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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
“I really want to talk about Zilmax!”
October 19, 2012: “I really want to talk about Zilmax” – Mike Callicrate View Full Video and Related Post: Edible Education 103: The Politics and Economics of Meat by Mike Callicrate and Bob Martin with Michael Pollan at UC Berkeley … Continue reading
It’s Called Stealing – What Big Retailers and Meat Packers are Doing to Cattlemen
Fifteen years ago, in responding to the question of why producers were receiving so little for their livestock, Dr. John Helmuth (economist, meat industry expert, and longtime critic of meat industry consolidation) said, “There is an economic term to describe … Continue reading
RE: Cheaper Feed Comes too Late for Some Cattlefeeders – It wasn’t the drought that put cattle feeders out of business
Mr. Duff has experienced all the risks inherent in the business, from weather risks, including killing winter blizzards; times of low prices for cattle and high feed costs. What Mr. Duff and the other thirty-five thousand feeding operations that have … Continue reading
Tyson Foods bans using cattle with Zilmax growth hormone
AirTalk with Larry Mantle for August 12, 2013 Listen to interview: Tyson foods said it will no longer buy cattle fed Zilmax, a growth-inducing drug. What was the company’s motivation for the decision? Last Thursday market traders noticed cattle prices … Continue reading
Did Tyson Ban Doping Cows With Zilmax To Boost Foreign Sales?
China, Russia and many countries in the European Union have banned drugs still allowed in the U.S. [audio:http://nobullmikecall.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/NPR_Callicrate_Zilmax.mp3] by: All Things Considered | Peggy Lowe Tyson Foods said it will stop using the controversial drug, which fattens cattle, because of … Continue reading
