Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

How Agriculture and Data Centers Compete for the Great Lakes’ Most Precious Resource

FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 4h

Freshwater is precious. Neither Big Ag nor AI data centers should be able to squander it at the expense of their neighbors. sentientmedia.org/how-agricult...

Water demand is spiking from both agriculture and data centers. Without intervention, the Great Lakes could be strained past their limit.

sentientmedia.org

1

FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 1d

“When cases aren’t heard, workers die.” Meatpacking and other food & ag work is dangerous. Without proper regulation and oversight, corporate employers delay making lifesaving changes, while workers pay the price.

Worker Safety Commission Vacant as Case Backlog Grows

The federal worker safety commission has no members, leaving a growing backlog of workplace safety cases unresolved.

investigatemidwest.org

1

FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 1d

We also dive into the movement by farmers and their champions to reform the checkoff system, bringing transparency and accountability to make sure independent farmers get a fair shake. Read it here ➡️ farmstand.org/case/deep-di...

Deep Dive: Checkoff - FarmSTAND

We’re fighting in courtrooms and communities to dismantle the barriers to a fair food system led by independent food producers—including by taking on USDA’s checkoff programs.

1

FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 1d

The third and final part of our Checkoff Deep Dive is out now! In this section we reveal how checkoffs use taxpayer money to:

💼Illegally lobby for Big Ag priorities

🤑Fund executives’ lavish lifestyles

💸Send millions to corporations like McDonald's and Domino’s

No, Americans Won’t Fill Big Ag Jobs. Corporations Prefer It That Way. - FarmSTAND

FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 2d

On the blog, FarmSTAND Senior Attorney Amal Bouhabib confronts the myth that Americans will fill farm jobs and explains how Big Ag likes to keep its workers scared and exploitable: farmstand.org/no-americans...
@prospect.org @ddayen.bsky.social

In creatively cruel ways, President Trump is making good on his promise to carry out the largest mass deportation in history. Across the country, heavily armed federal agents in camouflage storm…

FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 2d

This is the quiet part out loud. Big Ag and the Trump Admin don’t want to open up better job opportunities for Americans. They want to pay everyone less and be free to abuse vulnerable workers on H-2A visas, all for corporate profits.

Trump Labor Department Says His Immigration Raids Are Causing a Food Crisis

FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 2d

The Trump Admin now says its anti-immigrant terror is a threat to our food supply. Their proposed solution? Reducing pay and protections for H-2A and domestic farmworkers. prospect.org/politics/tru...

In a filing in the Federal Register, the Labor Department argues there are “immediate dangers to the American food supply” due to a lack of migrant agricultural workers.

prospect.org

MAHA’s Report Proves It Can’t and Won’t Fix Our Food System - FarmSTAND

FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 5d

The Trump Admin says it cares about farmers but makes policy that strengthens Big Ag’s stranglehold. On the blog: Why MAHA’s report proves it can’t and won’t fix our food system. farmstand.org/mahas-report...

Donald Trump and RFK Jr. claim their administration will “Make America Healthy Again,” but their most recent report shows that MAHA can’t deliver the changes to our food system we need for a…

What Happens to School Lunches in the MAHA Era?

FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 5d

MAHA promised to support small farmers and put healthier food in schools. Instead, Trump’s USDA cut vital farm-to-school programs, leaving farmers and kids in the lurch www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

R.F.K., Jr., promised healthier food for kids, but the Trump Administration is cutting programs that achieve this goal.

www.newyorker.com

No Greenwashing Factory Farm Gas (Blumm v. Northwest Natural Gas Co.) - FarmSTAND

FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 5d

The Beef Checkoff says that all “beef is beef.” We beg to differ. Read why ➡️ farmstand.org/checkoff

Headline: The checkoff wants us to believe "beef is beef." Ranchers and consumers know better. Body text: The checkoff's marketing flattens the difference between generic factory farm beef and premium beef from small ranchers. Learn how they cover up the harm this does to independent producers in our Deep Dive. farmstand.org/checkoff.

FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 5d

Yesterday, we argued before the Michigan Supreme Court that undocumented immigrants have a right to workers comp. The state is using an immunity defense, & if the court agrees, it will limit the people's ability to challenge state injustice.

More from @michiganpublic.bsky.social ➡️ buff.ly/Y5JdFsm

Black and blue graphic featuring an image of the Michigan Supreme Court and the following text attributed to David Muraskin, FarmSTAND Co-Founder and Managing Director of Litigation: "What [the governor] has done before this court is try to skirt that issue and say 'Well this is really an issue of procedure,' and dodge the implications of all her arguments in lower courts."

