By J. Dudley Butler When Obama made grandiose promises about protecting farmers’ rights Many farmers were hopeful and saw a glimmer of light They turned out and supported Obama in his time of need Obama appointed Vilsack and Holder and told them his words to heed They gave grand speeches and promised big change But in the long run it was just more of the same Vilsack appointed Butler who knew the law and the facts But Vilsack Read More …
New Politics Podcasts with Coffee Party USA on BlogTalkRadio Do you ever feel like you are not getting the whole story? If you are like me, you can look to your own life situation and know that “the news” often omits important elements that might well change how others perceive the situation. Whether the information is incomplete by oversight or design, it is time for our media to raise the bar. Today on Lunch with Louden I’ll be Read More …
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s inaction has led to the near-destruction of American family ranchers. Over 17,000 family ranches will disappear this year. Over 100,000 family ranchers have left the profession since 2009. It’s a tragedy as world-renowned American beef experiences record-high prices, grocery retailers seize increasing shares of beef dollars, meat packers manipulate the beef market and prices paid to ranchers, and the ranchers are denied the rewards resulting from raising the best cattle in the world. Read More …
Government has made ‘appalling lack of progress’ since 2008, center says; animal groups see bias Des Moines Register – October 23, 2013 A new report blames U.S. leaders for failing to take stronger action to remedy what the group says are public health, environmental, animal welfare and rural community problems created by the industrial food animal production system. A new analysis from the Johns Hopkins University Center for a Livable Future finds that the Obama administration and Congress Read More …
The untold story of how the administration tried to stand up to big agricultural companies on behalf of independent farmers, and lost. By Lina Khan | Print (PDF) In May 2010, Garry Staples left his chicken farm in Steele, Alabama, to take part in a historic hearing in Normal, an hour and a half away. The decision to go wasn’t easy. The big processing companies that farmers rely on for their livelihood had made it known that even Read More …
By Alan Guebert In a striking, two-and-a-half page analysis that ran counter to department leanings, the chief economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture strongly objected to the department’s use of two outside studies that justified the massive retooling—essentially gutting—of the 2010 update of Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) rules to ensure fairness in livestock and poultry markets. The memo was one needle in a nearly 1,700-page haystack USDA forked over in reply to Freedom of Read More …
by Mike Callicrate “Changes will not simply happen…Changes will occur when consumers realize what they’ve been eating, get angry, and demand something different…It remains our responsibility, with every vote and every dollar spent on food, to start making it right.” (Eric Schlosser’s foreword from Slaughterhouse Blues.) Schlosser is also the author of Fast Food Nation and co-producer of the film that awakened America, Food, Inc. It was a beautiful spring day in 1996. American’s were convinced that eating Read More …
Christine Varney of the Justice Department and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack listen during a workshop with poultry farmers in Normal, Ala., May 21, 2010. (USDA photo) The food we eat is increasingly part of a globalized and industrialized concentrated system. Researchers point to a growing consolidation in food production, processing and distribution. Four or five companies control thousands of brands. Poultry growers have one-sided contracts, pig and beef producers increasingly are forced to give up independence for contracts Read More …