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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
Tag Archives: R-CALF
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
Merchants of Doubt Exposes the Bull
Refusing to believe something doesn’t make it untrue In last week’s Atlantic article, Farmland Without Farmers, Wendell Berry describes how industrial agriculture has replaced men with machines, depriving the American landscape of its stewards and the culture they built. He … Continue reading
Special Report: The End of the Trail – How Government Destroyed Free Markets for Family Ranchers
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s inaction has led to the near-destruction of American family ranchers. Over 17,000 family ranches will disappear this year. Over 100,000 family ranchers have left the profession since 2009. It’s a tragedy as world-renowned American beef … Continue reading
Alan Newport’s irresponsible and unethical post
Dear Mr. Newport, You claim in your editorial, “HSUS Shows Continued Pattern of Dishonest Behavior,” that you “despise liars and lying.” You go on to promote outrageous and untrue allegations about HSUS, in quoting probably the slickest purveyor of deception … Continue reading
Beef’s Raw Edges – Views on Beef Quality
Bill Bullard, CEO of Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund and Mike Callicrate of Callicrate Cattle Company discuss their issues with the taste of beef. Taste test winners tout drug-free method In American Royal contest, steaks from cattle that weren’t fed growth … Continue reading
