Conservation $$ to Factory Farms? Outrage!!!! (ACTION)

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Thursday March 05, 2009 · 3:04 PM PST

2009/03/05 · 15:04

The USDA runs several conservation programs. Most are pretty good and would be better if they were fully funded. But one of them sucks. It might have been good once but in 2002, the rules were changed. Factory farms are now eligible to receive this "conservation" money. The program is called EQIP - the Environmental Quality Initiatives Program.

A report (Industrial Livestock at the Taxpayer Trough) found that nationally, factory hog farms comprise 10.7% of all hog operations - but get 37% of all of the EQIP contracts. Factory farm dairies make up 3.9% of all dairy farms - but they get 54% of EQIP contracts. All in all, between 2003 and 2007, 1000 factory hog and dairy farms ate up $35 million in EQIP conservation funding.

This happened at the expense of smaller farms that COULD HAVE gotten the money. Mid-sized hog farms make up 15% of hog operations but got 5.4% of EQIP contracts. Mid-sized dairy farms make up 13% of dairies - and got 7% of contracts.

THIS SUCKS. And we've got til March 16 to take action.

OrangeClouds115

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Wednesday March 04, 2009 · 9:28 AM PST

2009/03/04 · 09:28

Hi folks - We've got one month to submit panel ideas to the Netroots Nation folks. I plan to submit something, but not without the input of anyone who has opinions on the subject.

I think about this all year and I've got a tentative "theme" for this year in mind: What is the current reality of food politics under the Obama administration? (Kind of a no-brainer)

Then again - if you prefer, we could take on more narrow or interdisciplinary themes if you want, like food and global warming; food safety; food and health care; or food activism in your community. Or, those could merely be subtopics addressed within the broader umbrella of the larger topic of food policy.

And last - last year it seems that panel submissions were a no-go unless they specifically applied to bloggers (i.e. How can BLOGGERS change the food policy of the U.S.?). Probably a good idea to take that angle :)

OrangeClouds115

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Monday March 02, 2009 · 9:36 AM PST

2009/03/02 · 09:36

Here's the latest food and ag news:

Biotechnology News: More of the same... the biotech industry is marketing itself as "sustainable" and "able to feed the hungry" but studies and news show that a) it's neither and b) it's preventing scientists from conducting any independent research. Meanwhile, individual farmers are speaking up against biotech as it threatens their livelihood, and there's news of genetic contamination and news that Monsanto's herbicide Roundup is toxic to humans. Oh - and genetically modified goats are now legal and happening (for a human drug, not for food).

More below...

OrangeClouds115

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Saturday February 28, 2009 · 10:52 AM PST

2009/02/28 · 10:52

Obama called for something in the State of the Union that numerous others have called for before - and all have failed. He said he wants to "end direct payments to large agribusinesses that don't need them."

Let me explain WHY this is so important (start thinking environment, energy, and global warming) and why it's so difficult to get through Congress. In short, the Big Ag lobby is going to be going bonkers over this, lobbying against this. What if the citizens of America - the VAST majority of this country - told Congress that WE WANT them to keep Obama's promise.

The bottom line is that our votes matter more than agribusiness's dollars in the end (dollars are nice but they are only useful if they buy you votes... and we are the ones who vote). So let's wield our power to help Obama.

OrangeClouds115

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Thursday February 26, 2009 · 3:13 PM PST

2009/02/26 · 15:13

Oh shit. This is so funny I couldn't even make it up if I tried. The USDA has found itself a new mascot. Pinocchio. The most famous liar ever.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am on the whole very happy with the Obama administration, and I am even optimistic about the USDA. But the particular part of the USDA that Pinocchio is representing? Not so much. And if they want to make their ads a little more honest, Pinocchio's nose ought to grow every time he advocates junk-food-lobbyist-influenced nutrition advice (nutrition advice like "Be active," which is not dietary advice at all!).

I highly recommend everyone here watches this video about the swarm of lobbyists drooling over the opportunity to influence the school lunch program. Think about THAT when you see Pinocchio on TV.

