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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
Category Archives: General Advocacy
Ban On Meat Packer Ownership: Too Little, Too Late
By Mike Callicrate Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, a longtime advocate for fair markets, is once again reintroducing a bill that would make it unlawful for meat packers to own livestock more than seven days prior to slaughter. Similar legislation has … Continue reading
Broke Cattle Markets, Broken Cattle Feeder
The U.S. cattle industry has lost nearly half our cattle ranchers and over 70% of our feeding operations. Is it time to do something about the abusive market power of the meat industry? A self-explanatory table and a chart showing … Continue reading
Real World Ranch Restoration
In late March, a fascinating group of forward-thinkers, innovators and change-makers converged at Callicrate Cattle Company for a ten-day intensive regenerative farm planning and design workshop led by Darren Doherty, a world recognized consultant and facilitator. Owner Mike Callicrate met … Continue reading
PLANTRIOTIC: PP#74: Mike Callicrate – Cattle Rancher & Part-Time Vegetarian
Mike Callicrate is not like the typical Plantriotic Podcast guest…and he is also not the typical cattle rancher and beef supplier. Mike is a local farmer who has been working for decades to defend the small farm lifestyle and business … Continue reading
