Sen. Bernie Sanders proposes breakup of agribusiness ‘mega-mergers’ in bid to woo farm belt states

| | May 8, 2019
US Senator Bernie Sanders. Image: Phil Roeder/Flickr
This article or excerpt is included in the GLP’s daily curated selection of ideologically diverse news, opinion and analysis of biotechnology innovation.

Bernie Sanders on [May 5] released a sweeping rural and agriculture plan that targets big companies and calls for more federal investment in struggling rural areas.

Sanders is the second candidate, following Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), to get serious about trying to win over traditionally red regions by rolling out comprehensive policy plans that seek to …. step up antitrust enforcement.

Sanders said …. he believed that rapid consolidation of the agriculture sector was to blame for farmers’ economic problems, and demanded that mega-mergers be broken up. He also called for the implementation of a ban on future mergers of large agriculture companies, as well as prohibiting vertical combinations.

Related article:  Why it matters that Sanders aligns with conservatives on funding stem cell and cloning research

“In rural America we are seeing giant agribusiness conglomerates extract as much wealth out of small communities as they possibly can while family farmers are going bankrupt and in many ways are being treated like modern day indentured servants,” Sanders said.

He also called for a “right-to-repair” law granting farmers the ability to fix their own equipment, which some farm manufacturers currently forbid them from doing.

He also went after “factory farms” by vowing to …. regulate them under the Clean Air Act as factories.

Read full, original article: Cheat sheet: Sen. Bernie Sanders’ plan to expand agriculture and rural policies

Outbreak
Outbreak Daily Digest

podcasts GLP Podcasts More...
Biotech Facts & Fallacies
Talking Biotech
Genetics Unzipped

video Videos More...
stat hospitalai ink st x mod x

Meet STACI: STAT’s fascinating interactive guide to AI in healthcare

The Covid-19 pandemic underscores the importance of the technology in medicine: In the last few months, hospitals have used AI ...

bees and pollinators Bees & Pollinators More...
mag insects image superjumbo v

Disaster interrupted: Which farming system better preserves insect populations: Organic or conventional?

A three-year run of fragmentary Armageddon-like studies had primed the journalism pumps and settled the media framing about the future ...
dead bee desolate city

Are we facing an ‘Insect Apocalypse’ caused by ‘intensive, industrial’ farming and agricultural chemicals? The media say yes; Science says ‘no’

The media call it the “Insect Apocalypse”. In the past three years, the phrase has become an accepted truth of ...

infographics Infographics More...
breastfeeding bed x facebook x

Infographic: We know breastfeeding helps children. Now we know it helps mothers too

When a woman becomes pregnant, her risk of type 2 diabetes increases for the rest of her life, perhaps because ...

GMO FAQs GMO FAQs More...
biotechnology worker x

Can GMOs rescue threatened plants and crops?

Some scientists and ecologists argue that humans are in the midst of an "extinction crisis" — the sixth wave of ...
food globe x

Are GMOs necessary to feed the world?

Experts estimate that agricultural production needs to roughly double in the coming decades. How can that be achieved? ...
eating gmo corn on the cob x

Are GMOs safe?

In 2015, 15 scientists and activists issued a statement, "No Scientific consensus on GMO safety," in the journal Environmental Sciences ...
glp profiles GLP Profiles More...
Screen Shot at PM

Charles Benbrook: Agricultural economist and consultant for the organic industry and anti-biotechnology advocacy groups

Independent scientists rip Benbrook's co-authored commentary in New England Journal calling for reassessment of dangers of all GMO crops and herbicides ...
Screen Shot at PM

ETC Group: ‘Extreme’ biotechnology critic campaigns against synthetic biology and other forms of ‘extreme genetic engineering’

The ETC Group is an international environmental non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Canada whose stated purpose is to monitor "the impact of emerging technologies and ...
report this ad report this ad report this ad

Trending

News on human & agricultural genetics and biotechnology delivered to your inbox.
Optional. Mail on special occasions.
Send this to a friend