Legislative Moments that Shaped Agriculture, Climate, and Food Security in 2025

Food Loss and Waste
This year, two measures to reduce food loss and waste were reintroduced in both chambers of Congress, calling for a whole-of-government approach to making U.S. food systems more efficient and effective. The Food Date Labeling Act was reintroduced in the House by Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and in the Senate by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Rick Scott (R-FL). The NO TIME TO Waste Act was reintroduced in the House by Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and Mike Lawler (R-NY) and in the Senate by Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Jerry Moran (R-KS).

Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and Dan Newhouse (R-WA) also re-launched the Congressional Food Recovery Caucus with the aim of informing members of Congress about food loss and waste and urging them to support measures to reduce it.

Regenerative and Resilient Agriculture
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), also referred to as H.R. 1, cut several climate and clean energy investments by rescinding program funds obligated under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022. H.R. 1 also shifted IRA funding for key agriculture conservation programs into the latest Farm Bill baseline funding. These programs include the Agriculture Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). The original IRA provisions that would have gone to American farmers and foresters for climate-smart agriculture efforts within these programs have been removed.

H.R.1 also made changes to livestock indemnity and insurance programs for farm losses due to climate impacts such as extreme heat and drought. An analysis from the American Farm Bureau Federation shared that drought, extreme heat, and wildfires accounted for $11 billion in crop losses in 2024.

On a positive note, H.R. 1 established the Poultry Insurance Pilot Program under the Federal Crop Insurance Act. This program would provide index-based insurance for poultry producers impacted by extreme weather.

Finally, on December 10th, USDA announced a new $700 million regenerative pilot program focused on soil health, water quality, and supporting farmers with producing safe, nutritious, and affordable food. The pilot will be administered under the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), with more details forthcoming in 2026.

Development Finance Corporation
The U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC) was established to utilize financial tools to promote private sector investment in low- and lower-middle-income countries. These tools include debt financing, equity investments, project development, and more. The DFC’s objectives are to support eligible countries’ economic development, U.S. economic interests, and U.S. foreign policy. Although efforts have been made since 2024 to reauthorize and improve the DFC, its authorization expired in October 2025.

The DFC’s goals indicate that it has the potential to lead to significant progress against hunger and malnutrition. Its past work includes support for public-private partnerships that range from implementing solar-powered irrigation and refrigeration projects in India, to reducing the risk to lenders for investing in smallholder farms in Malawi, to creating jobs in Namibia’s agrifood sector. However, provisions in the most recent congressional reauthorization proposal would place more focus on working with high-income countries at the expense of its original purpose—promoting mutually beneficial private-public partnerships with lower-income countries.

The Paris Climate Agreement

In January 2026, the Trump Administration will have met the requirements under the rules of the Paris Agreement to withdraw the United States from participation. When the Paris Agreement was adopted by 195 countries in December 2015, it was hailed as a historic step toward managing climate change, and all signatories committed to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions to limit the increase in Earth’s temperature to 2 degrees Celsius. By withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, the U.S. is taking a major step back from pursuing actions that can help end hunger, along with resigning from the global leadership opportunity to innovate in energy, agriculture, and development sectors.

After withdrawing from the Paris Agreement in January 2026, the U.S. will relinquish its financial commitments to support climate resilience building projects for communities most affected by climate change. This includes rural and farming communities that depend on healthy soil and reliable weather patterns to grow food, which are made worse by climate change. Leadership in this space is a dire need, especially when less than 3 percent of climate finance goes to food systems, and the U.S. could be a stronger partner in these efforts.

Despite these changes, states, cities, and local communities across the country are incubating new ideas and approaches to curbing the negative impacts of climate change and building climate resilience. Bread for the World will closely follow these emerging sub-national climate efforts, and will continue keeping our network informed in the year ahead.

Isabel Vander Molen is a Climate-Hunger Policy Advisor at Bread for the World’s Policy and Research Institute (PRI).