John McCracken

Continuing the OSHA commission beat

Brazil surges in US beef imports, powered by JBS influence and declining domestic herd - Investigate Midwest Brazil has soared ahead in beef imports into the United States this year, while other countries scaled back amidst ongoing federal trade and tariff negotiations. Brazil has become a major importer of…

Brazil has become a major importer of beef and veal products into the United States since 2020, benefiting from a declining U.S. herd and its increased political influence from the country’s largest beef processor. @jmcjmc.bsky.social reports for @investigatemidwest.bsky.social:

Jack Link’s beef: How the snack giant is lobbying Trump and fighting the Make America Healthy Again movement The world’s largest meat snack brand, with dual headquarters in Minong, Wisconsin, and Minneapolis, has spent millions on Trump campaigns and is advocating for support in the nation’s nutrition pro…

The world’s largest meat snack brand, with dual headquarters in Minong, Wisconsin, and Minneapolis, has spent millions on Trump campaigns and is advocating for support in the nation’s nutrition programs. wisconsinwatch.org/2025/08/wisc... (via @jmcjmc.bsky.social)

Mar-Jac Poultry, Chick-fil-A's chicken provider, fined for child labor - Investigate Midwest One of Chick-fil-A’s major poultry providers was recently fined for repeated child labor law violations, with children as young as 13 working at an Alabama-based facility. Chick-fil-A, the nation’s…

Chick-fil-A buys its chicken from a company fined by the Department of Labor for employing 14-year-olds to eviscerate poultry at an Alabama packing plant. @jmcjmc.bsky.social reports for @investigatemidwest.bsky.social:

Listen here & listen now: www.mprnews.org/episode/2025...

@jmcjmc.bsky.social @mprnews.org

#Podcast #Radio #Investigate #FoodNews

I'll be in Atlanta in October moderating with #ReducetarianFoundation

See you then!

Jack Link's beef: How the snack giant is lobbying Trump and fighting the MAHA movement - Investigate Midwest Jack Link’s has poured millions into Trump campaigns and lobbying efforts to stay in school lunches and SNAP, even as the MAHA Commission pushes to restrict processed foods. The beef jerky giant now…

Jack Link's, the world’s largest meat snack brand has spent millions on Trump campaigns and is advocating for support in the nation’s nutrition programs. @jmcjmc.bsky.social reports for @investigatemidwest.bsky.social:

Senator demands Tyson child labor probe. Trump’s cuts to DOL could make that difficult. - Investigate Midwest Despite rising child labor violations and new Senate demands to investigate the nation’s largest meat processor, the U.S. Department of Labor remains silent on whether it has the staff to conduct…

“Despite rising child labor violations … the U.S. Department of Labor remains silent on whether it has the staff to conduct future probes” From @jmcjmc.bsky.social‬ @investigatemidwest.bsky.social‬ investigatemidwest.org/2025/05/28/s...

Senator demands Tyson child labor probe. Trump’s cuts to DOL could make that difficult. - Investigate Midwest Despite rising child labor violations and new Senate demands to investigate the nation’s largest meat processor, the U.S. Department of Labor remains silent on whether it has the staff to conduct futu...

Jessica Looman, former administrator for the Wage and Hour Division under the Biden administration, said she worries ongoing cuts to staff and budgets will have a chilling effect on the division’s ability to carry out its work. - @investigatemidwest.bsky.social
investigatemidwest.org/2025/05/28/s...

FEMA Is Ending Door-to-Door Canvassing in Disaster Areas As it shifts responsibility for recovery efforts to local authorities, FEMA workers will stop knocking on doors to provide aid to survivors in disaster areas, per a memo obtained by WIRED.

SCOOP: FEMA will end its longstanding practice of knocking on doors in areas hit by disasters to directly offer help to survivors, according to a memo i obtained. the practice became a political flashpoint just before the election after door knockers allegedly skipped homes with trump signs —

On May 2nd, in Western NY, federal immigration agents stopped a bus of farm workers from Lynn-Ette & Sons Farms. They had a list of names, including UFW worker leaders who have been organizing to unionize their workplace. Those workers were detained. 1/
#WeFeedYou

@investigatemidwest.bsky.social's latest sheds a necessary light on the grim realities of bird flu for chickens and workers alike.

Thank you to @jmcjmc.bsky.social@jmcjmc.bsky.social for this in-depth reporting.

investigatemidwest.org/2025/04/30/u...

Underage workers, millions of dollars and trucks full of dead chickens — inside the business of killing in response to bird flu - Investigate Midwest When a poultry farm tests positive for bird flu, the clock starts. Within the first 72 hours, farmers start depopulating, an industry term for killing contaminated flocks. Despite the sweltering heat ...

Really powerful investigation -- with new details, data, and photography -- by @jmcjmc.bsky.social into the brutal business of killing nearly 170M poultry birds during this bird flu outbreak: investigatemidwest.org/2025/04/30/u...

