Food & Water Watch – Organization for Competitive Markets

36 Groups Urge Ag Secretary to Enforce Beef Checkoff Program’s Prohibition Against Conflicts of Interest; Urge Other Reforms

September 11, 2014December 22, 2014 Mike Callicrate

Joint News Release For Immediate Release: Contact: Bill Bullard: (406-670-8157) Fred Stokes (601-527-2459) September 11, 2014 36 Groups Urge Ag Secretary to Enforce Beef Checkoff Program’s Prohibition Against Conflicts of Interest; Urge Other Reforms Washington, DC – In the wake of this weekend’s announcement by the National Farmers Union (NFU) that it was withdrawing from the Beef Checkoff Enhancement Working Group (working group), 36 organizations sent a joint letter today to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urging him to Read More …

The Obama I used to know

August 26, 2013August 27, 2013 Mike Callicrate

“There is nothing I care about more than farmers” – Dave Murphy, Food Democracy Now Murphy worked for President Obama during this first term and at that time was a supporter of Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack.

“Break Up The Food Monopoly”, Wenonah Hauter author of Foodopoly

August 20, 2013August 20, 2013 Mike Callicrate

” … it’s kinda of intimidating because many of the giants of this work on concentration are here or are coming today, but what I’ve wanted to do is to try to take the really deep and important work that a lot of you have done and take it on the road to try to explain to a growing generation of food activists how we have really ended up dysfunctional food system and I would say a dysfunctional Read More …

OCM to plot long overdue market revival at convention

July 19, 2013August 16, 2013 Mike Callicrate

PRESS RELEASE Organization for Competitive Markets P.O. Box 6486 Lincoln, NE 68506 www.competitivemarkets.com Contact: Mike Callicrate, OCM President 785-332-8128 callicrate@competitivemarkets.com July 18, 2013 Expect a somber tribute to lost markets, followed by invigorating plans for a rebirth, at the Organization for Competitive Markets’ annual convention coming up August 9th and 10th in Kansas City. “The free market we all like to talk about is a mirage. We pretend it’s there, but in reality our competitive markets have been Read More …

For Meat Industry, Anti-trust Efforts in Corporate Control Collapse

February 10, 2012February 29, 2012 Mike Callicrate

by David Andrews In 2008 the Federal Farm Bill instructed the Department of Agriculture to write rules for competition in the meat industry. This directive was to complete the details lacking in the 80-plus-year-old legislation on competition in the meat industry from the Theodore Roosevelt era. That legislation was to be enhanced with detailed directions on contracts, anti-trust policies and mandates requiring greater justice in meat production, processing and distribution. The rules were to be developed by a Read More …