Category: Press Releases

Family Farmers and Ranchers Sue Secretary Perdue for Illegally Halting Protections from Big Ag Abuses Farmers from Nebraska and Alabama Push Back Against Administration’s Attempt to Dismiss Their Concerns, Call on President Trump to Keep Promise to ‘Stand by America’s Farmers’ St. Louis, Mo. — Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit heard oral arguments in a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s unlawful rollback of critical protections designed to safeguard family farms and ranches from predatory and Read More …

Columbus, OH – Today, in a joint briefing with Family Farm Action, the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) released a report outlining the dire state of Ohio family farmers and rural communities under pressure from the growth of global agriculture corporate giants. Agribusiness firms that control inputs such as seed and chemicals and meat processing have seen extreme consolidation in recent years, to the point of creating near monopolies. As a result, family farmers, once the economic engine Read More …

Diverse coalition launches campaign to transform business practices in the food service management industry The Community Coalition for Real Meals launched a nationwide campaign today urging the country’s three largest food service management companies  – Aramark, Compass Group, and Sodexo – to reorient their business models away from a system of exclusive relationships with Big Food corporations toward greater investments in Real Food that supports producers, communities, and the environment. The Coalition includes the Domestic Fair Trade Association, Fair Read More …

New Legislation Introduced by Senator Booker Will Hit the Pause Button on Mega-Mergers In the wake of unprecedented concentration in the agriculture and food sectors, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced legislation yesterday to place a moratorium on large agribusiness, food and beverage manufacturing, and grocery retail mergers and acquisitions. S. 3404, known as the Food and Agribusiness Merger Moratorium and Antitrust Review Act of 2018, would also establish a commission to review mergers, concentration, and market power in those Read More …

Citing “significant interest from stakeholders,” the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) approved a request from the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) and American Grassfed Association (AGA) to extend the public comment period for the groups’ petition to stop imported meat from being mislabeled “Product of U.S.A.” The new deadline for comments is Sept. 17, 2018. The OCM and AGA joint petition, filed on June 12, 2018, would restore the original FSIS handbook Read More …

Washington, D.C. — On behalf of the Organization for Competitive Markets and individual farmers, Democracy Forward replied to the Trump Administration’s attempt to keep independent farmers out of court in their suit challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s unlawful withdrawal of rules designed to protect family farms from big agribusiness abuse. The brief comes as President Trump’s trade war escalates and highlights the extent to which family farmers are paying the price for Trump Administration policies here at home. Illegally stripped of Read More …

On Thursday evening, SA 3074 to the U.S. Senate Farm Bill, sponsored by Senators Lee, Booker, Paul, Hassan and Warren, was allowed a vote on the Senate floor and failed by a margin of 57 to 38. The amendment would have restored accountability and integrity to the commodity checkoff programs. With U.S. Senators from both sides of the aisle and from across the country supporting SA 3074, Organization for Competitive Markets is ever more committed to continuing our Read More …

The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has posted for public comment the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) and American Grassfed Association (AGA) petition for policy change on the use of the “Product of U.S.A.” label for meat and meat products. OCM and AGA are calling on farmers, ranchers and consumers to file their individual comments and letters of support by the FSIS deadline of September 17, 2018. OCM and AGA filed the petition for the change Read More …