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Rural America is an In Motion Magazine column co-edited by the Missouri Rural Crisis Center.

The Missouri Rural Crisis Center is a statewide organization of farmers and their families with thirteen chapters around the state of Missouri.



Feature articles

Straight Talk

Full list of articles (by author) 1995-2003

The Problem is Corporate Agribusiness, Not the Estate Tax
(or the "death tax" as its opponents call it)
Roger Allison
Howard County, Missouri

The right to food self sufficiency
Roger Allison
Washington, D.C.

Representing Farmers in Hard Financial Times
We must change federal farms and food policy
Roger Allison
Columbia, Missouri

The corporate-controlled factory system is inherently flawed
There is a better way -- independent family farmers.
Roger Allison
Des Moines, Iowa

A rural economy built on family farmers sustains itself
The most important issue in agriculture today is the industrialization of agriculture
Roger Allison,
Columbia, Missouri

The Vice President's Clean Water Initiatives:
"We must regulate these industrial-sized livestock factories that create industrial-sized waste."
Roger Allison,
Columbia, Missouri

"You Don't Miss the Water 'till the Well Runs Dry"
- Sustaining Our Communities, Building Our Future Together
Roger Allison,
Chillicothe, Missouri

When The Well Runs Dry
Analysis of the water resource depletion caused by the corporate swine industry in Missouri and other parts of the central U.S.A.
Roger Allison,
Howard County, Missouri

What's the Stink? - Unprecedented Coalition Will Take on the Hog Industry
- by Roger Allison

Interview with Joshua Sena Alouka
“They should contribute their local knowledge.”
Youth representative from Togo discusses how to make sustainable development effective.
Johannesburg, South Africa

Pork Checkoff is Unconstitutional!
"A huge victory for independent family farmers"
Campaign for Family Farms
Columbia, Missouri

Campaign for Family Farms tells Senate Agriculture Committee:
“We need a ban on packer ownership of livestock now!”

Campaign for Family Farms
Washington, D.C.

Factory Farms and Corporate Agribusiness Only Winners from Conference Committee “Deal”
Campaign for Family Farms
Washington, D.C.

Congressman Gephardt Calls for Ban on Packer Ownership of Livestock
Campaign for Family Farms
Columbia, Missouri

Campaign for Family Farms blasts Bush Administration’s appointee to USDA’s antitrust division
Campaign for Family Farms
Washington, D.C.

U.S. Senate Votes Again to Ban Packer Ownership of Livestock
Campaign for Family Farms
Washington, D.C.

Mushroom Checkoff Declared Unconstitutional by Nation’s Highest Court
Campaign for Family Farms
Washington, D.C.

Campaign for Family Farms Hails Senate Action to Ban Packer Ownership of Livestock
Senators Wellstone and Johnson lead passage of amendment
Campaign for Family Farms
Washington, D.C.

Hog Farmers Launch Lawsuit Against USDA
Blairstown, Iowa
Campaign for Family Farms

Veneman admits ignorance on pork tax decision
Des Moines, Iowa
Campaign for Family Farms

Farmers Protest Pork Tax
“Honor our vote, honor democracy, end the pork tax now!”
Campaign for Family Farms
Washington, DC

USDA Rejects Hog Farmers’ Democratic Vote
Cut Back Room Deal with NPPC to Keep Pork Checkoff in Place
Campaign for Family Farms
Columbia, Missouri

Hog Farmers End Mandatory Pork Checkoff:
Independent producers vote down pork tax
Campaign for Family Farms prepares for next corporate target
Campaign for Family Farms
Washington, D.C.

Farmer to Farmer Campaign calls on state Attorney's General to learn from Starlink debacle
Farmers call for long-term solutions to protect farmers
Campaign for Family Farms
Columbia, Missouri

Missouri Rural Crisis Center and Campaign for Family Farms vow to fight Smithfield buyout of IBP
Groups label Smithfield's hiring of former antitrust chief "corrupt"
Campaign for Family Farms
Columbia, Missouri

Hog Farmers Win the Right to Vote to Terminate Mandatory Pork Checkoff
USDA Secretary Glickman Accepts Petitions:
Makes Decision to Hold Vote

Campaign for Family Farms
Columbia, Missouri

USDA publishes final rules for mandatory pork checkoff referendum
Campaign for Family Farms
Washington D.C.

