Aaron Johnson

12 posts
Aaron is the Program Manager for the Challenging Corporate Power Program at RAFI-USA, working to end trends of concentration and extraction in the meat industry and build resilient community-rooted animal agriculture economies. Prior to joining RAFI-USA, he worked as a program designer and evaluator for several youth asset-building nonprofits in Durham, NC. Originally from Illinois, Aaron grew up spending his summers on his grandfather’s hog and dairy farm, and later working as a farmhand on his uncle’s hog farm. These formative experiences shaped Aaron’s passion for fighting for more ecologically just food systems.

Sen. Fetterman Introduces S.2792 in Collaboration with RAFI

September 15, 2023
On Tuesday, September 13, Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), in close collaboration with RAFI (Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA), introduced the Strengthening Local Meat Economies Act (S.2792), which will take action against runaway corporate concentration in the meatpacking industry by redirecting over $300 million in federal procurement toward local meat processors rather than multinational corporations, over a four-year period.
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USDA Should Buy Meat from Local Processors, Not Meatpacking Monopolists

September 13, 2023
In 2022, USDA purchased nearly half of its meat from the largest category of meat processors. Even more egregiously, 25% of USDA’s meat procurement was allocated to just four dominant meatpackers: $279 million to Tyson, $13 to Cargill, $5 million to Smithfield, and, despite its criminality, $63 million to JBS. In contrast, less that 7% of USDA’s meat procurement contracts were awarded to small meat processors serving regional food systems.
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USDA’s New Poultry Industry Transparency Rule

June 23, 2022
Don’t have the time to read 155 pages of the USDA's proposed rule that would revise regulations that apply to poultry growing contracts and the use of tournament ranking systems in the poultry industry? We've got you covered.
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Sign up for RAFI-USA's Policy Action Network

April 29, 2022
For years, we’ve issued action alerts and policy updates around important policy issues so that they can speak up to their representatives and key policymakers about policies that affect their lives. This year, we’re expanding the ways that you can engage in our policy work through the creation of our new Policy Action Network.
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beef cattle

USDA’s Farmer Fairness Portal: An FAQ

March 21, 2022
Learn about the USDA's Farmer Fairness Portal to report an experience or observation of a possible violation of the Packers and Stockyards Act or other federal fair competition laws in the livestock sector.
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