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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
Search Results for: rural poverty
American Cattle Industry is on the Brink – How did it happen?
It took a sales job and help from USDA The year was 1996, the National Cattlemen’s Association had just become the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA). The new entity included the large meatpackers and some of the biggest pharmaceutical companies … Continue reading
The Secret at 1400 Independence Avenue
We have almost accomplished in 245 years what took the Romans nearly 1,000 years – losing a republic. Like our farmers and ranchers, Saint Paul’s Husbandman quote, inscribed above the entrance to the USDA headquarters in Washington DC has become … Continue reading
Seeking Freedom in America – Modern day slaves are denied justice
March 25, 2003 By Mike Callicrate “A 38-year-old poultry grower in my county in North Carolina committed suicide in his chicken house Sunday morning. After the first shock and sorrow for the family, I felt anger with myself for not … Continue reading
How We Got Here … The food security crisis in America
And how do we return to a safe and resilient food system? The year was 1981. It was the year we lost the cattle market. Clark Willingham, an accountant and an attorney, not ever a cattleman but certainly a wine … Continue reading
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