Hog farmers criticize NPPC president for lawsuit threat on checkoff vote
Campaign for Family Farms
Columbia, Missouri

Hog farmers blast USDA:
Vow to get pork checkoff recall vote
Campaign for Family Farms
Columbia, Missouri

Groups start national petition drive to end mandatory pork checkoff
Hog farmers question benefit of current system
Campaign for Family Farms
Des Moines, Iowa

EPA Bows Down to Corporate Agribusiness Pressure
Releases Watered-Down CAFO Rules that Endanger the Rural Environment
Campaign for Family Farms and the Environments
Columbia, Missouri

Food and Trade Policy: Are we trading away the future?
Bill Christison,
Madison, Wisconsin

On the tragic death of Senator Paul Wellstone
Bill Christison,
Washington, D.C.

Family farmers express strong opposition to 2002 Farm Bill
On completion of House-Senate Farm Bill
negotiations on 2002 Farm Bill
Bill Christison
Washington, D.C.

UN World Summit on Sustainable Development
Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to define their own agriculture and food policies
Bill Christison
United Nations
New York, New York

Treaty on Genetic Commons
Food and Agriculture Organization presentation at the U.N.
Bill Christison
United Nations
New York, New York

Facing the world today
GMO's: farm policy, patent laws, contamination, trade
Interview with Bill Christison
Auckland, Aotearoa / New Zealand

Opposing Genetic Engineering in New Zealand (and around the world)
by Bill Christison
Auckland, New Zealand / Aotearoa

The Trial of Jose Bove
Bill Christison
Millau, France

The Impact of Globalization on Family Farm Agriculture
The increasing role of the multi-national corporations in controlling both the inputs and the marketing of our commodities jeopardizes our very existence.

Bill Christison
Porto Alegre, Brazil

Calling for Farm Bureau investigation
Bill Christison
Washington, D.C.

U.S. family farm leader Bill Christison
details negative impacts of GMOs
Interview by Nic Paget-Clarke
Chillicothe, Missouri

"Farmers have a tremendous amount to gain by working with environmental groups"
Bill Christison,
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Food Safety: Biodiversity / Fair Prices / Fair Trade
Bill Christison,
Chicago, Illinois

Family Farmers Warn of Dangers of Genetically Engineered Crops
National farm leader addresses 1st international grassroots gatheringon genetic engineering, patenting of seeds
Bill Christison,
St. Louis, Missouri

Family Farms and U.S. Trade Policy
U.S. family farm leader speaks to European farmers
Part 1: The Impacts on Family Farms of 20 Years of Corporate Trade Agreements
Part 2: Citizen Opposition to Corporate Domination of U.S. Trade Policy
Bill Christison
Brussels, Belgium / Chillicothe, Missouri, U.S.A

Our Stolen Future - A Book Review
Are We Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence, and Survival?
A Scientific Detective Story
Pat Cody
Berkeley, California

"A Cowboy in the Meat Business"
Colorado ranch produces meat free of growth-promoting hormones, anti-biotics
Interview with Mel Coleman, Sr.
Photo series by Nic Paget-Clarke.
Denver and Saguache, Colorado

The future is GE Free
Genetically modified organisms are unpredictable, irreversible, unnecessary
Interview with Annette Cotter
Wellington, Aotearoa / New Zealand

Genetic engineering and Maori health
Different ways of managing and understanding knowledge
Interview with Fiona Cram and Glenis Philip-Barbara
Auckland, Aotearoa / New Zealand

Global Grassroots: Gaining Ground
Ronnie Cummins
Little Marais, Minnesota

Exposing Biotech's Big Lies
Ronnie Cummins
Little Marais, Minnesota

Market Pressure: Busting BGH and Biotech
Ronnie Cummins
Little Marais, Minnesota

Frankencorn Fight: Cautionary Tales
by Ronnie Cummins
Little Marais, Minnesota

Biotech Bullies: The Debate Intensifies
by Ronnie Cummins
Little Marais, Minnesota

