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“The money and political power of Wall Street has stolen America’s food system, bankrupted our farmers and ranchers, mined our soils, polluted our environment, wasted our precious water, and left us with expensive industrially produced food that makes us sick.” – Occupy Wall Street Food Day, December 2011 -
Industrial Agriculture and Urban Sprawl – A model of growth that’s made to fail. -
Ranching Reboot Episode 4, Mike Callicrate “It’s time for a third revolution against monopolies”
Above: Ranching Reboot – Episode 4 – Mike Callicrate, owner of Ranch Foods Direct, sat down with us to talk about all manner of things from cattle markets, to public food spaces, the Bander, his feedlot and the pathway he built to market.
He shares valuable lessons learned from fighting against the commodity production system and how he’s built his own pathway to the consumer.
We talk about small community slaughter plants and public meat spaces and what that could look like going in to the future. We discuss environmental challenges, the food police and what it means when a Dollar General comes to town.
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- This Cattleman's Got A Beef
Photo: Sean Cayton - 2003People producing good food from happy animals, while improving the environment, shouldn’t have to fear the government.
Photo above featured in a 2003 article: This cattleman's got a beef, Mike Callicrate and Ranch Foods Direct take on the big meat packersby Kathryn Eastburn
Author Archives: Mike Callicrate
‘After-The Fact’ Price Reporting is No Solution to Cattle Crisis
May 25,1999 ‘After-The Fact’ Price Reporting is No Solution to Cattle Crisis Analyzing the Proposed Price Reporting Bill The present Packer-NCBA proposal is a disgrace and disservice to cattle producers and should be completely discarded. In some ways this proposal … Continue reading
‘I blame you,’ IBP head tells producers
Blaming the victim – IBP CEO and President, Robert Peterson, blames the people he is stealing from for the disastrous state of the cattle industry. Peterson blamed the Cattlemen in the room for the broken market he and the other … Continue reading
This has been a week of lost court battles, e-coli, tight cattle supplies, slam dunking of the futures markets, and lower prices paid for cattle.
Who will write today’s global version of The Jungle? NOTE: Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal was published in 2001 by Eric Schlosser. First serialized by Rolling Stone in 1999, the book has drawn comparisons to … Continue reading
Dear Colorado Senators – Labeling our beef should not be voluntary
Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper should stand with Coloradans and support mandatory COOL Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) for beef is back on the menu. The American Beef Labeling Act (S. 2716) is a bipartisan food security bill that would guarantee consumers know … Continue reading
A New Day Dawns for a Fair Farm Bill
“We are a cost to be reduced, a resource to be extracted.” Mike Callicrate witnessed Big Ag’s exploitation of producers, workers, and rural communities, and was boxed out of the cattle market after taking Big Ag on. He knows we … Continue reading
