Lisa Held | Civil Eats

Authors

Lisa Held is Civil Eats’ senior staff reporter and contributing editor. Since 2015, she has reported on agriculture and the food system with an eye toward sustainability, equality, and health, and her stories have appeared in publications including The Guardian, The Washington Post, and Mother Jones. In the past, she covered health and wellness and was an editor at Well+Good. She is based in Baltimore and has a master's degree from Columbia University's School of Journalism.

Amid SNAP Debate, Are Lawmakers Ending Waste and Abuse—or Dismantling a Safety Net?

A warehouse staff moves through rows of food at the Capital Area Food Bank. (Photo: Capital Area Food Bank)

Conservation Work on Farms and Ranches Could Take a Hit as USDA Cuts Staff

Ranchers herd cattle across open range in the Sangre de Christo Mountains, New Mexico.

Everything You Know About the Dietary Guidelines Is Wrong

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s Label Man character was seen at the Department of Agriculture celebration of the introduction of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010, an informational event in the Whitten Café in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, March 2, 2011. (Photo credit: USDA)

Livestock Producers Seek to Defend Packers and Stockyards Rules from Industry Attack

Portrait of a woman working on Montana ranch

MAHA Supporters Form New Organization to Boost RFK’s Goals in D.C.

Calley Means speaks during a news conference at the Health and Human Services Department on April 22, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo credit: Andrew Harnik, Getty Images)

The Pork Industry Asks Congress to Overturn Prop. 12, a Divisive Animal Welfare Law, Yet Again

Customer selecting packaged meat slices at a supermarket counter. Dressed casually in jeans, she carries a shoulder bag while browsing the meat section. Real-life shopping moment. More than a year after the animal welfare law went into effect, evidence of the pork industry’s ‘crisis’ is hard to find. But another push to overturn the law is in the works.

USDA’s Regional Food Business Centers Caught in Federal Funding Freeze

A Native American man stands in a field with a herd of bison, with the light shining behind him and blue skies above

Bayer’s Effort to Block Roundup Lawsuits Kicks Into High Gear

A large group of people hold signs protesting a bill that would stop people from suing Bayer, a maker of pesticides, inside a chamber

Farmworker Unions on the Rise in New York, Joined by the United Farm Workers

Workers at an apple farm in New York celebrate after signing the first farm worker union contract. (Photo credit: United Farm Workers)

H-2A Guestworker Program Impacted by Stalled USDA Payments, Cuts to USAID

Farmworkers harvesting peppers in New Mexico. (Photo credit: Joseph Sorrentino, Getty Images)