Search Results for:
Smithfield Foods settlement with feds can’t be used in COVID lawsuits
Smithfield Foods agreed this week to pay the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration $13,494 to settle a citation for failing to protect its meatpacking employees in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, from exposure to the coronavirus last year, but the company didn’t admit it did anything wrong. As such, the settlement can’t be “used or […]
Smithfield withdraws request for CAFO permits environmentalists criticized as too lax
The global meat producer operating some of Missouri’s largest industrial hog operations has withdrawn requests to convert 10 of its permits to what environmental groups say would be more lenient ones. Smithfield Foods Inc., which has a history of environmental violations in Missouri, operates some of the largest concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, in […]
COVID-19 outbreak at Smithfield plant in Missouri likely larger than originally known
This story was originally published on The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. The COVID-19 outbreak at Smithfield Foods’ northern Missouri plant — the focus of a worker safety lawsuit that garnered national attention last year — resulted in two worker deaths and was worse than previously thought, according to newly obtained federal documents. Early on […]
18 years and counting: EPA still has no method for measuring CAFO air pollution
This story was originally published by Investigate Midwest. When gases from large livestock facilities overwhelm communities, the health impacts can be severe. Children at schools near concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, are more likely to experience asthma. Exposure to ammonia and hydrogen sulfide — both emitted in large quantities by CAFOs — can lead to […]
Missouri Supreme Court upholds state law prohibiting local CAFO regulations
A state law prohibiting counties from imposing regulations on industrial hog facilities does not violate the Missouri Constitution, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. The unanimous ruling upholds a Cole County Circuit Court judge’s decision to toss the case before trial. It says county ordinances attempting to set rules for industrial farms are invalid. At […]
Supreme Court denies Tyson Foods’ request to hear COVID death cases in federal court
This story was originally published by Investigate Midwest. The U.S. Supreme Court last week denied a petition by Tyson Foods’ lawyers requesting that wrongful death suits brought by the families of four Tyson employees who died of COVID-19 be heard in federal court. Nearly three years after the employees of Tyson Foods’ Waterloo, Iowa, facilities […]
State senator throws first punches of 2024 Missouri governor’s campaign
In a series of digital ads focused on Chinese farmland and taxes, state Sen. Bill Eigel has launched the opening salvo of a likely contentious 2024 Republican gubernatorial primary. Eigel, a two-term GOP legislator from St. Charles County, began running ads on Facebook this month criticizing two of his fellow Republicans — Lt. Gov. Mike […]
Bipartisan group of lawmakers push to restrict foreign ownership of Missouri farmland
Citing concerns about the environment, food security and the fate of family farmers, Missouri legislators have filed several bills that would restrict foreign ownership of agricultural land. Both Democratic and Republican senators have pre-filed bills ahead of the January start of the 2023 Missouri General Assembly session to halt foreign purchases of Missouri farmland. “Just […]
Citing concerns about China, states mull limits on foreign ownership of farmland
This story was originally published by Investigate Midwest. Amid growing concern about Chinese investment in U.S. agriculture, there has been a renewed push to limit and more closely monitor foreign ownership of farmland across the country. At least eight states considered implementing a new limit on foreign control of agricultural land, and one, Indiana, passed […]
Big Ag has misled the public when it comes to fighting climate change
This commentary was originally published by Investigate Midwest. For the last several years Big Agriculture has tried, with some degree of success, to bamboozle the public into believing it’s all in when it comes to combating climate change when in fact it ain’t. It’s nothing new. Big corporations have been playing the misinformation game for […]