Rebekah Wilce's News Articles

News

Raw Milk Freedom Riders Take on Chicago

by Rebekah Wilce — December 9, 2011 - 2:00pm
  • Topics: Agriculture, Activism, Human Rights

    • On Thursday, the Raw Milk "Freedom Riders" rode again. In November, they crossed the Pennsylvania border into Maryland in protest against federal law 21 CFR § 1240.61, which prohibits interstate commerce of raw milk for human consumption.

    News

    We Are Farmer Brown

    by Rebekah Wilce — December 9, 2011 - 12:05pm
  • Topics: Agriculture, Human Rights

    • This is the first in a two-part series by the Center for Media and Democracy's Food Rights Network (FRN) about challenges to local food sovereignty across the United States. This was originally published on AlterNet. Stay tuned for the next installment, coming soon.

    More than 150 supporters gathered on the steps of Town Hall in Blue Hill, Maine on Friday, November 18. They protested the State of Maine's and Agriculture Comissioner Walt Whitcomb's lawsuit against local farmer Dan Brown of Gravelwood Farm in Blue Hill. In response to a shout of, "Who is Farmer Brown," the crowd shouted, "We are all Farmer Brown!"

    News

    Koch Brothers’ "Christmas Present" Up for House Vote

    by Rebekah Wilce — December 1, 2011 - 9:52am
  • Topics: Banking, Corporations, Democracy, Economy, Environment

    • The U.S. House of Representatives votes soon on a series of deregulatory bills that, according to the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards (CSS), "threaten vital health, environmental, safety and financial regulations."

    Voting is expected on the Regulatory Accountability Act (H.R. 3010) and the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act (H.R. 527) on December 1, and on The Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act (H.R. 10) next week.

    Representative Gerry Connolly (D-VA) calls these bills "an early Christmas present to the Koch Brothers, who made this Congress possible."

    News

    Meet Kellogg's Sludge Puppet

    by Rebekah Wilce — November 9, 2011 - 8:09am
  • Topics: Advertising, Corporate Campaigns, Sludge

    • (This article has been corrected to reflect that the co-creator of the kids' gardening puppet is not employed by Kellogg Garden Products but that Kellogg has sponsored some of the puppet's gardening events.  In communications with the Center, the co-creator of the puppet, Lisa Ely, has shared her view that the puppet is an educational tool and not a marketing tool for Kellogg to reach families and kids interested in gardening. The puppet was created before Kellogg began sponsoring some of its events at gardening stores that market Kellogg's sludge-based products.)

    A new puppet's in town! His name is Karden, and according to his PR, he shows kids how much fun gardening can be. What parents and teachers aren't told is that he is actually also being used as a marketing tool for sewage sludge merchant Kellogg Garden Products.

    Books featuring Karden, available at common bookstores, and an "Idea Factory" website devoted to him, are full of gardening activities for parents and teachers to do with their kids. Karden throws free kids' gardening events at bookstores and hardware stores.

    News

    Guns, Farms and Stealth: Armed Raids and Surveillance of Farms and Food Clubs

    by Rebekah Wilce — November 8, 2011 - 8:00am
  • Topics: Food Safety, Agriculture, Secrecy

    • Michael Schmidt is a Canadian dairy farmer, and he's scared. Why?

    "Over the last 17 years I have made every effort to engage the authorities in a constructive dialogue about the issue of non-pasteurized milk in Ontario and Canada. In return my farm has been raided by armed officers, my family has been terrorized and I [have] been dragged through the courts -- first being acquitted and then being found guilty.

    News

    Local Dinner to Recognize Food & Farm Hero John Kinsman and Beginning Farmers

    by Rebekah Wilce — October 21, 2011 - 7:00am
  • Topics: Agriculture

    • On Saturday, November 12th, the Family Farm Defenders (FFD) hosts the "First Annual John Kinsman Beginning Farmer Food Sovereignty Dinner" at the Goodman Community Center on Madison, Wisconsin's near east side.

    The Center for Media and Democracy's Food Rights Network featured John Kinsman as our first Food and Farm Hero earlier this month.

    News

    Flu with that Burger? ALEC Wants Sick People Serving You Food

    by Rebekah Wilce — October 19, 2011 - 7:00am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Corporations, Labor, Politics

    • Last week, the city of Philadelphia mandated paid sick days for "workers whose employers have contracts with the city or apply for city subsidies." Last month, Seattle also passed a paid sick leave ordinance. Connecticut passed a bill in June that will make it the first state in the nation to mandate paid sick leave for service workers. Food service workers are a special concern of such laws.

    Workers in these locations will no longer have to come to work with the flu or other infectious illness, endangering the health of their coworkers and customers and exacerbating their own health.

    Op-Ed

    ALEC and Coca-Cola: A "Classic" Collaboration

    by Rebekah Wilce — October 12, 2011 - 10:51pm
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Corporations, Democracy, Politics

    • What is Coca-Cola doing behind closed doors with Koch Industries and other multinational corporations in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)? Coca-Cola Refreshments' Director of Public Affairs and Communications, Gene Rackley, represents Coke on ALEC's "Private Enterprise" Board, along with Koch Industries' Michael Morgan.

    Coke and ALEC have a lot in common. Both love free trade and have been big boosters of free trade agreements, such as the Korea, Panama and Columbia agreements facing votes this week in Congress. Both are dubious about recycling, especially taxes applied to industry to pay for mandatory recycling. But in one area, ALEC policy benefits Coke and other sweet drink makers directly.

    News

    Local Food Ordinances from Maine to California

    by Rebekah Wilce — October 10, 2011 - 7:00am
  • Topics: Agriculture, Environment, Politics

    • Los Angeles County, California, is considering a resolution "recognizing the rights of individuals to grow and consume their own food and to enter into private contracts with other individuals to board animals for food."

    This resolution did not arise in a vacuum. Santa Cruz County, California, recently passed a similar resolution. Nevada County, California, citizens are pushing a similar resolution. And in El Dorado County, California, Farmer Pattie Chelseth has proposed a "Local Food and Self Governance Ordinance."

    News

    Wisconsin Judge Rules Against Food Rights

    by Rebekah Wilce — October 6, 2011 - 7:00am
  • Topics: Food Safety, Agriculture, Human Rights

    • This is the second in a series of articles about raw milk by the Center for Media and Democracy's Food Rights Network. For more about raids on raw milk farmers and eaters, see yesterday's article.

    Wisconsin dairy farmers are appealing a state judge's ruling that they do not have the right to own a dairy cow or drink the unprocessed milk from their own cows.

    Mark and Petra Zinniker, who sought to distribute raw milk to herd shareholders through their private farm store, received a judgment from state Circuit Court Judge Patrick Fiedler ruling against them on all counts in August.

    In response, the Zinnikers, their shareholders and their lawyers at the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF) filed a clarification motion, on which Judge Fiedler filed his decision and order on September 9th.

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