Dear Mike, Since last November’s election, one of the sharpest debates in American politics has been whether to fight foremost for social justice or for economic justice. But as Brian S. Feldman of our Open Markets team writes in the new Washington Monthly, sometimes smart policies can simultaneously drive progress on both fronts. In this…
Thursday, March 23, 2017 By David Kruse, president of CommStock Investments, Inc. A Bloomberg story on JBS said that since 2005 the Brazilian meatpacking company “bought more than a dozen companies for $14 billion in cash, stock, and debt to become the biggest meat company in the world.” Long time subscribers know that I have…
March 24 Two of the world’s largest meat companies, Brazilian meatpackers JBS and BRF, have been exposed for exporting rotten beef and trying to cover it up with cancer-causing acid products. Bloomberg reports that “Brazilian prosecutors allege some sausages and cold cuts contained animal parts such as pig heads, that some meat products were adulterated…
Action Alert Dear Mike, The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is considering new rules that would help level the playing field between large corporate meatpackers and independent livestock and poultry producers. Join with WORC and take action to support the Farmer Fair Practices Rules. After being blocked and delayed for years by Congress, the Obama…
By Jane Black | March 22 at 10:00 AM BOLINAS, Calif. — A few hundred feet from Bill Niman’s modest ranch house is a barn he built to house pigs. It was the late 1970s. Niman already had been raising hogs for a few years outdoors when he got his hands on National Hog Farmer…
Howdy Friends, Our national celebrated Ag Day yesterday. Farmers got their annual pat on the back in appreciation for their hard work and productivity. The data showing how many families each farm family produces food for were once again displayed. All this celebration went on in the midst of three years of below cost of…
March 21, 2017 UPDATE: TESTER ANNOUNCES BILL TO BAN BRAZILIAN BEEF (U.S. Senate) – U.S. Senator Jon Tester today announced legislation to temporarily ban the importation of Brazilian beef to protect American consumers from consuming rotten meat. Following news that Brazilian meatpackers have been exporting rotten beef and trying to cover it up with cancer-causing…
SF SPECIAL: A CONSTANT BATTLE FOR BEEF CHECKOFF TRANSPARENCY By Anna McConnell 3/21/2017 It all started when former Kansas City Starinvestigative reporter Mike McGraw overheard a conversation at the 2012 National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. Five years later, he’s unsure exactly what he heard and can’t locate his notes from the…
Roundup by Monsanto. (photo: Getty Images) The EPA May Have Been in Bed With Big Pesticide for Years By Charles Pierce, Esquire 20 March 17 The miracles of the discovery process, part infinity. here is, at the moment, a massive lawsuit against the Monsanto company regarding Roundup, its most popular pesticide. The company is being…
by PETER PRENGAMAN | Associated Press | March 20, 2017 RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A scandal over alleged bribery in Brazil’s meat-packing industry to allow the sale of expired meat deepened Monday as the European Union, China and Chile decided to halt some meat imports from Latin America’s largest nation. The developments represent a…