days of the George W. Bush administration, leading the business to go broke and lay off hundreds of workers.
A national Muslim lobby group called on U.S. authorities Wednesday to explain their investigation into a leading maker of food for observant Muslims, saying it is troubled by the secrecy surrounding the seizure of the company's bank account and records.