When a crow dies, the other crows investigate the cause of death (2015)

Re:When a crow dies, the other crows investigate the cause o... by eggoa on Wednesday July 20, 2016 @11:51AM (#12129973)

The USDA sounds like a shitshow in general. http://harpers.org/archive/2016/03/the-rogue-agency/6/

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Re:When a crow dies, the other crows investigate the cause o... by imglorp on Wednesday July 20, 2016 @01:18PM (#12130739)

In many ways yes, because in effect they represent producers' interests, which are often in opposition to the public's and the country's interests.

* Puppy mills fall under USDA regulation, because animals are livestock. The agency has been enabling cruelty on mass scale for years, through failure to police simple standards. http://www.caps-web.org/blogs/our-least-favorite-acronym/

* Remember the food pyramid? It's been tugged not by science but by grain and meat interests for years. eg, http://www.ruralvotes.com/thebackforty/?p=4805

* Grazing federal lands (USDA forest service...) is a subsidy for ranchers that damages via erosion and contamination. I'm okay with that but the cost should be borne by the ranchers and reflected in product pricing, not via the taxpayers.

* Meat inspection is a joke. Have you eaten any prions (CJD, mad cow) lately? No one knows because we don't require bulk testing. Hormones, antibiotics in the farm runoff? Bacterial resistance? You're paying for that in the long run too. Mor USDA failure to protect the public.

* Corruption? Sure: http://www.cornucopia.org/2015/05/latest-usda-scandal-organi...

Not my favorite agency.

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