By Peter Whoriskey | July 5 KALONA, Iowa — This small town has become a landmark in the organic-farm movement, and it has nothing to do with foodies or hippies. Instead it has been Amish farmers who, in their suspenders and wide-brimmed hats, have helped develop one of the densest clusters of organic farms in…
By Paul Bland for Public Justice | Friday Jun 30, 2017 · 7:45 AM MDT Your Fourth-of-July Barbeque Isn’t As American As You Thought The self-proclaimed nationalist, pro-rancher Trump Administration has decided to let Industrial Agriculture flat-out lie to meat-eating American consumers about where their food was raised. The timing of this betrayal is pretty…
Amazon to Buy Whole Foods Amazon shocked many in the food world with news two weeks ago that it plans to buy the grocery retailer Whole Foods for $13.7 billion. The news amplified concerns about Amazon’s size and growth, leading many to call for antitrust scrutiny of the deal. The deal will likely be reviewed…
by Joe Fassler | June 27th , 2017 A state District Court hands independent ranchers a long-awaited win. Last week, the United States District Court for the District of Montana issued a decision that could have major implications for the beef industry inside the state and beyond. Judge Brian Morris upheld a lower court’s decision…
By Aidan Fortune | 22-Jun-2017 A lawsuit has been filed against the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in an attempt to force it to re-introduce country of origin labelling. The Ranchers-Cattlemen Legal Action Fund, United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) and Cattle Producers of Washington (CPW) filed the lawsuit in the United States District…
June 1st , 2017 by Baylen J. Linnekin But a growing chorus of politicians and advocates think mandatory checkoffs could use a little transparency. In 2010, Michael Moss, a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times investigative reporter, exposed how a government-created entity was using “checkoff” money it raised through federally-mandated fees it charged America’s dairy farmers…
by Deena Shanker May 23, 2017, 3:00 AM MDT Sellers of high-end pork, beef, and chicken agree: there simply aren’t enough facilities to humanely and safely kill their animals. Everything at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, N.Y., has a story. Servers, chefs, and farmers at the restaurant, which was recently ranked No….
May 2nd , 2017 by Baylen J. Linnekin When Americans grumble about how our food system is broken, the slaughter and processing of farm animals are often at the heart of their critiques. One hundred years ago, Upton Sinclair’s damning novel, The Jungle, exposed many gruesome and unsanitary practices in the food system of his…
By Peter Whoriskey May 1 at 7:21 PM The High Plains dairy complex reflects the new scale of the U.S. organic industry: It is big. Stretching across miles of pastures and feedlots north of Greeley, Colo., the complex is home to more than 15,000 cows, making it more than 100 times the size of a…
By Mike Weaver Published April 27, 2017 I am a chicken farmer in West Virginia. I’ve been a farmer all my life and have raised chickens for almost 15 years under contract. I am writing this open letter to you because farmers and ranchers need your help badly. I voted for you and supported your…