Frankenfoods, Antibiotics, & Mad Cow: America's Food Safety Crisis Intensifies
by Ronnie Cummins
Little Marais, Minnesota

StarLink: More Bad News for Biotech
News & Analysis on Genetic Engineering, Factory Farming, & Organics
Ronnie Cummins
Little Marais, Minnesota

Biotech Bytes: Who's Winning the Frankenfoods Fight?
June, 2000

by Ronnie Cummins
Little Marais, Minnesota


Blows Against the Empire:
From Oakland to Montreal

Ronnie Cummins
Little Marais, Minnesota

Global Firestorm
"Genetically engineered" -- Is Frankenstein Dead?
(A World Round-up)

Ronnie Cummins
Little Marais, Minnesota

Hazards of Genetically Engineered Foods and Crops:
Why We Need A Global Moratorium

Ronnie Cummins
Little Marais, Minnesota

Derailing the Biotech Express: U.S. & Global Activists at the Crossroads
Monarch butterflies, bees & tainted pollen, EU moratorium,
the "Senator from Monsanto", and much more ...

Ronnie Cummins and Ben Lilliston
Little Marais, Minnesota

Global Action Intensifies Against Monsanto & the Gene Giants
Ronnie Cummins and Ben Lilliston
Little Marais, Minnesota

Genetic Engineering, Factory Farming, & Organics
News from Europe, India, Colombia, Mexico, Canada, and the U.S.
Ronnie Cummins and Ben Lilliston
Little Marais, Minnesota

Food Safety Crisis in the U.S.A.
Organics Under Fire: The U.S. Debate Continues
Ronnie Cummins
Little Marais, Minnesota

Monsanto Under Attack: Part 2
Global Pressure Builds Against Monsanto
India, New Zealand, Hungary, Australia, Thailand, South Korea,
Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, Mexica, Brazil, Argentina, Austria,
United Kingdom, United States,Canada, Germany, Ireland, E.U.

Ronnie Cummins
Little Marais, Minnesota

Monsanto Under Attack:
Setbacks from Brazil, to Canada, to the U.K.

Ronnie Cummins
Little Marais, Minnesota

  • Slouching Toward Biodevastation: A Biotech Century?
    Genetically-Engineered "Frankenfoods" & Crops:
    Measuring the Global Resistance
    Ronnie Cummins
    Little Marais, Minnesota

  • Nuking America's Dirty Food:
    Another Assault on Public Health & Consumer Choice
    - An Opinion on Food Irradiation -
    Ronnie Cummins
    Little Marais, Minnesota

  • Monsanto and Fox TV Unite to Suppress Journalists' Free Speech on Hazards of Genetically Engineered Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH or rBST)
    Ronnie Cummins
    Little Marais, Minnesota

  • More Biotech Blunders:
    Mutant Cotton, Supercharged Cigarettes, and Cows
    Ronnie Cummins,
    Little Marais, Minnesota

  • Monsanto and Friends' Biotech Blunders and Disasters Continue
    Ronnie Cummins,
    Little Marais, Minnesota

  • Monsanto's "Roundup Ready" Cotton Bombs in the USA
    Ronnie Cummins,
    Little Marais, Minnesota

  • Let Them Eat Feces: Agribusiness & Government Move to Weaken
    U.S. Food Labeling Laws and Irradiate Beef
    Ronnie Cummins,
    Little Marais, Minnesota

  • Whose Organic Standards?
    USDA Prepares for an "Unfriendly Takeover"
    of the Natural Foods Industry
    Ronnie Cummins and Ben Lilliston,
    Minneapolis and Chicago

  • U.S. Consumers & Farmers Battle Genetically-Engineered Soybean
    Two genetically engineered tomatoes, the "Flavr Savr" and the "Endless Summer," have been taken off the market.
    Ronnie Cummins and Ben Lilliston,
    Minneapolis, Minnesota

  • Economic, health & environmental impacts of Roundup-type chemicals and Roundup Ready soybeans
    Ronnie Cummins,
    Minneapolis, Minnesota

  • Genetically-altered soybean harvest causes controversy
    Farmers, consumers, or environment not ready for for Round-up Ready Soybeans
    Darren Dean,
    Columbia, Missouri

  • Bigger is better and three other agricultural myths
    by Brian DeVore
    White Bear Lake, Minnesota

  • Selling the Farm Down Contract Creek
    Why should corporations buy land when on paper
    they can own everything it produces?