Black-and-blue graphic featuring logos from MIRC, FarmSTAND, the Sugar Law Center, UFW Foundation, and the ACLU of Michigan reading "We told the Michigan Supreme Court: Workers must follow the law. Immigrant workers need and deserve workers compensation.

3

FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 6d

Factory farm biogas uses methane emissions from manure to generate energy. It entrenches the factory farm system, worsening the climate crisis. This case is a huge step in holding Big Ag accountable for their environmental damage. Learn more on our case page ➡️ buff.ly/kEyNmLR

Utility companies shouldn’t be allowed to exploit public concern about climate change to prop up polluting factory farms. Customers of Oregon’s Northwest Natural Gas are suing the company over…

2

FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 6d

We're representing Oregonians suing Northwest Natural for greenwashing its natural gas via an "offset" program. The problem is that those offsets benefit factory farm biogas producers, which entrenches the factory farm system and puts us further from solving the climate crisis.

Why We Don’t Wait on Corporate Ag Promises - FarmSTAND

FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 6d

On the blog, read why FarmSTAND doesn’t wait on corporate ag promises—we build power in communities to demand real change farmstand.org/why-we-dont-...

For decades, global public health leaders have been sounding the alarm on the overuse of antibiotics, including in agriculture. Yet the chicken industry has for years gobbled up massive quantities of…

How McDonald’s Latest Regenerative Beef Investment Falls Short — Food & Power

FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 6d

McDonald’s is bragging about its new investment in regenerative agriculture, but we’re not holding our breath for any meaningful changes to the industrial animal ag system McDonald’s relies on. www.foodandpower.net/latest/mcdon...

RFK Jr. praised McDonald’s $200M donation as the Trump administration cuts USDA staff that support rangeland conservation. Rather than fund short-term projects, advocates want McDonald’s to pay…

www.foodandpower.net

1 1 2

FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 7d

We filed an amicus brief on behalf of @healfoodalliance.bsky.social to challenge the cancellation of a new data reporting rule. The Trump admin's attempt to invalidate the rule enables discrimination and helps Big Ag take over more of our food system.
More at farmstand.org/lending.

America’s unfair food system was built on lending discrimination. We’re fighting back. - FarmSTAND

American agriculture relies on credit as much as it does seeds, soil, rain, and sun. Without credit, farmers cannot invest in tractors, livestock, or new irrigation systems. They may not survive a…

How a California Clean Energy Program Became a Boon for Big Dairies

FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 7d

Unfair lending practices have systematically kept Black farmers and other farmers of color from owning land since Reconstruction. Data is the key to creating more equitable policy and holding discriminatory lenders accountable.

1 1 2

FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 8d

California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standards have made manure a goldmine for mega-dairies. Nearby communities of color pay the price. “We’re trapped here…It’s a time bomb where we live” sentientmedia.org/california-c... @gaeacabico.bsky.social

Central Valley residents say the state’s program for cutting methane emissions incentivizes factory farms and leaves local communities gasping.

sentientmedia.org

Meat is a leading emissions source – but few outlets report on it, analysis finds

FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 9d

Emissions from industrial animal agriculture must be a part of the climate conversation. New analysis shows most media outlets overlook Big Meat’s role in the climate crisis. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Sentient Media reveals less than 4% of climate news stories mention animal agriculture as source of carbon emissions

www.theguardian.com

2 2

FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 12d

On the blog, FarmSTAND breaks down how Big Ag thrives on the fear created by ICE. These corporations count on a scared and exploitable workforce to maximize profits. farmstand.org/how-big-ag-t...

How Big Ag Thrives on Trump's Immigration Threats - FarmSTAND

It’s estimated that undocumented workers make up anywhere from 30-50 percent of the meatpacking workforce. Foreign-born workers make up an even larger proportion of animal agriculture industries like…

How ICE Terror Campaigns Are Used to Discipline Labor

FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 12d

· ICE’s campaign of terror is “chilling speech and chilling organizing…among immigrant workers” prospect.org/labor/2025-1... @sarahlazare.bsky.social @prospect.org

While Chicago sees a surge of ICE detentions, workers are facing retaliation as immigrants when they advocate for their rights.

prospect.org

1 4 8

FarmSTAND @farmstand.bsky.social · 12d

Offsets are a flawed concept, both for fighting climate change and factory farms. In our latest blog, Senior Staff Attorney Kelsey Eberly breaks down why meat offsets are a false solution and why challenging Big Ag & empowering communities is the real route to change.
Read it➡️ farmstand.org/offsets