A recent mis characterization of a hefty grant lead to its revocation from Southern University this past week. United States Agriculture Secretary, Brooke Rollins made a statement regarding the cancellation of the $600,000 grant titled Project Farm to Feminine Hygiene: Enhancing the Textiles Lab for Research, Extension, a Scientific Instrumentation for Teaching at Southern University.
Rhetoric included in the grant’s documentation was interpreted by the Trump administration as a scientifically impossible study of menstruation in men of the biological sex. Instead, the United States Department of Agriculture clarified that the purpose of the grant was to conduct research on health risks surrounding menstrual cycles, including in the project summary that it is “important to recognize that transgender men and people with masculine gender identities, intersex and non-binary persons may also menstruate”.
According to the project’s documentation which can be found on the USDA’s website, the grant was designed to focus on the development of sustainable feminine hygiene products derived from natural fibers: regenerative cotton, wool, and industrial hemp. Easily cultivated in Lousiana, the fiber processing plant had the potential to provide more jobs to a state featuring some of the highest unemployment and poverty rates in the nation.
As UNICEF reports that about 26% of the population is menstruating at every moment, this grant was purposed to advance research moving away from common synthetically produced hygiene products which pose threat to a large portion of the population. Despite the plausible risk of toxic chemical or heavy metal exposure, environmental contamination, and cancer-causing PFAs, there has been limited research pertaining to the affects of use of synthetic menstrual products.
In addition to natural hygeneine product production, the grant’s projected plan also included an extension program intended to educate women and girls about menstrual health and hygiene management. This considered, the research made feasible with this grant possessed the potential of significant impact expounding beyond just Southern University’s campus.
The American Principles Project, a conservative think tank under the Trump administration, seems to be responsible for influencing the USDA’s decision. Hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts in addition to this one have been canceled due to the inclusion of words that the administration believes to be diversity, equity, and inclusion related. Details outlining the anti-DEI presidential actions can be found on whitehouse.gov.
According to online resources, the research center remains “optimistic” about their continued efforts to promote agricultural innovation in partnership with the USDA.
