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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
Surviving in the land of the giants – A look back
Mike Callicrate says he was nearly driven out of business by a packing company that refused to buy cattle after he wrote an article criticizing the company. (Karen Krien/Special to The Wichita Eagle) Market dominance of huge agribusiness firms has … Continue reading
Celebrating National Pig Day
Improving the lives of pigs can make life better for all of us The pig is a long-time friend of the human species, an essential contributor to our food supply and rural economies. Once known as the mortgage lifter, the … Continue reading
How Can Something So Obviously Flawed Still Exist?
Nothing will change as long as big companies control the market By Mike Callicrate Post Pandemic – Nothing has Changed – Nearly every person in America has seen the empty grocery shelves, the sick and dying meat plant workers, the … Continue reading
Mandatory Electronic Ear Tags- Again!
By Gilles Stockton February 16, 2023 Once again, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) is insisting that cattle in interstate commerce be identified with an electronic ear tag (EID). (see: Use of Electronic Identification Eartags as Official Identification in Cattle and … Continue reading
Food System Success or Failure? It’s time to decide
The pandemic exposed the frailties of our current corporate controlled food system. With the opportunity in the upcoming new farm bill, will we knowingly continue with the same failed system that serves concentrated power, or will we build a better … Continue reading
