Farm Strike in Mexico Turns Violent

Farmworker strike goes south
As many as 50,000 farmworkers are on strike across the Mexican state of Baja California over poor working conditions and pay, according to the Associated Press (via U.S. News & World Report). Strikers have intermittently blocked one of the state’s major highways, setting tires aflame and throwing rocks at vehicles. The workers say conditions are intolerable at the large farms that are mostly geared toward growing strawberries, tomatoes and other crops for export to the U.S. The state’s government says there’s a potential for huge losses if the crops aren’t picked soon.

Mega-Mega-Corporation
A multibillion dollar merger of two behemoth food and beverages companies, H.J. Heinz and Kraft Foods Group, was announced Wednesday; the merger will lead to the fifth-largest food and beverage company in the world. The new giant, The Kraft Heinz Company, will have brands that include Oscar Meyer and Ore-Ida, among others in its vast portfolio, and revenues of about $28 billion, reports USA Today.

From smart bombs to smarter fishing
Military contractor Lockheed Martin has been working with a small Hawaiian company, Kampachi Farms, on a mobile fish pen for deep water fish farming. The giant fish cage resembles a ball and drifts offshore in deep water. Farming fish far off shore would abate negative impacts associated with current fish farming models “where wastes and interactions with wild stocks can cause environmental disruptions,” according to Kampachi Farms. Lockheed’s contributions are on the tech side, including setting up the “satellite communications and the motor controls to track the pen,” West Hawaii Today reports.

Farmer facing charges
A farmer who practices sustainable agriculture in New York’s Capital Region was in Glenville Town Court on Tuesday for a hearing on 13 misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty. Law enforcement officials allege Joshua Rockwood wasn’t providing proper sustenance or shelter for a variety of farm animals. After an initial visit by police in February in which Rockwood voluntarily led them around his farm, officers came back with a search warrant and eventually seized three of his horses. The police pursued the charges despite the determination by two veterinarians who checked out the livestock at Rockwood’s West Wind Acres, located in West Charlton, Schenectady County, that the animals were all healthy. Rockwood has pleaded not guilty.

“The animals in our possession are well taken care of,” Rockwood, through his lawyer, told TWC News. You can read more about the situation from Rockwood’s perspective on his blog. There’s also more information about the case on his gofundme.com page.