China Could Actually Improve US Pork. Here’s How. If the Chinese purchase of American pork giant Smithfield goes through, producers will have to ramp down use of at least one dodgy feed additive. By Tom Philpott | Mon Jun. 3, 2013 3:00 AM PDT

Two different perspectives on the deal in the two articles below. Review of These Investments Needs to Be Rethought Thea Lee is the deputy chief of staff at theAFL-CIO, where she has also served as policy director and chief international economist. She is co-author of "A Field Guide to the Global Economy" and serves on…

Poultry plant fire in China kills at least 119, authorities say By Chris Scott on 6/3/2013 Authorities in China are investigating the cause of a fire in a poultry processing plant in the northeast province of Jilin Monday that killed at least 119 people, according to the Xinhua official news agency and provincial government reports….

Chinese Bid for U.S. Pork Had Links to Wall Street By DAVID BARBOZA Published: June 2, 2013 When a Chinese company bid $4.7 billion last week to take overSmithfield Foods, America’s biggest pork producer, the deal was announced by the company’s Chinese executives. Associated Press Wan Long is the chairman of Shuanghui International, a $7…

Organization for Competitive Markets May/June 2013 Dear Mike, OCM is providing this service as a method of sending you update information in a timely manner. Please support OCM’s efforts to advocate for fair, transparent and competitive markets by helping us grow our newsletter email list! Monsanto’s growing monopoly When the Supreme Court unanimously sided with…

House compromises on labeling of genetically modified foods By Mark Pazniokas Friday, May 24, 2013 House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey (back to camera) huddles with House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr. Related Links Senate, House wrangling over state’s first-in-the-nation GMO labeling The House of Representatives voted 114-7 early Friday to approve a compromise bill…

Agriculture Monsanto gives up fight for GM plants in Europe The world’s largest producer of seeds, Monsanto, has apparently given up on attempts to spread its genetically modified plant varieties in Europe. A German media report said the firm would end all lobbying for approval. The world’s largest producer of seeds, Monsanto, has apparently given…

China — directly or indirectly — will pay American executives as much as it takes for as long as it takes. And then? Well, in the case of this Smithfield deal, I guess we’ll find out if bourgeois pigs really do make the best sausages. "Smithfield Bosses to Get $85.4 Million from Chinese Deal" www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-31/smithfield-bosses-to-get-85-4-million-from-chinese-deal.html…

Roiled by mystery GMO wheat, U.S. races to reassure buyers By Julie Ingwersen and Charles Abbott CHICAGO/WASHINGTON | Thu May 30, 2013 9:30pm EDT (Reuters) – U.S. officials raced to quell global alarm on Thursday over the first-ever discovery of an unapproved strain of genetically modified wheat, working to figure out how the rogue grain…