Family Farm Defenders

Really want to celebrate June Dairy Month? Then give dairy farmers what they really need! Not more piecemeal government handouts, but a fair (parity) price. And that can only happen through a domestic supply management program and serious anti-trust action against the dairy giants.

Anthony Pahnke: Mark June Dairy Month with industry-wide reform To mark June Dairy month, our lawmakers should listen to farmers, level the playing field, and include elements from the MFDA into the Farm Bill.

Should retailers - like Target - continue to peddle pesticides through their products? Concerned shareholders brought up this issue at Target's annual meeting in Minneapolis yesterday. Consumers can also add their voice by calling Target's customer service hotline and ask them to detoxify their entire supply chain. 1 (800) 440-0680 Who really wants to buy a toxic cocktail with your baby food?

Shareholders Push Target to Address Toxic Pesticides at Annual Meeting Target’s investors are recognizing that toxic pesticide use is not just an environmental crisis — it’s also material to Target’s business.

Check out this upcoming talk by FFD vice president, Anthony Pahnke, in Fond du Lac! https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1HGNFmFNna/

Thursday- June 11 in Fond du Lac....Family Farm Defenders

Common sense may be in short supply in Washington DC these days, but when it comes to dealing with supply chain shocks in our food system there are some pretty basic solutions - like price floors and supply management! Check out this recent article by FFD's George and Patti Naylor, along with Laurel Levin:

It's Time for a Progressive Policy to Protect Agricultural Supply Chains | Common Dreams ​Price floors and supply management programs seem common sense to policymakers when it comes to oil and minerals, but what about US farmers and our overall food system?

What a sad way to begin June Dairy Month with another expose of corporate agribusiness greenwashing! If you really want to support WI dairy farmers, be sure to support smallscale grass-based and/or organic producers. And for milk less traveled, look for the number 55 on your dairy product plant code - that means it was at least bottled/processed in our own state!

Report accuses corporate dairy of ‘greenwashing’ • Wisconsin Examiner A report found that the world's largest meat and dairy companies, including some with Wisconsin ties, have made exaggerated climate claims.

Sick and tired of paying too much for seeds? Aren't seeds part of the commons - that all of us should be able to share without paying some corporation for their patented intellectual property? Universal free access to open source biodiversity is one of the key principles of food sovereignty!

A Guide to Seed Intellectual Property Rights - Organic Seed Alliance This guide was written by Paulina Jenney and adapted from her professional paper, "Keeping What You Sow: Intellectual Property Rights for Plant Breeders and Seed Growers," submitted in May 2022 to the University of Montana.

Noticed that farmers are struggling even more than usual this spring? Wondering what politicians are doing to address this crisis? FFD vice president, Anthony Pahnke, offers some advice that goes beyond bailout bandaids...

Wisconsin farmers are in crisis. Lawmakers aren't helping. | Opinion - AOL Trump touts bringing back manufacturing but seems willing to throw farmers under the bus with tariffs, wars and our food coming from who knows where.

Have some creative inspirational cultural expression to share - poetry, artwork, essay? NFFC is looking for contributions for its first-ever anthology celebrating the family farm movement! Find out more and read guidelines online:

NFFC's First-Ever Anthology: Open Call for Submissions! - National Family Farm Coalition NFFC is seeking writing and art that celebrates our coalition and family-scale farmers for our first-ever anthology. We hope this collective publication will help tell the story of family farmers’ decades-long fight for a fair food and farm system that ... Read More

Comedians can be your ally! I must admit that I've been a longtime fan of Charlie Berens and his Manitowoc Minute, but his foray into the AI hyper datacenter debate has been so spot on! It is not the first time that he has taken a progressive and/or populist stance on issues, but his voice on this one has made a huge difference. The majority of people in WI now oppose this land/water/power grabbing by the Big Data Bros.

‘Nobody’s negotiating for the people here’: comedian Charlie Berens takes on AI datacenters Known for his ‘Manitowoc Minute’ skits and midwestern humor, the journalist turned comedian is speaking out against the AI datacenter boom in Wisconsin