El Dragón's picture
by: El Dragón

Cracking heads for farmers.

Flying off the top turnbuckle.

Throwing chairs.

Unmasking los rudos.

Must be Monday.

About El Dragón

El Dragón is Barth Anderson, Fair Food Fight's chief blogger. He has over 20 years experience in grocery co-op, co-operative business, and organic/natural foods experience and has been a writer, novelist, poet, and blogger in that time too.

Barth Anderson's novel The Patron Saint of Plagues is a plague thriller that takes place after an agricultural collapse in the United States and begins on an organic farm in southwest Wisconsin. First chapter here.

My greatest victory: 

Sow the Seeds Fund: Flood Relief

 

My signature wrestling move: 
Sweep the leg, Johnny.
My Motto: 
We won't throw the first punch, but...okay, maybe we WILL throw the first punch.
Favorite movies: 
Big Night
Eating Raoul
Soylent Green
The Real Dirt on Farmer John
The Future of Food
Enter the Dragon
Where I buy groceries: 
Groups I belong to: 
Interests: 
My website: 
Barth Anderson
El Dragón
Food Atlas and American Eating Habits over Last Century
El Dragón
This is a food and farming nerd's dream. Check this out: The USDA's Food Environment Atlas It's an interactive ...
El Dragón
Roll up! Monsanto Antitrust Mystery Tour begins tomorrow
El Dragón
Tomorrow marks the first of many, many, many joint Department of Justice and USDA antitrust workshops, held to hear from Americans about possible antitrust violations in the seed industry. With farmers, ...
El Dragón
How to Argue the Case for Raw Milk
El Dragón
In Eau Claire, Wisconsin, yesterday, four-hundred and fifty people showed up to offer 10 hours of testimony on state bills that would legalize the sale of raw milk in the Dairy State. According to WSAU Radio in Wausau,
El Dragón
Raw Milk: A Watershed Moment in Wisconsin?
El Dragón
The raw milk fight has been heating up over the last year, with various states moving to legalize sales of raw milk. Raw milk dairy farmer Michael Schmidt's fight and win in Canada has certainly been encouraging to raw milk enthusiasts, and the publication of
El Dragón
Fair Food Fight on Eco Chat: March 8
El Dragón
This Monday, your faithful blogger El Dragón (a.k.a Barth Anderson) will appear on Eco Chicago's Eco Chat at 8:00 PM Central. The ...
El Dragón
Organic Farmer Reports on MOSES Organic Conference
El Dragón
Chris Blanchard's report on the Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference in la Crosse Wisconsin, held last weekend. Via his blog, Eat Better News
El Dragón
How Big is a "Factory Farm"?
El Dragón
I was reading this Introduction to a new book by journalist David Kirby called Animal Factory: ...
El Dragón
The Utne Reader: Small Grocery Stores Are Too Big
El Dragón
Eric Utne has a bone to pick with Linden Hills Co-op, and pick he does, in the magazine that he formerly edited, The ...
El Dragón
Big Meat Flexes on Capitol Hill: Save Our Antibiotics!
El Dragón
Katie Couric's CBS News series on antibiotic-use in livestock has turned up the grill under the US ...
El Dragón
Deadline Approaching: Comments on GE Alfalfa URGENTLY Needed
El Dragón
The USDA extended its extension for hearing public comments on whether or not, upon appeal by Monsanto, that company's new GE RoundupReady alfalfa should ...
El Dragón
candy bar collusion
El Dragón
I wonder if I could get in on that action.
El Dragón
Roll up! Monsanto Antitrust Mystery Tour begins tomorrow
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Get in the ring, baby
El Dragón
Hi. Thanks for stopping by. First off, since you obviously Googled your way to this 3-month old post and didn't bother reading anything else, let me explain what Fair Food Fight is. We talk about food and farming here. Organics, sustainability, real ...
El Dragón
Rosendale Dairy and the Green Bay of Manure
El Dragón
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Co-op Partners Warehouse
El Dragón
You nailed it, anonymous. The economics of more, smaller stores is a dubious proposition. Plus that model requires centralized warehouses where farmers can drop off and from where all those small stores can order -- we can't have farmers delivering all over town to every single storefront. Co-op Partners ...
El Dragón
The Utne Reader: Small Grocery Stores Are Too Big
El Dragón
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How big?
El Dragón
How big is a CAFO? Well, that's part of what I'm asking in the above blog post. Depending on how industrialized your operation is, I'd say a hog CAFO producing that many pigs per year probably requires 4-7 workers total? But I'm a city mouse. Commence laughing at me ...
El Dragón
How Big is a "Factory Farm"?
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WI Farm Bureau against raw milk direct sales
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...
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Raw Milk: A Watershed Moment in Wisconsin?
