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Meat Wagon: How now, mad cow?
'Downergate' reveals gaps in mad-cow testing and trouble in school-lunch sourcing |
Tom Philpott |
14 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| In Meat Wagon, we round up the latest outrages from the meat and livestock industries. Remember those 'downer' cows that got forced through the kill line and into the food supply in California's Westland/Hallmark beef-packing plant -- the ones caught on tape by the Humane Society of the United States? Rest assured, friends -- that was an isolated incident. Thus USDA assures us in a recent interview. Only ... not so much. For those who want to believe that downers ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, animal welfare, Big Ag, fashion, food, Food and Drug Administration, industrial ag, TV, vegetarianism and veganism (all these topics) |
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Meat Wagon: Beef behemoth
If deals go through, three firms will own 90 percent of the U.S. beef market |
Tom Philpott |
05 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| In Meat Wagon, we round up the latest outrages from the meat and livestock industries. You'd be hard-pressed to find an industry more consolidated than beef-packing. Just four companies slaughter 83.5 percent of cows consumed in the United States. In standard antitrust theory, a market stops being competive when the four biggest players control 40 percent. The beef industry's extraordinary concentration gives the Big Four massive leverage to dictate how beef is ra ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, Big Ag, business, food, industrial ag (all these topics) |
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Cutting Carbofuran
EPA attempt to ban bird-killing pesticide runs into opposition |
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03 Mar 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 4:54 PM on 03 Mar 2008 The U.S. EPA has proposed a ban on a pesticide lethal to birds, but is running into resistance from the company that produces the chemical. The pesticide, carbofuran, is typically used on crops such as corn, alfalfa, and potatoes, and has been linked to the dieoff of 558 separate bird flocks since 1972. A manager with pesticide manufacturer FMC Corp. says carbofuran, "when use ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, Big Ag, business, Congress, industrial ag, news, politics, toxics, US EPA, wildlife (all these topics) |
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Forbidden fruits (and vegetables)
Why the USDA wants to stop local food |
Kurt Michael Friese |
03 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This is one of those "in case you missed it" kind of posts. In yesterday's New York Times, Minnesota farmer Jack Hedin wrote an op-ed that shows very clearly how the federal deck is stacked against small, sustainable, local farms and in favor of Earl Butz's "get-big-or-get-out" mentality. The commodity farm program effectively forbids farmers who usually grow corn or the other four federally subsidized commodity crops (soybeans, rice, whe ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, Big Ag, food, local food, politics (all these topics) |
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Biofuels: good for agrochemical/GMO biz
GMO giant Monsanto wows Wall Street, consolidates its grip on South America |
Tom Philpott |
13 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| While debate rages on Gristmill and elsewhere about whether biofuels are worth a damn ecologically, investors in agribusiness firms are quietly counting their cash.As corn and soy prices approach all-time highs, driven up by government biofuel mandates, farmers are scrambling to plant as much as they can -- and lashing the earth with chemicals to maximize yields. At a Wall Street meeting on Tuesday, genetically modified seed/herbicide giant Monsanto promised investors ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, Argentina, Big Ag, biofuels, Brazil, business, energy, food, GMOs, industrial ag (all these topics) |
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Dominant Traits
Monsanto's latest court triumph cloaks massive market power |
Tom Philpott |
17 Jan 2008 |
Victual Reality |
| How does your garden grow? Photo: iStockphoto At first glance, it was an open-and-shut case. In 1998, Mississippi farmer Homan McFarling bought soybean seeds with genetic traits owned by Monsanto, then as now the world's dominant provider of genetically modified seeds -- and also the biggest herbicide maker. Like all farmers who buy GM seeds, McFarling signed a contract obliging him not to ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, Big Ag, business, food, Victual Reality (all these topics) |
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Feedlot meat production: nothing if not profitable
Tyson Foods chief nets $10 million -- oops, no, $24 million |
Tom Philpott |
27 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Update [2007-12-28 10:14:4 by Tom Philpott]:According to AP, Tyson CEO Richard Bond made total compensation of $24 million in 2007, not $9.88 million, as reported by Bloomberg. Here's how industrial meat production works: you stuff animals into pens, feed them genetically modified, nutritionally suspect corn and soy (along with growth hormones), and force them to wallow in their own waste while keeping them alive with regular lashings of antibiotics.Then you haul the ... |
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| Topics: industrial ag, business, Big Ag, agriculture, food (all these topics) |
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Swine, feedlots, and flu
No holiday cheer from the meat industry |
Tom Philpott |
26 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| This isn't what you want to hear about in the wake of the holiday feast, but here goes. From a meat-industry trade journal:A new strain of swine influenza -- H2N3, which belongs to the group of H2 influenza viruses that last infected humans during the 1957 pandemic, has been identified by researchers. However, this new strain has a molecular twist: It is composed of avian and swine influenza genes.Yikes: Bird and pig flus, combined into one that can infect humans. As th ... |
