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FILE DATE: August 15, 2004
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FILE DATE: August 12, 2004
A WEEK OFF
We missed posting the news last Sunday. Here's
why.
We will pick up again this weekend, publishing a new
list on August 15.
FILE DATE: August 1, 2004
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FILE DATE: July 25, 2004
SPECIAL REPORT: A Week of Exposés
Three groundbreaking reports released this week are
calling for major reforms at the USDA and in the poultry-processing
industry. Two of these reports have already garnered
major media attention throughout the United States.
The third is equally deserving.
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On Tuesday, the Environmental Working Group
and the National Black Farmers Association
published a damning report of the USDA's handling
of its mandated black-farmer restitution program,
which Congress approved to make reparations for
what the USDA Commission on Small farms called a
"well-documented" pattern of discrimination in crop
loan programs. The report reveals how the USDA managed
to withhold three out of every four dollars earmarked
for the program and deny access to nearly nine out
of 10 members of the settlement class in an apparently
willful violation of the established procedures.
This report has resulted in newspaper stories in
major media outlets throughout the U.S. Click
here to read the report.
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Also on Tuesday, People for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals (PETA) released the results of an
undercover investigation into a Pilgrim's Pride
chicken slaughterhouse in Moorefield, West Virginia,
the supplier of fast-food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken,
after showing the tape to KFC and Pilgrim's Pride
officials the day before. Workers were taped "stomping
on birds, kicking them, and slamming them against
floors and walls. Workers ripped the animals' beaks
off, twisted their heads off, spat tobacco in their
eyes and mouths, spray-painted their faces, and
tied their legs together for laughs." The company
had been named KFC's "Supplier of the Year."
PETA is petitioning Congress a to change the Humane
Methods of Slaughter Act to include poultry, 11
workers and managers have been fired at the
plant, and KFC has threatened to drop their contract
with Pilgrim's Pride if changes are not made. The
New
York Times reviewed the events in today's edition.
Click
here to read PETA's report, where a link to
the video is also provided.
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On Friday, the Agribusiness Accountability Initiative
released another report on practices at the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. In "USDA Inc.," author
Philip Mattera argues that "political appointees
with backgrounds in the agri-food industry have
used their positions at the USDA to advance industry
interests at the expense of farmers, consumers,
workers and the environment," which the group attributes
to "a revolving door between the food industry and
the USDA." Case studies include the USDA's handling
of the mad cow disease crisis, concentration of
the meat-packing industry and meat-inspection policies
and standards, as well as its stance on "biotech
foods" and concentrated animal feeding operations
(beef feedlots, factory-farmed poultry and pigs)
all point to an intense focus on the needs of the
nation's top agricultural corporations, with disastrous
and potentially catastrophic results. Click
here to download the report, or view a list
of recent
reports sponsored by AAI.
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In a marked contrast to its rapid release of a
statement after the most recent positive-BSE tests,
the USDA has not yet responded to any of these issues
on the
agency's website.
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FILE DATE: July 18, 2004
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FILE DATE: July 11, 2004
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WE MISSED IT: US House considers legislation
to decriminalize saving
of patented seeds.
FILE DATE: July 4, 2004
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FILE DATE: June 27, 2004
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ERRATA
FILE DATE: June 20, 2004
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FILE DATE: June 12, 2004
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FILE DATE: June 6, 2004
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FILE DATE: June
3, 2004
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