Meat So Cheap You Could Die

Meat So Cheap You Could Die

Thanks to the shutdown, the government is doing less to protect Americans from foodborne pathogens and deal with the aftermath of outbreaks. The timing couldn’t be worse. Ten days after the shutdown began, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that 317...
Challenging Big Chicken

Challenging Big Chicken

Darn. I missed the official celebration in September — bet you did too. But even if we’re a little late, we still have time to mark National Chicken Month. Websites are giving us myriad ways to observe the bird. Eat more chicken! Do the chicken dance! Read...
Faster Chicken Processing, More Injured Workers

Faster Chicken Processing, More Injured Workers

Oscar was good at his job. He folded chicken wings at an Alabama poultry plant. As bird carcasses zipped by on the processing line, he twisted the wings into position, folding fast enough to meet a quota of about 40 chicken wings per minute — roughly 18,000 wings per...
The USDA’s Reckless Plan

The USDA’s Reckless Plan

My friend Jim, a farmer, jokes about bringing a bowl of manure and a spoon to the farmers’ markets where he sells his beef. “My beef has no manure in it, but you can add some,” he’d like to tell his customers. I’m sure you’d pass on...
Censoring Our Food

Censoring Our Food

Standing outside a slaughterhouse in Draper City, Utah, Amy Meyer was horrified by what she saw. Cows struggled to stay out of the plant and employees hauled one cow that appeared sick or injured in a tractor. While standing on public property, Meyer pulled out her...