    Brian DeVore
    White Bear Lake, Minnesota

  • The Thing That Ate Agriculture
    Mega-mergers are creating a seamless food system that leaves no openings for competition,
    accountability or independent family farmers.

    by Brian DeVore
    White Bear Lake, Minnesota


  • Report: Packers are killing competition with contracts, other ‘captive supply’ arrangements
    by Brian DeVore
    White Bear Lake, Minnesota


  • Minnesota Lawmakers Support Alternatives to Factory Farms
    Brian DeVore,
    St. Paul, Minnesota

  • Farmers Police Missouri Waterways
    Stream Teams test water, do good
    by Scott Dye

  • Interview with Peter Dowling of Canada's National Farmers Union
    The farm income crisis, supply management, sustainability and more
    Part 1 - The Farm Income Crisis
    Part 2 - Sustainable farming
    Howe Island, Ontario, Canada

  • From Nuclear Free to Genetic Engineering Free
    Soil ecology: the most serious and the least understood
    ecological risk from genetically engineered crops
    Interview with Jeanette Fitzsimons
    Wellington, Aotearoa / New Zealand

  • "Plains Truth" Conference Projects the Big Picture
    Defending independent agriculture for the future
    Suzette Hatfield,
    Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

  • GE is another way of being unsustainable in the biological sense
    The market wants an un-modified product
    Interview with farmer Ian Henderson
    Amberly, Aotearoa / New Zealand

  • Facts about Hogs - Humane Farming Association

  • Dispelling the Hog Factory Myths
    Joe Fagan
    Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement
    Des Moines, Iowa.

  • Interview with Tom Goldtooth of the Indigenous Environmental Network
    “First and foremost is our right to exist and to make our own decisions ...”
    Johannesburg, South Africa

  • Family Farmers Rally for America
    Take 6,000 lbs of pork from the Heartland to Harlem
    Lindsay Howerton and Bryce Oates
    Columbia, Missouri -- New Castle, Indiana -- New York, New York

  • Patchwork Family Farms finds new markets
    "... fair prices, sustainable growing practices and a sales volume that has more than tripled ..."
    Lindsay Howerton
    Columbia, Missouri

  • "Undisturbed and exclusive possession of the land, estates and forests"
    The strength in it
    Interview with Maori community leader Sydney Jackson
    Auckland, Aotearoa / New Zealand

  • Fighting hog factories in eastern Colorado
    Interview with Sue Jarrett
    near Wray, Colorado

  • The Health Wagon in the Appalachian Mountains
    Appalachians take care of their own
    An interview with Sister Bernie Kenny
    Dickinson County, Virginia

  • WTO: The New Threats to Developing Countries and Sustainability
    by Martin Khor
    Penang, Malaysia

  • Fact Sheet on Genetic Engineering in Agriculture
    Farmers' Declaration on Genetic Engineering in Agriculture
    Ariane Kissam
    Washington, D.C.

  • Checking off the check-off
    From beef to pork to potatoes - to a cash-cow
    Margot Ford McMillen
    Fulton, Missouri


  • Family Farmers Tally Successes
    1996 Successes against Mega-Hog Corporate Farms
    Margot McMillen,
    Callaway, Missouri

  • Family Farmers Denounce House BillThat Will Limit Local Control
    Missouri Rural Crisis Center
    Jefferson City, Missouri

  • Exploring Sustainable Hog Production Methods for Missouri Farmers
    by Bryce Oates, Rhonda Perry and Kevin Webb
    Missouri Rural Crisis Center
    Columbia, Missouri
    PDF Version (244k)

  • Rural Justice Tour Challenges Corporate Globalization
    Local and International Farm Groups Vow to Continue
    Challenging Corporate Trade Policies

    Missouri Rural Crisis Center
    Columbia, Missouri

  • Hog Farmers Hail Judge’s Beef Checkoff Ruling
    Believe mandatory pork checkoff program could face similar ruling
    Missouri Rural Crisis Center
    Columbia, Missouri

    Farm Groups to U. S. Senate: Just Say No To Fast Track!
    Missouri Rural Crisis Center
    Washington, D.C.