OrangeClouds115

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Wednesday February 25, 2009 · 9:29 AM PST

2009/02/25 · 09:29

I woke up to read the headline "We know the GOP messed up, says Jindal. We'll make it up to you." What's that sound like? A classic abusive husband. "Come on baby, you know I love you. I didn't mean to hurt you. I just hit you because I love you so much. Come on back to me baby, I'll make it up to you."

It's up the the American people now not to get "battered wife syndrome" and return to their abuser.

OrangeClouds115

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Monday February 23, 2009 · 5:21 PM PST

2009/02/23 · 17:21

OMG everybody! We won! We did it! Obama announced today that he will nominate Kathleen A. Merrigan for Deputy Secretary of the USDA. She was among the Sustainable Dozen requested as high level USDA appointees by the Food Democracy Now campaign. I just dug through some of her past publications (detailed below) and she's a dream come true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OrangeClouds115

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Sunday February 22, 2009 · 10:11 AM PST

2009/02/22 · 10:11

Greetings, from the Official Stalker of Tom Vilsack (me). At least, that's what I feel like I've turned into. I've been all over the web, looking for any information about our new Secretary of Agriculture and what he's up to. You'll find my full report below - along with lots of juicy details about the future of our food system under the Obama administration.

Note: You can find my ongoing coverage of Vilsack here - or sign up for RSS or Twitter updates instead.

OrangeClouds115

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Thursday February 19, 2009 · 2:14 PM PST

2009/02/19 · 14:14

OK, not really. But that's where their journalistic quality is going.

The Chicago Tribune printed an identical op ed by the Center for Consumer Freedom: Gourmet Activists: Food For Thought. CCF is a corporate front group who opposes Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the guy from the UN who won the Nobel Peace Prize alongside Al Gore. Why is the Trib printing their op eds - especially when the op eds are full of lies.

There are two important things a reader of this op end should know. One is the background of the Center for Consumer Freedom. Once you know that, the "facts" cited in the op ed are almost secondary, but just for the sake of setting the record straight, the second are the real facts and how they stack up against the fake ones that CCF likes to use.

OrangeClouds115

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Wednesday February 18, 2009 · 4:32 PM PST

2009/02/18 · 16:32

I wrote earlier today about the dairy industry as a whole being in crisis. Which they are. Milk prices are at about 50% the cost of production - and unlike a factory, you can't turn off a cow. Well, you can kill it - and that's what's going to happen to a lot of dairy cows very soon.

But in addition to the problems with milk in general, the situation is even sadder for organic dairies right now. Because on top of the normal crunch they'd be feeling, they've got an enormous corporation (Dean, the maker of Horizon) rubbing salt in their wounds by CUTTING retail prices and offering discounts... all while threatening to cancel the contracts of dairy farmers and building a new factory farm!

OrangeClouds115

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Friday February 13, 2009 · 11:08 AM PST

2009/02/13 · 11:08

Holy you-know-what. A meat processing plant in Iowa has been caught mistreating mentally handicapped employees. File that one under "Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse."

From The Des Moines Register (which is rapidly becoming one of my favorite newspapers):

Since the late 1970s, Henry's Turkey Service has been shipping mentally retarded men from Texas to Iowa to work in the West Liberty plant. Henry's has acted as the workers' employer, landlord and caregiver — paying the men a reduced wage for their work at the plant and then deducting from their pay the cost of room, board and care. Payroll records indicate the men are left with as little as $65 per month in salary.

Details below...

OrangeClouds115

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Monday February 09, 2009 · 1:28 PM PST

2009/02/09 · 13:28

I've got lots of news to share, starting with this: Happy cows may produce better milk, but most cows in California aren't happy cows. They are factory farmed cows, like these ones here:

Compare that picture with this one, from the "Real California Milk" ad campaign:

Yet yesterday I passed a billboard for California milk showing a picture of a handful of cows grazing in pasture! What??? How about some truth in advertising, California? More below...

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