Last week, several senators called on the USDA to stop giving federal trade-related farm aid to foreign-owned corporations, particularly Brazil’s JBS, the largest meatpacker in the world. This follows a bill by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., that would require USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service to only purchase foods from American companies, when available.
Read MoreLate last month, the Trump administration cleared the way for chicken plants to increase their processing line speeds from 140 birds per minute to 175 birds per minute. The change deals a blow to workers and reverses the efforts of labor and animal welfare advocates, who fought to halt poultry line speed increases in 2014. It also indicates the administration will likely soon remove line speed limits in hog slaughter and lower workplace injury reporting requirements throughout all sectors of the economy.
Read MoreLast week, a coalition of farmers, fishermen, and food system activists launched a new campaign that calls on three dominant food service management companies, Aramark, Compass Group, and Sodexo, to increase local and humane food purchasing, invest in racial equity, and reduce their carbon emissions, among other demands. These companies represent 77.5 percent of the food service management industry, or the business of running cafeterias and restaurants for hospitals, schools, stadiums, corporate headquarters, and other institutions.
Read MoreSince roughly 2009, Americans may have been paying too much for their pork chops, barbeque, hams, and trotters.
Read MoreMcLane Distributors, a subsidiary of multinational conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, is suing to overturn a Texas regulation that prevents monopolization in the liquor industry. The company, which serves numerous retailers, is seeking a wine distribution license. But because their owner, Warren Buffett, is also invested in Walmart, which sells beer and wine in the state, the license would violate state regulations designed to prevent concentration of power in the alcohol sector.
Read MoreOver the past month, health authorities in Europe, China, and Brazil have all temporarily pulled beef from the Brazilian meat giant JBS off of grocery store shelves, in response to evidence that the company was involved in a massive corruption scandal to export rotten and contaminated meat. Yet here at home, the Trump Administration has yet to take meaningful action against JBS imports from Brazil. On the contrary, JBS has continued to expand its reach and political power in the U.S.
Read MoreNorth Carolina is home to a booming craft beer industry, including Highland Brewing Company and Olde Mecklenberg. But the growing power of the independent breweries has put them at odds with an increasingly consolidated distribution and wholesale industry in the state. In response, the brewers are backing a bill that would raise the amount of beer they could distribute on their own before having to contract with a distributor.
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