    Mid-Missouri family farmers attend Farm Aid events, donate pork productsto New York relief efforts
    Missouri Rural Crisis Center
    Columbia, Missouri

  • Fast Track suffers set-back in the House
    Farm groups put forward fair trade principles
    Missouri Rural Crisis Center
    Washington, D.C.

  • New Report Details NAFTA’s Failures for Family Farmers in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico
    Missouri Rural Crisis Center
    Columbia, Missouri

  • Missouri farmers travel to Quebec City
    for fair farm and trade polircies
    Missouri Rural Crisis Center
    Quebec City, Canada

  • Hogging the Market
    Dramatic shifts in agricultural policies are needed
    to rescue the independent farmer.

    David Morris
    Minneappolis, Minnesota

  • Justus Lavi Mwololo speaks about Kenya’s agriculture
    “Farmers, we have to put forward our agenda.”
    "Johannesburg, South Africa

  • The Pork Checkoff:
    On the history of the pork checkoff debate and court ruling
    George Naylor,
    Greene County, Iowa

    Mexican farmers organization ANEC views "Freedom to Farm" as "dumping"
    Huge livestock factories are being built by companies
    like Tyson Foods and Smithfields
    by George Naylor,
    Mexico City, Mexico

  • Review of Federal Farm Policy
    In support of a new farm bill: "The Food from Family Farms Act"

    George Naylor,
    Churdan, Iowa

  • Bringing Sanity to the Rural Economy
    Take international leadership in our global economy
    by constructing an international family farm system

    George Naylor
    Bondurant, Iowa


  • The Freedom to Farm Lottery
    The Bet the Farm Game
    George Naylor,
    Greene County, Iowa

  • Family Farmers denounce U.S. complaint against the European Union’s GMO authorization system
    National Family Farm coalition
    Washnigton, D.C.

    Family Farmers From Mid-Missouri And Mexico Hold Fair Trade Picnic And Roundtable
    Propose International and Local Solutions to Challenges Faced by
    Family Farmers Around the World
    Bryce Oates
    Columbia, Missouri

    Hog Farmers Hail U.S. Court of Appeals Beef Checkoff Ruling
    Bryce Oates
    Rochester, Illinois


    My trip to Quebec City (A Tale of Two Summits)
    Report from Quebec City People's Summit of the Americas
    Bryce Oates
    Quebec City, Canada

    Missouri Farmers Join Coalition in Calling for Campaign Finance Reform Petition To Place Fair Elections Act on November Ballot
    Bryce Oates, Rhonda Perry
    Columbia, Missouri

    Missouri Farmers Join in Calling for Investigation into Farm Bureau
    Bryce Oates
    Columbia, Missouri

    African American farmers organize against Republican "Freedom to Farm" bill
    I
    nterview with Ralph Paige
    Executive Director of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives

  • Why farmers rally in Washington D.C.
    5-point plan for family farm policy
    Interview with Bryce Oates
    Columbia, Missouri

  • How the government responds to the current StarLink fiasco
    An important indicator of how the public perceives the role of government in food policy
    by Katherine Ozer
    Washington, D.C.

