Consolidated food production is more vulnerable to disruptions from diseases and plays a role in spreading them.
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As Congress prepares to pass the Farm Bill, many advocates have visited Washington to promote policies that challenge corporate consolidation in the food system. Food & Power has a roundup of their proposals.
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The average dairy farmer managed to turn an annual profit just twice between 2000 and 2021 driving two-thirds of family-scale farms out of business, a new report finds. Export-oriented dairy policies have failed to secure fair prices for farmers.
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Shell buys biogas company that will turn cow manure into burnable gas. Opponents say these taxpayer supported projects expand dirty gas infrastructure and polluting industrial animal farms.
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Antitrust enforcers made merging milk monopolists divest plants to preserve regional competition. Now those plants are closing.
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Methane emissions from industrial hog and dairy operations are rising and contributing to climate change, yet the industry faces little regulation.
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Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced 10 new appointments to an independent committee advising food safety and inspection policy.
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A shrinking handful of corporations and cooperatives control a growing portion of global dairy production, to the detriment of rural communities and the environment, argues a new report by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP).
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Presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker introduced a bill on Monday to radically reform an animal agriculture system that currently puts independent producers, rural communities, and consumers at risk.
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Last week, Congress passed the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, a.k.a, “the Farm Bill.” While Democrats managed to evade Republican efforts to add work requirements to SNAP benefits, this Farm Bill otherwise maintains a status quo that pushes farms to get big or get out, promotes exports over supply management, and benefits agribusiness interests.
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Last week, seven corporate agriculture interest groups sued the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to halt the extension of a public comment period on a proposed mega-dairy expansion in Winona County, MN. The suit highlights broader efforts by agribusiness to silence opposition from rural residents who speak out against large concentrated animal feeding operations in their communities.
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On January 4, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Idaho’s “ag-gag” law, finding it an unconstitutional violation of free speech. The decision marks the first time a federal appeals court has ruled against an ag-gag law. Opponents of the law, which had been in effect since 2014, hope that the ruling will provide a precedent for overturning ag-gag laws in several other states.
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