As new products come on the market, traditional beef patties are being challenged by plant-based alternatives. (Engin_Akyurt / Pixabay)

There might be a new kind of meat cooking on the grill this weekend: alternative meat. But what is it? And why the craze?

In this May 10, 2019, file photo John Deere Agricultural machinery made by Deere & Company sits staged for transport near cranes at the Port of Tacoma in Tacoma, Washington. (AP Photo / Ted S. Warren, File)

Deere cut its profit and sales expectations for the year as a trade war between the U.S. and China escalates and farmers try to recover from a planting season besieged by heavy rains.

In this March 5, 2019, file photo, cargo containers are staged near cranes at the Port of Tacoma, in Tacoma, Washington. (AP Photo / Ted S. Warren, File)
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Global markets slowed Monday, including the main U.S. indexes, as a trade war between the United States and China intensifies.

In this July 5, 2018, file photo, a jockey truck passes a stack of 40-foot China Shipping containers at the Port of Savannah in Savannah, Georgia. For months, the U.S. economy has shrugged off the tariffs slapped by America and China on tens of billions of dollars of each other’s goods. (AP Photo / Stephen B. Morton, File)

Following President Donald Trump’s threats of increased tariffs on roughly $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, Chinese negotiators plan to talk trade in Washington.

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A flood of Illinois farmers are hoping hemp will be a cash crop for them this summer after Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Agriculture opened up licensing last week.

(kat_geb / Flickr)

Farmers and others across the state are preparing to grow and process a new crop as Illinois finalizes regulations for industrial hemp. 

(Courtesy of McDonald’s)
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After years of pressure from public health advocates, the Chicago-based burger chain announces a plan to reduce the use of antibiotics in its beef products.

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Medical professionals and public health advocates in Illinois are calling on lawmakers to pass legislation to curb limiting what they say is a “reckless overuse” of antibiotics in meat-producing animals.

(Linda N. / Flickr)

Illinois lawmakers have voted overwhelmingly to override Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of a bill to establish urban agriculture zones that advocates say could help break up food deserts in Chicago and other Illinois cities. 

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Lawmakers are set to consider legislation this week that would limit the use of antibiotics in food-producing animals, a practice that has been shown to fuel drug-resistant bacteria that can be dangerous to humans.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin appears on “Chicago Tonight” on Feb. 21, 2018.
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U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin is calling for federal action following a report that identified an Illinois meat-processing plant as the worst-polluting plant of its type in the country.

A beef-processing plant (istanbulimage / iStock)
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A pork-processing plant in western Illinois released an average of nearly 2,000 pounds of harmful nitrogen per day into a tributary of the Illinois River last year, according to a new report.

Environmental activists pose for a photo during Wednesday’s protest in downtown Chicago. (Courtesy Mighty Earth)
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According to a new report, McDonald’s and Whole Foods sell meat from agribusiness companies that are responsible for mass deforestation and pollution.

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A new law allows Illinois farmers to grow cannabis for non-drug uses, making Illinois the latest state to legalize a crop that experts say is growing in demand.

(Linda from Chicago / Creative Commons)

Gov. Bruce Rauner on Monday vetoed a bill that advocates say would have boosted urban agriculture efforts in Chicago and other cities across the state.

(Pexels / Pixabay)

Despite the growing number of farmers markets in Illinois and across the U.S., a number of reports in recent years show that sales across the country are down. How markets are adapting to reach today’s consumers.