Protecting Food. Empowering Whistleblowers.
Protecting Food. Empowering Whistleblowers.
Anti-union retaliation at one of the country’s largest food distributors, US Foods, sparked a worker strike in Illinois last Sunday (Oct. 30). In the following week, sympathy picket lines spread to warehouses in Missouri, New York, Indiana, Minnesota, Washington, New Jersey, and Colorado. According to GAP coalition partner International Brotherhood of Teamsters, more than 2100 […]
Biotechnology giant Monsanto continues to tout the benefits of genetically engineered crops without seriously acknowledging any risks despite concerns repeatedly raised by farmers, citizen activists and other whistleblowers. Given the desire to satisfy investors and future profitability, it’s not surprising Monsanto has only emphasized the alleged positives of its products. However, one of its shareholders […]
American food products are commonly filled with substances used to enhance the shelf life, color and flavor of food, as well as enhance the vitamin content or nutritional value that may have been lost during processing. But did you know that a large portion of these added ingredients now in the U.S. market were classified […]
Today the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food released a report to the UN General Assembly that explores the effects that the world-wide expansion of contract farming has on the right to food. The report describes how these contract arrangements, in which farmers agree to provide their products to processing or marketing […]
We know Monsanto and other biotech giants have been pushing genetically modified crops around the globe, but new diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks last week make it clear how entangled our government is in corporate agricultural interests. U.S. diplomats have certainly been making an effort to protect GM interests abroad. Truthout reports: Several cables describe […]
The following op-ed was written by FIC Director Amanda Hitt. Versions of this op-ed also appeared in the Xenia Daily Gazette (OH), Bristol Press (CT), New Britain Herald (CT), Herkimer Telegram (NY), Little Falls Times (NY), Union Daily Times (SC), and Wayne Independent (PA). Food safety is running afoul in Springdale — in more ways […]
A resurgence in the discussion of antibiotic (over)use in large-scale animal agriculture has emerged in light of the antibiotic-resistant Salmonella outbreak linked to ground turkey. A group of Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to the FDA on Tuesday urging it to speed up the implementation of guidelines to help manage drug use in food animal […]
When it comes to food headlines, Springdale, Arkansas can’t catch a break. In the same city Cargill suspended its turkey processing plant after being linked to the recent Salmonella outbreak, a Tyson Foods truck driver died Wednesday morning after being pinned between two truck trailers outside Tyson’s Springdale poultry plant. I might also add that […]
The USDA has finally decided consumers should know when a meat product is composed of 40 percent water-salt solution. Wow, you think? Congratulations, Department of Agriculture, for at last addressing the common industry practice of pumping ingredients into meat and supporting adequate labeling. According to the agency, 30% of poultry, 15% of beef and 90% […]
First it was chicken, now it’s apple juice. Arsenic levels in our food supply, either via drug-filled feed for CAFO livestock or pesticide in Chinese orchards, epitomize the regulation problems both within and outside the United States. How much is too much when it comes to using toxic chemicals used to kill bacteria (and promote […]