Underage workers, millions of dollars and trucks full of dead chickens — inside the business of killing in response to bird flu - Investigate Midwest When a poultry farm tests positive for bird flu, the clock starts. Within the first 72 hours, farmers start depopulating, an industry term for killing contaminated flocks. Despite the sweltering heat ...

The Colorado health agency confirmed with Investigate Midwest that workers under the age of 18 were present based on self-reported answers to survey questions and conversations with farm staff.

NEW from Investigate Midwest(@investigatemidwest.bsky.social)

investigatemidwest.org/2025/04/30/u...

Exclusive: Occidental Petroleum Buys DAC Startup Holocene That makes two direct air capture acquisitions for the oil and gas major.

More big news - a SCOOP, if you will.
Oxy has acquired another direct air capture startup, Holocene Climate.
Holocene is very similar to Carbon Engineering, but its unique chemistry has much lower heat requirements. heatmap.news/climate-tech...

trying to do news where people get news. Made an Instagram for news like it's 2012. Follow along! www.instagram.com/johnmccwrites

If you know anything about this, we (investigative journalists in Wisconsin) want to check it out. Contact info in my bio. Photos, videos, etc please.

trying to do news where people get news. Made an Instagram for news like it's 2012. Follow along! www.instagram.com/johnmccwrites

Meatpacking Companies Are Using This Maneuver to Avoid Addressing Workplace Safety Violations Businesses, including meatpacking plants, are not obligated to fix safety problems pointed out by OSHA while the commission is reviewing appeals.

Businesses, including meatpacking plants, are not obligated to fix safety problems pointed out by OSHA while the commission is reviewing appeals. @jmcjmc.bsky.social reports via @investigatemidwest.bsky.social:

OSHA fined a poultry plant after a worker died. While the case was appealed, another worker was killed. - Investigate Midwest The chickens do not slow down. Workers hang featherless bodies upside down onto hooks, cut the limbs and wings off the birds, and automated machines separate viscera from meat, slicing through 144 chi...

The little-known Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission is taking longer to review appeals of OSHA fines and orders. Now the three-person commission is about to lose its only member

investigatemidwest.org/2025/03/12/o...

Over the past decade, procedural slowdowns and commissioner vacancies have caused safety reviews to pile up and the appeals process to take longer.

investigatemidwest.org/2025/03/12/o...

@investigatemidwest.bsky.social

That’s because the company’s appeal of the 2021 fine was still being reviewed by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, a separate agency that reviews workplace safety violation disputes between OSHA and companies.

investigatemidwest.org/2025/03/12/o...

OSHA called the teenager’s death “preventable” and fined Mar-Jac Poultry, a supplier of chicken products to wholesalers and popular fast-food chains across the country, including Chick-fil-A. The company hadn't paid a 2021 fine when the teenager died in 2023

investigatemidwest.org/2025/03/12/o...

Didn't take many pictures at #NICAR25, but loved talking data with friends new and old. Thanks to all who came to the food and agriculture data talk! 🌽🐮📊

I'll be at @ire-nicar.bsky.social #NICAR25 this weekend speaking on a panel about data reporting in food and agriculture.

Journalism pals, let me know if you are going to be there!

If you’re connected with NOAA’s GLERL, or other Great Lakes teams affected by federal cuts + shifts, I’d love to hear from you.

I’m a ProPublica reporter in Michigan with a longtime interest in water.

Background: www.propublica.org/people/anna-... and www.annaclark.net

Signal: annaleighclark.14

Exclusive: The USDA’s Farm Animal Welfare Research Lab — With Just One Scientist Remaining — Dismantled by Trump Sentient has learned that the primary federal laboratory for farm animal welfare research has lost its probationary scientists to the mass firings.

Update: @sentientmedia.org also learned that Elon Musk benefited from this USDA lab's research and graduate student training. His company Neuralink hired a former graduate student researcher at this lab, Autumn Sorrells, as its director of animal care. sentientmedia.org/usda-farm-an...

Journalists @benfelder.bsky.social and @jmcjmc.bsky.social freelancer Madison Holcomb at @investigatemidwest.bsky.social appeared on @paulapoundstone.bsky.social, @wbez.org and @iowapublicradio.org to talk about the #meatindustry, #birdflu and the nation's rarely enforced #animal transport laws.

Finally, the profile Wisconsin needed.

Minocqua Brewing Company owner courts controversy, donations around rare criminal defamation charge. It’s part of a yearslong pattern. The owner of Minocqua Brewing Company is facing criminal defamation charges in Oneida County. He’s been a lightning rod for controversy — and publicity.

I started reporting a profile of Kirk Bangstad, the litigious owner of Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC who is charged with criminal defamation in Oneida County. 

When looked at his super PAC’s financial disclosure forms, I found some strange stuff.

www.wpr.org/news/minocqu...