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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
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
The Defining Moment – When Big Chicken Bought Big Beef
Twenty-one years ago this week, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association advised cattlemen all was well. What was the real reason Tyson bought Iowa Beef Processors (IBP), the biggest beef packer in the world,? “Tyson said he was attracted to IBP … Continue reading
American Cattle Industry on the Brink – Ignoring the Obvious
Truth loses to big money and political power. After the 1996 South Dakota Auction Markets meeting and South Dakota Governor’s Cattle Conference of the same year, and following the 2004 trial in Montgomery, Alabama where a jury found Tyson/IBP guilty … Continue reading
Breaking Points – Understanding the Challenges of the Meatpacking Monopoly
This is the best overview of the destructive meatpacking monopoly and the challenges in dealing with it. The Biden administration will have to do a lot more, and soon. USDA, FTC, and the Justice Department should file a flurry of … Continue reading