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| Topics: news, Big Ag, agriculture, industrial ag, health (all these topics) |
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Udderly Ridiculous
U.S. EPA proposes easing reporting requirements for factory farms |
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21 Dec 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 3:28 PM on 21 Dec 2007 The U.S. EPA has proposed a "better approach" to making factory farms report their levels of air-polluting emissions -- don't make 'em report them at all! Under a proposal put forth today, commercial livestock operations would not have to report hazardous chemical pollution if the source was animal waste. The rule change, which would exempt Big Ag from three separate l ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, Big Ag, news, regulation, US EPA (all these topics) |
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Sterile Soil, Dirty Hands
An EPA-approved pesticide is worse than the one it's replacing |
Tom Philpott |
06 Dec 2007 |
Victual Reality |
| "The soil is, as a matter of fact, full of live organisms. It is essential to conceive of it as something pulsating with life, not as a dead or inert mass." -- Albert Howard, The Soil and Health, 1947 Strawberry fields poisoned forever? Photo: iStockphoto In October, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency granted temporary approval for use of methyl iodide, a highly to ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, Big Ag, food, toxics, US EPA, Victual Reality (all these topics) |
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They Were Cobbed
Busting ethanol market bad news for investors |
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19 Nov 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 11:02 AM on 19 Nov 2007 The U.S. ethanol boom has been brought up short by market glut, making corn-based fuel "2007's worst energy investment," a Bloomberg News Service article declared today. President Bush made ethanol a centerpiece of his energy plan and lavished it with subsidies; ethanol distilleries that went up quickly in anticipation are now having to shut down. Producer Pacific Ethanol Inc., backed by Mi ... |
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| Topics: Big Ag, biofuels, business, energy, ethanol, news (all these topics) |
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Edward Scythe-Hands
Former N.D. governor nominated as Agriculture Secretary |
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31 Oct 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 3:36 PM on 31 Oct 2007 George W. Bush has nominated Edward Schafer, a former North Dakota governor (and Republican, natch) to replace resigning Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns. The mustachioed Schafer must be confirmed by the Senate. Schafer's nomination was unexpected by Big Ag -- said one farm lobbyist, "Who's that?" sources: Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Reuters < Previous | Next ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, Big Ag, Department of Agriculture, news, politics (all these topics) |
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In the Belly of the Beast
The savory challenges of being a sustainable chef in Big Ag country |
Kurt Michael Friese |
11 Oct 2007 |
Grist Feature |
| Fifteen years ago, I left a great job teaching at a prestigious northeast culinary school to move back to Iowa and be an executive chef at a Holiday Inn. It was difficult to find people, in Vermont or Iowa, who did not think I was certifiably insane. Those who thought they knew Iowa claimed, "There's no there there!" And those who did not asked, "Iowa? I ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, Big Ag, food, green living, Iowa, recipes, sustainable ag (all these topics) |
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ADM's man at the USDA
USDA secretary resigns; industrial-corn man takes charge |
Tom Philpott |
21 Sep 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Big doings at the USDA yesterday: Mike Johanns, the reliably pro-agribiz former governor of Nebraska, resigned from his post as USDA chair -- right in the middle of Farm Bill negotiations, now in the Senate. He says he's going to run for the Senate seat that Chuck Hagel is vacating. Chuck Conner, currently the USDA's no. 2 man, will be the agency's acting secretary. Conner joined the Bush administration in 2001 as the president's "special assistant" on ag i ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, Big Ag, business, Department of Agriculture, industrial ag, politics (all these topics) |
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Cali water madness
Interior Dept. plans huge water giveaway to Big Agribiz |
David Roberts |
29 Aug 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Brad Plumer points to this, which tells the story of how the Interior Department is planning to give away gargantuan amounts of water to Big Agribiz in California. If you'd like to dig into the background details, check out some posts we ran by Lloyd G. Carter, president of California's Save Our Streams council -- here, here, and here. It's mind-boggling. |
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| Topics: agriculture, Big Ag, California, Department of Interior, politics (all these topics) |
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Swine By Us
Court rules against green groups, lets factory farms off the hook |
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19 Jul 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| Swine By Us Court rules against green groups, lets factory farms off the hook Some 2,600 livestock companies are participating in a sweet deal from the U.S. EPA. In exchange for paying a minimal fee and agreeing to participate in an air-quality data-collection program, factory farms can basically be exempt from Clean Air Act requirements for 30 months. When the swap was announced ... |
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| Topics: ag policy, agriculture, Big Ag, industrial ag, litigation, news, US EPA (all these topics) |
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Can't They Just Use the Ocean?