  • Survey Shows Family Farmers Want New Direction for Federal Farm Policy
    Farmers and Ranchers differ from Capital Hill on farm prices, food security
    Rhonda Perry
    Columbia, Missouri

  • Three hog farmers explain why they are voting "NO" to end the mandatory pork checkoff tax
    by Rhonda Perry -- Harold Beach -- Gary Malone
    Armstrong, Missouri -- Leonard, Missouri -- Palisade, Nebraska

  • Family Farmers Warn:
    If Your Next Crop is GMO, It May Be Your Last
    Rhonda Perry & Bryce Oates
    Columbia, Missouri

  • "Pork Checkoff Headed for a Vote"
    by Rhonda Perry
    Des Moines, Iowa

  • Anti-check off signatures are flooding in
    Hog farmers want an end to the mandatory pork checkoff
    by Rhonda Perry
    Columbia, Missouri

  • Outline of a Call to Action ...
    Family Farms, not Factory Farms
    Rhonda Perry
    Chicago, Illinois

  • The Best Available Technology ...
    ... is more family farmers producing hogs in an economically, environmentally, and socially viable manner.
    Rhonda Perry
    St. Joseph, Missouri

  • National Environmental groups pull out of NPPC-Sponsored "Dialogue"
    on Factory Farm Pork Production
    Rhonda Perry,
    Columbia, Missouri

  • The federal Farm Bill - MRCC analysis
    Farm bill dupes farmers to fatten corporate profits
    Bill drops program payments without ensuring fair prices
    Rhonda Perry,
    Columbia, Missouri

  • Corporate Hog Factories - The Real Results - by Rhonda Perry

    "GANGA" is not for sale
    Suez - Degrémont and the Privatization of Ganga Water
    by Vandana Shiva, Afsar H. Jafri, Kunwar Jalees
    New Delhi, India

  • Interview with Dr. Vandana Shiva -
    "The deeper you can manipulate living structures the more you can control food and medicine."
    St. Louis, Missouri

  • An interview with representatives of Japanese farmers' and consumers' groups
    - "It's the ethics of the quantity."
    St. Louis, Missouri

  • A guarantee of safe food
    Organizing organic dairy farmers
    Interview with Russell Simmons
    Waikato, Aotearoa / New Zealand

  • The Wai 262 Claim by Six Maori Tribes
    Flora and fauna and cultural and intellectual heritage rights
    Interview with Maui Solomon
    Wellington, Aotearoa / New Zealand

  • Assessing the Risks of Genetic Engineering
    Super weeds, non-target impacts, horizontal gene transfer
    Interview with plant geneticist Doreen Stabinsky
    Auckland, Aotearoa / New Zealand

  • Wisconsin's Richland County rallies to protect itself from multinational hog firm
    John Stauber,
    Madison, Wisconsin

  • Straight Talk by Martha Stevens
    Hatfield, Missouri
    A Series of Essays

  • Extension Service Loses Credibility
    Followup to: Missouri Hog Factories Allowed to Spread Too Much Waste.
    Data leads to water pollution; objectivity questioned
    Paul Sturtz,
    Columbia, Missouri

  • Patchwork Spruces Up Image for Grocery Stores
    The importance of a sustainable local food network
    Paul Sturtz,
    Columbia, Missouri

  • Missouri Hog Factories Allowed to Spread Too Much Waste
    State issues permits based on faulty data from University Extension
    Paul Sturtz,
    Columbia, Missouri

  • Why Boycott Premium Standard Farms
    Paul Sturtz & Scott Dye,
    Columbia, Missouri

  • Campaign Challenges Pork Industry and Politicians Mounts actions in Louisville, Des Moines, St. Louis
    Paul Sturtz,
    Columbia, Missouri

  • Food Co-ops Take Control - New Moberly chapter is a quick success
    Paul Sturtz,
    Columbia, Missouri

  • Patchwork Links Hog Farmers with Consumers
    Paul Sturtz,
    Columbia, Missouri

  • Sustainable Communities -- A pastoral message on Appalachia
    Catholic Committee of Appalachia

  • Environmental and Human Health Impacts of Factory Farms - by Bill Wenzel

  • Efficiency: Family Farms and Factory Farms

  • 12 points Proposed for Governing Hog Factory type operations
    As part of their National Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment, the Missouri Rural Crisis Center in conjunction with the Ozark Chapter of the Sierra Club drew up this proposal.

  • A Timeline - Lincoln Township vs. Premium Standards Farms

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