Latest Stories — Food & Power

Talking Turkey: An Anti-Monopoly Thanksgiving

Troubles in the turkey industry predate the pandemic.

Poultry & Livestock, Processing & DistributionClaire KellowayNovember 24, 2021poultry, Turkey, price fixing

Tech Giants Burn Cash on Grocery Delivery, But at What Expense?

No one seems to know how to offer quick, profitable grocery delivery without gouging grocers, exploiting workers, or abandoning brick-and-mortar stores altogether.

Railroad Merger Raises Larger Concerns About Competition on the Tracks

America has a railroad monopoly problem, but merging the smallest Class I carriers won’t solve it.

Consumers, Small Meatpackers, and Labor Lose Their Voice to Corporate Packers on USDA Food Safety Advisory Committee, Violating Charter

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.

Labor, Processing & DistributionClaire KellowayAugust 27, 2020chicken, dairy, pork, slaughter, resiliency

JBS Aims to Shutter Critical Western US Lamb Processor, DOJ Issues a “Standstill” Order

In a few weeks, many Western sheep ranchers might not have a place to slaughter their lambs. Global meatpacking giant JBS last month won the bankruptcy auction for the Mountain State Rosen (MSR) lamb processing plant in Greeley, Colorado.

Food Worker Organizations File USDA Civil Rights Complaint Against Meatpackers for Exposing Workers of Color to COVID-19

Last week, a group of organizations representing meatpacking workers filed a civil rights complaint with the USDA against dominant meatpackers. The Title VI Civil Rights Act complaint alleges that Tyson Foods’ and JBS’s response to COVID-19 had a disproportionately harmful, disparate impact on their employees of color.

Report Exposes System of Big Food Kickbacks to Cafeteria Contractors, Cutting out Local Producers

A report released last week by Real Food Generation exposes new details about a secretive system of kickbacks between Big Food corporations and cafeteria operators.

Meatpacking More Dangerous Today Than a Generation Ago, Amplifying COVID-19 Crisis

Meatpacking plants have become national hot spots for the novel coronavirus.

Labor, Processing & DistributionClaire KellowayMay 7, 2020slaughter, labor, resiliency

Consolidated and Inflexible Food Supply Chains Drive Both Shortages and Waste

COVID-19 has upended America’s food supply. With the loss of big buyers in restaurants and school districts, farmers without a place to sell their foods are dumping milk, tilling crops back into the ground, and euthanizing egg-laying hens.

USDA Continues to Lift Meat Processing Line Speed Limits During Pandemic, Threatening Frontline Workers and Consumers

While the country grapples with the COVID-19 crisis, USDA food safety officials have been making decisions that could further sicken Americans and threaten frontline food workers.

Processing & DistributionClaire KellowayApril 9, 2020chicken, Food Safety, FSIS, inspectors, NPIS, NSIS, pork, slaughter, tyson, USDA, workers, labor

U.S. Lifts Ban on Brazilian Beef, Threatening Ranchers and Consumers

Food safety officials lifted a ban on Friday on Brazilian beef imports, introducing a potential windfall for multinational meatpackers and significant threats to American ranchers and consumers.

Processing & DistributionClaire KellowayFebruary 26, 2020Brazil, Food Safety, JBS, marfrig, OCM, R-CALF, Trade, foreign ownership

Trump’s USDA Sides With Corporate Meatpackers Over Farmers, in Latest GIPSA Proposal

On Monday, the USDA thwarted a decade of efforts to help farmers seek justice for discrimination, retaliation, and unfair treatment by meatpackers. Trump’s USDA introduced new criteria to determine whether a meatpacker violated the Packers and Stockyards Act, after withdrawing an Obama-era proposal two years ago. This latest proposal omits several critical farmer protections from the previous rule and introduces new language that could codify abusive industry practices.