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El Dragón grills a farmer
El Dragón
How many livestock in your operation? And how do you manage manure? Do you get complaints from neighbors, activists, etc, etc? (Very sorry if you feel interrogated, by the way! I'm just appreciative, excited to have a willing farmer answer my dumb, city-guy questions.) Also, ...
El Dragón
How Big is a "Factory Farm"?
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ksfarmboy to the rescue
El Dragón
Great information and well written, as always, ksfarmboy. So is it your take that the sky's the limit on CAFO-size, as long as practices are good? Do long term damage to land and local roads, and overall energy use (trucking inputs, shipping livestock) figure in to "good practices"?
El Dragón
How Big is a "Factory Farm"?
El Dragón
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Big versus small
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Fair enough. So let's talk about economics and what happens to small farmers forced to compete with a big CAFO. The CAFO gets a deal on feed and other inputs. The CAFO gets MASSIVE access to market that the small farmer doesn't enjoy. The CAFO offers a ...
El Dragón
How Big is a "Factory Farm"?
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solutions and alternatives
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We're not talking about solutions? Didn't I just bring up manure digesters as an innovative solution to some of the biggest problems facing CAFO management? And actually, I gotta disagree with you, Ken. I don't think everyone sees factory farms as a problem. Indeed the second commenter ...
El Dragón
How Big is a "Factory Farm"?
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manure digesters = good
El Dragón
The Twitterer for Animal Ag Alliance asked me what I thought I about Fair Oaks Dairy in Indiana: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W54aXW10...
El Dragón
How Big is a "Factory Farm"?
El Dragón
ojodeltigre
Chiquita-financed murder update.
ojodeltigre
So - looks like Chiquita isn't out of the forest yet on being held accountable for financing, aiding, and abetting the intimidation, ...
ojodeltigre
Chiquita-financed murder update.
ojodeltigre
Well looks like this dude will still get to keep his shirt afteral...
Luchadora_Felina
Food Related Gift Items
Luchadora_Felina
So....I just bought 3 of these Food Face Dinner Plates from Perpetualkid.com.  The plate features a blank palate face ready to be covered with delicious food.  My 2 nephews ...
Luchadora_Felina
Who's ready for ROUND 3 of DUPED or NOT?
Luchadora_Felina
The past three months have been very exciting for me.  I started out my journey researching organic foods after seeing the movie Food, Inc. followed by the movie FRESH.  Every week, I go to two different health food stores and try to buy healthy, organic food ...
ojodeltigre
Buckle Up Banana Lovers - Wal-Mart is starting a Price War
ojodeltigre
This is really playing out well for Wal-Mart. They have Transfair in their mits - using Paul Rice as a mouthpiece for Sam's Club...then on the other end they are building the most threatening WMD the banana world has ever ...
ojodeltigre
BANANAS: how many social injustices does it take to break a world record?
ojodeltigre
Let me get this right. Can Dole really tout themselves as both a fair trade banana importer  while simultaneously breaking the world record for the ...
TrueMosquito
Dole drops suit against "Bananas" documentary
TrueMosquito
This just in from indieWIRE: "Dole Food Company, Inc. has announced that it is dismissing its defamation lawsuit against filmmakers Fredrik Gertten, Margarete Jangard and WG Film AB in the Los Angeles Superior ...
Luchadora_Felina
It's time for another round of DUPED or NOT!!!! (cue low, echoing voice)
Luchadora_Felina
Over the past month, I have spent a lot of time in my local health food store.  The co-op doesn't begin until November, and I am buying almost 100% organic, free range, etc.etc. I have found some really great organic brands that I feel good about giving my ...
ojodeltigre
A Banana Republic Revolt is Turning a Stage 3
ojodeltigre
So the linkage of Chiquita to the recent coup in Honduras maybe old news to folks, perhaps not even surprising for anyone that's aware of the term "Banana Republic" ...
Luchadora_Felina
Here's my new dilemma....
Luchadora_Felina
How do I sit down at the table with my mom and eat the food that I know I don't feel comfortable eating anymore? Here are my questions: 
El Dragón
Food Atlas and American Eating Habits over Last Century
El Dragón

This is a food and farming nerd's dream. Check this out:

The USDA's Food Environment Atlas

It's an interactive map that can show you, U.S. county by U.S. county: the number of farmers markets, percentage of farmers markets, availability of grocery stores, farm-to-school programs, adult diabetes rates, childhood preschool obesity rates. It's an incredible document. Take a look.

