Elizabeth Harrington of the Washington Free Beacon turns her attention to the federal government’s questionable spending on the humanities.

The National Endowment for the Humanities is spending more than $300,000 to talk about “food deserts” in Pennsylvania and sea level rise in Miami.

The projects are part of the federal agency’s “Humanities in the Public Square” initiative, which awarded $3.6 million worth of grants in December.

“The pressing challenges facing our nation call for dialogue and understanding,” said the agency’s chairman, William D. Adams. “There is ample evidence that communities across the nation are eager to come together to discuss the critical issues that face them as citizens and neighbors.”

“Using the unique insights of the humanities, these projects address a diverse range of subjects in order to bring new audiences and organizations together,” Adams said.

Those diverse topics include “food deserts,” environmentalism, and the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.