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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
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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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My Tweets- 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 Categories
Food Policy & Law
E. Coli Confessions Part I
by John Munsell | Oct 11, 2011
Opinion
Editor's Note: This is the first part in a series written by John Munsell of Miles City, MT, who explains how the small meat plant his family owned for 59 years ran afoul of USDA's meat inspection program. The events he writes about began a decade ago, but remain relevant today.
They say that confession is good for the soul. I've been involved in a series of ugly events since my plant in 2002 recalled 270 pounds of ground beef contaminated with E.coli O157:H7 and now want to admit the embarrassing truth for public review. moreTags
- advanced meat recovery
- antibiotics
- beef checkoff
- Big Food
- BPI
- Callicrate
- Callicrate Beef
- Callicrate Cattle Co.
- Cargill
- Chipotle
- Colorado Springs
- COOL
- Dudley Butler
- e. coli
- Eric Schlosser
- fast food nation
- food Inc.
- Foodopoly
- GIPSA
- HSUS
- IBP
- Industrial Agriculture
- JBS
- McDonald's
- meat packers
- Mike Callicrate
- Monsanto
- NCBA
- OCM
- Organization for Competitive Markets
- pink slime
- R-CALF
- Ranch Foods Direct
- Rick Hughes
- Smithfield
- Sodexo
- steroids
- Sysco
- Tom Vilsack
- Tyson
- U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance
- USDA
- Vandana Shiva
- Walmart
- zilmax
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National News Supplement
Keep up the good fight Mike. There is a change in consciousness coming, just slow coming. If a revolution comes in this country it will be because of the Food Supply!
MIKE,
IF I CAN HELP PLEASE LET ME KNOW!
DR GUS
THE WORLD IS CHANGING ,BUT NOT WELL.
STAY VIGILANT!
CONTACT NATURAL NEWS.COM THEY WILL HELP!
MIKE, KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK! I BELONG TO “WIFE” (WOMEN INVOLVED IN FARM ECONOMICS) WE ALL ENJOY ALL YOUR INTERESTING, INFORMATIVE NOTES/ARTICLES. WE ALL HOPE FOR A CHANGE IN NOV 2012.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Ready. What can we do to help Mike?
As being a Vegan in the Srpings, I love your vision and know how important it is to bring local farmers and and the public together, Having a local CSA, a variety of small markets and Pikes Peak Urban garden, we as a community neead more choices. As you said, we need a place that we can all gather. Taking us back to our “Roots” so to speak. This movement is creating jobs and teaching our youth the importance of community, health and self sustaining with urban agriculture.
Keep the vision alive, presevere, and make changes for the positive future we all need. 🙂
Go figure. A retired bull rider that’s still brave enough to take the bull by the horns and castrate a few along the way! We’re on board Mike we’ll do our part also partner! Does your banders work on politicians?
No one any better to inform & fight for the public of the deceptive practices in the cattle industry…
Mike, have you a blog where you can recommend certain restaurants to eat out from? Thanks in advance
Helmut, If you are in the Colorado Springs or Denver area:https://ranchfoodsdirect.com/restaurant-partners/
Good ag business practices are good environmental policy. Thank you Mike!