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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
When Wealth and Power Become Too Concentrated
The “Omaha Platform” of the People’s Party (1892) In 1892, the People’s, or Populist, Party crafted a platform that indicted the corruptions of the Gilded Age and promised government policies to aid “the people.” PREAMBLE The conditions which surround us … Continue reading
America Needs a New Government and a New Food System
“Our old idea of government was that of the policeman whose job it was to keep the peace, leaving the individual free to do almost anything he might wish to do.” Well, it didn’t work! “This idea of government at … Continue reading
The Ear Tag Boys
By Gilles Stockton The boys at USDA and the National Cattlemen’s Big Business Association must be really bummed that their shares in ear tag companies have crashed along with the rest of the Wall Street economy. Last year it looked … Continue reading
Tyson’s Version of Physical Distancing
Wouldn’t many smaller decentralized processing plants reduce our risk and serve our nation better. Four meatpackers essentially control the slaughter market in the U.S. All are multinational, searching the globe for the cheapest beef to falsely label and sell in … Continue reading
Considering Local vs. Global and National Supply Chains
What kind of food system serves people best? Local or Global? Worried shoppers from all across the country left shelves bare at grocery stores last week. Volume was up two and a half times a normal week at Ranch Foods … Continue reading
