by Joe Fassler, H. Claire Brown | October 17th , 2017 On Tuesday, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it was withdrawing the Farmer Fair Practice rules—or the Grain Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards Administration (“GIPSA”) rules, as they’re more commonly known—effectively saying, “Know what? Never mind.” It was a devastating blow to…
By Deena Shanker and Polly Mosendz | August 14, 2017, 3:00 AM MDT Big poultry and meat producers have absorbed many of the organic grocer’s practices—and become its suppliers. Whole Foods Market Inc. doesn’t just sell chickens. It sells shoppers on the idea of chickens raised and treated better than prevailing standards: no antibiotics, no…
May 5, 2017 By Steven M. Sellers Large factory farms increasingly occupy rural landscapes once dotted with small family farms, and their concentrated waste has produced a wave of toxic tort litigation. Known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, the facilities confine and raise large populations of livestock. Environmentalists say these operations supply food to such…