The USDA has also released a report tracking American eating habits over the last century.

El Dragón
Roll up! Monsanto Antitrust Mystery Tour begins tomorrow
El Dragón

Tomorrow marks the first of many, many, many joint Department of Justice and USDA antitrust workshops, held to hear from Americans about possible antitrust violations in the seed industry.

With farmers, competitors, activists, and consumers all diving off the top turnbuckle on Monsanto's head for the next year, this is going to get bloody --  and Big Media knows it. Look what just came over the wire from the LA Times:

Rising Food Prices May Start with Seeds

El Dragón
How to Argue the Case for Raw Milk
El Dragón

In Eau Claire, Wisconsin, yesterday, four-hundred and fifty people showed up to offer 10 hours of testimony on state bills that would legalize the sale of raw milk in the Dairy State.

According to WSAU Radio in Wausau, "scientists, government officials, consumers, and farmers were among those testifying," and apparently the pros outnumbered the cons in the audience. The pro raw milk side was organized in large part by dairy farmer Vince Hundt, who bought a ton of paper hats for supporters of the legislation.

El Dragón
Raw Milk: A Watershed Moment in Wisconsin?
El Dragón

The raw milk fight has been heating up over the last year, with various states moving to legalize sales of raw milk. Raw milk dairy farmer Michael Schmidt's fight and win in Canada has certainly been encouraging to raw milk enthusiasts, and the publication of David Gumpert's Raw Milk Revolution, seems to have turned up the heat under the raw milk story, too.

But if I were looking for bigger watershed moments that mightactually change national opinion (or spark a deeper conversation), I'd watch the raw milk legalization debate in Wisconsin right now.

El Dragón
Fair Food Fight on Eco Chat: March 8
El Dragón

This Monday, your faithful blogger El Dragón (a.k.a Barth Anderson) will appear on Eco Chicago's Eco Chat at 8:00 PM Central. The featured guest is Jim Slama of Family Farmed, a powerhouse non-profit connecting farmers to solid markets. And I'll be there to, oh, I don't know, provide comic relief.

El Dragón
Organic Farmer Reports on MOSES Organic Conference
El Dragón

Chris Blanchard's report on the Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference in la Crosse Wisconsin, held last weekend. Via his blog, Eat Better News

El Dragón
How Big is a "Factory Farm"?
El Dragón

Aerial shot of "organic" CAFO Aurora DairyI was reading this Introduction to a new book by journalist David Kirby called Animal Factory: The Looming Threat of Industrial Pig, Dairy and Poultry Farms on Humans and the Environment," over at Firedoglake, a book that the author says has three years of research and writing behind it. The Introduction is offered as a blog post and I highly recommend checking it out.

El Dragón
The Utne Reader: Small Grocery Stores Are Too Big
El Dragón

Eric Utne has a bone to pick with Linden Hills Co-op, and pick he does, in the magazine that he formerly edited, The Utne Reader.

At issue? A $9.5 million per year natural foods grocery store here in Minneapolis, Linden Hills Co-op,  is growing. It's also relocating less than a mile away to take advantage of that growth.

El Dragón
Big Meat Flexes on Capitol Hill: Save Our Antibiotics!
El Dragón

CC Some Rights ReservedKatie Couric's CBS News series on antibiotic-use in livestock has turned up the grill under the US meat industry. This past  week, Big Meat went to Washington DC to make its case that antibiotics are necessary and used responsibly in American agriculture. From Cattle Network:

El Dragón
Deadline Approaching: Comments on GE Alfalfa URGENTLY Needed
El Dragón

The USDA extended its extension for hearing public comments on whether or not, upon appeal by Monsanto, that company's new GE RoundupReady alfalfa should be approved.

Now I know most of you Fair Food Fighters are opposed to GMOs and Monsanto. But have you actually written your comment on this matter? Sure, you've Tweeted about it, forwarded emails, Facebooked, and Dugg it, but have you written your letter?