Schwarzenegger announces $5.9 billion plan to battle drought |
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18 Jul 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| Can't They Just Use the Ocean? Schwarzenegger announces $5.9 billion plan to battle drought California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced a $5.9 billion plan to prepare for his state's almost-certain continued drought and population boom. Taking the need to douse Big Agriculture as a given, Schwarzenegger called for construction of new reservoirs and dams -- but, true t ... |
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| Topics: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Big Ag, California, news, state politics, water crisis (all these topics) |
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Ag policy as if people mattered
Time to kick it old school on the farm bill. |
Tom Philpott |
24 Jun 2007 |
Gristmill |
| The terms of debate around the 2007 farm bill's controversial commodity title have gotten rather narrow.On the one hand, you've got the House subcommittee on ag commodities, which essentially cut and pasted commodity language from the subsidy-heavy 2002 farm bill into the 2007 version now being drafted.On the other hand, you've got a chorus of critics, ranging from Oxfam to the Cato Institute to the Environmental Working Group, demanding an end to ag subsidies. This gro ... |
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| Topics: ag policy, ag subsidies, agriculture, Big Ag, food, legislation, politics (all these topics) |
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Bush 'responding' to Supreme Court
Not exactly |
David Roberts |
14 May 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Wondering what to make of this? President Bush responded to a Supreme Court environmental ruling by settling on regulatory changes that don't need congressional approval, the White House said Monday. Bush is announcing the steps he is directing his administration to take in a Rose Garden appearance later Monday. Read on down a little bit: In his State of the Union address in January, Bush set a goal of reducing gas consumption by 20 percent over 10 years. Und ... |
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| Topics: Big Ag, George Bush, energy, litigation, Big Oil, energy efficiency (all these topics) |
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Leakage, spatial and temporal
Biofuel rating system may be premature |
biodiversivist |
30 Apr 2007 |
Gristmill |
| I received an email yesterday from Richard Plevin over at Berkeley: I can only conclude from your post on Grist that you didn't actually read our report. The implications that we are either unaware of the environmental issues surrounding biofuels, or that we dismiss them, are incorrect. Your post does a disservice to those reading it by suggesting this. I encourage you to read our report. Likewise, I could conclude that he didn't read my post since he missed ... |
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| Topics: energy, biofuels, Big Ag, biodiversity (all these topics) |
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More bitter chocolate
What the choco-giants are up to. |
Tom Philpott |
30 Apr 2007 |
Gristmill |
| A couple of weeks ago, we noted here that Big Food is haranguing the FDA to loosen the definition of 'chocolate' to allow for adulteration. At the time, I didn't know why the industrial chocolate giants were agitating for this dubious cause. Now I think I know: cocoa-bean prices rose abruptly last year, pushed up by strong global demand and bad weather and political unrest in the Ivory Coast, the world's most prolific cocoa-producing nation. By scheming to subs ... |
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| Topics: food, Food and Drug Administration, politics, Big Ag (all these topics) |
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Challenging Monsanto in Munich
A guest blog from farmer's rights legend Hope Shand |
Tom Philpott |
28 Apr 2007 |
Gristmill |
| In the global fight to preserve what's left of agricultural biodiversity from the ravages of the multinational chemical/seed giants and their government lackeys, no civil-society organization stands taller than the ETC Group. Among other projects, ETC documents the growing dominance over the global seed market by a handful of firms: Monsanto, Syngenta, and Dupont. The following guest post, by ETC research director Hope Shand, details Monsanto's quest to enforce it ... |
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| Topics: Big Ag, biodiversity, food, GMOs, industrial ag (all these topics) |
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Unrigging the game
How to stop the agribiz giants from impeding the growth of local food. |
Tom Philpott |
26 Apr 2007 |
Gristmill |
| In today's Victual Reality I discussed how a few companies dominate U.S. food production, and how their market girth weighs heavily on efforts to rebuild local-oriented, environmentally and socially responsible food networks. Now I'd like to add a few words on what might be done to remedy the situation. First of all, it's important to note that heavily consolidated food markets rig the game to favor large-scale, industrial-style farming. As companies like Cargill a ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, Big Ag, business, food, industrial ag, local food, sustainable ag (all these topics) |
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Bitter chocolate
ADM gets its filthy paws on an immaculate confection |
Tom Philpott |
20 Apr 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Earlier today, Trina Stout brought to our attention a food crime in progress: the FDA is quietly preparing to let manufacturers adulterate chocolate by replacing cocoa butter with cheap vegetable oil. This will allow them to cut costs on candy bars and use cocoa butter for more valuable purposes -- thus undermining the quality of the chocolate most people eat and further brutalizing palates. I did some checking around, figuring I'd find Archer Daniels Midland's ... |
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| Topics: agriculture, Big Ag, business, food (all these topics) |
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Music to the ears of us corn hataz
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David Roberts |
18 Apr 2007 |
Gristmill |
| From the WSJ energy blog: Is the anti-ethanol crusade beginning to gather steam among mainstream Western publications? Two weeks after The Economist confessed, in a stunned-sounding editorial that it found itself in agreement with Fidel Castro's vehement critique of foods-as-fuels, Foreign Affairs magazine has also jumped on board. In the magazine's May edition, two professors from the University of Minnesota write that, like Castro and The Economist, t ... |
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| Topics: Big Ag, biofuels, business, energy, politics, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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