This is an old cut from Wendell Berry speaking at a USDA hearing on new laws on animal IDs on small farms. It out of date, but I put it up because I think we need more awareness of problems with current industrial livestock practices and the influence of money on USDA’s judgment.
Category: U.S. Economy
The Meat Racket…Tyson Foods
Between 2009 and 2011 we worked with a group of colleagues on nutrient run-off problems on the Eastern Shore of Maryland…including both grain and poultry operations. The relationship between the poultry farmers and the processors like Tyson Foods appeared to be an amazingly ‘one-sided’ contract.
Christopher Leonard has done an expose and NPR did a report.
Wendell Berry
Mapping the Seven Deadly Sins in America
At a time when I’m feeling less than positive about my community and American society, I also notice a LOT of anecdotal information on sin:
1) Pope Francis is encouraging his flock to be more pious in a major church document.
2) Michael Soule, a rigorous scientist and the ‘father’ of conservation biology, is writing a book about sin. He is sincerely distressed at the new thinking in ecology represented by Peter Karieva (TNCs Chief Scientist) and efforts like the Natural Capital Project.
3) This clever (but not very deep) mapping of the seven deadly sins in America.
The Maps
I can’t help but notice that the Mid-Atantic East Coast (DC area) seems to have a corner on the deadly sin market.
Chick-fil-A
There are, apparently, a number of ways to make breaded chicken sandwiches healthier. To this end, Chick-fil-A has been quietly switching out ingredients over the past decade. According to Nation’s Restaurant News it eliminated heart-disease-promoting trans fats in 2006, removed high-fructose corn syrup from its bagels and golden wheat bread, and gradually reduced sodium in some products. Now the 1,700-store chain is working to remove preservatives from its breads and oil.
What’s unusual about the efforts is that Chick-fil-A has largely refrained from publicizing them until now, hoping to avoid ire about any perceived change in flavor. Fast-food companies have had to balance customer loyalty to well-known menu items with growing pressure to offer healthier options. “We didn’t necessarily want the customer to know we’ve tweaked their favorite product,” Jodie Worrell, the chain’s senior nutrition consultant, told NRN.
The Bloomberg News Article
The Most Important Economic Stories of 2013 – in 43 Graphs
Maybe it’s just me, but the last few years are getting tough to tell apart. Imagine a quiz question:
Name that year where we threw obstacles in the recovery’s way, but kept growing slowly; where Europe avoided both a disaster and a solution to its mess; and where China kept growing over 7 percent, but didn’t rebalance its economy like it said it wants.
You’d be right to guess 2013. You’d also be right to guess 2012, 2011, or 2010.
So, to remind ourselves what did change in the last 12 months, we asked our favorite economists, journalists, and think-tankers for their favorite charts of the year. The stock market went on a tear, the labor market didn’t, and Wall Street and Main Street came to terms with a New Normal. Without further ado, here are 37,000 words worth of charts to tell the most important stories of 2013.
The Atlantic Report
This is wonderous economic analysis!
The Philippines Disaster and Food Aid
An NPR Report that tries to relate the Philippines Disaster, Food Aid, and the U.S. Farm Bill.
I say ‘tries to relate’ because the underlying political economy of U.S. food aid appears irrational and driven by commodity politics.
Sadly, once American government went down this path it became extremely difficult to make decisions that are ethically sound for needy local communities around the world.
Food Sovereignty
“I don’t think we can call ourselves sovereign if we can’t feed ourselves.” This is what Paul “Sugarbear” Smith told me a few years ago when I went to visit him in Oneida Territory, Wisconsin. I think he’s got something here and it’s worth looking into.
What is food sovereignty? The ability to feed your people. Let’s say that. This could be through your own growing and harvesting, or this could be through trade, if you’re happy with it and it’s working out for you. This is where we need to be, but certainly aren’t there now.
A very interesting two part essay by Winona LaDuke
Secret Money and Environmental Politics
An interesting Report from NPR
Political ‘Shock Wave’
Just a few weeks ago, McInturff had characterized the high negative ratings for Congress and the president as “ripples that will take a long time to resolve.” But McInturff is revising and extending his remarks.
“Ripple,” he says, was way too careful.
The word he’s using today is “shock wave.” He says his new polls have broken all records for a generation of NBC/WSJ polling data. He found:
The lowest rating for Obama of his presidency;
The lowest positive rating for the Republican Party;
And for the first time ever, a majority of people choosing not to identify with either political party.
A majority of people choosing not to identify with either political party!
The NPR Report
Richard Pace 