Niman's Ranch no longer Niman's

[hippywife]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/15/dining/15goat.html?_r=1&ei=5070&emc=eta1&oref=slogin

[TwilightGardener]

1. Why did he let a "management team" oust him from his own company?

That makes no sense.

[hippywife]

3. He took on investors.

This is what happens in companies sometimes. The investors want a say in operations in exchange for their money. My guess is they ganged up and over ruled him.

[Tumbulu]

4. That is the usual scenario

and investors think that certain profit margins are required. Once they control the company, it is over. I have seen this time and time again.

Up until the 80's a 6-8% profit margin was acceptable. Then with all the high rolling financial shenanigans and pharmaceuticals and ag chemicals making 90% profit margins on products, regular businesses and long standing industries (such as textiles with an average 6% profit) were shut down by the banks.

We all know where that led.

[grassfed]

2. YES on 2 in CA to Stop Cruel Factory Farming

http://yesonprop2.com/

Prevents cruelty to animals.
It’s simply wrong to confine calves raised for veal, breeding pigs, and egg-laying hens in tiny cages barely larger than their bodies. We wouldn’t force our pets to live in filthy, cramped cages for their whole lives, and we shouldn’t force farm animals to endure such suffering and misery. All animals, including those raised for food, deserve humane treatment.

Veal crates.
In order to produce veal, most calves are taken from their mothers when they are just hours or days old and then tethered by their necks in crates too narrow for them to turn around or even lie down comfortably. Virtually immobilized and prevented from engaging in natural behavior, they suffer immensely.

Gestation crates.
During nearly their entire four-month pregnancies, millions of female pigs used for breeding are confined in barren gestation crates – individual, metal stalls only two-feet wide. The crates are so small that the animals cannot even turn around. Barely able to move, these highly intelligent and social animals suffer terribly and develop crippling joint disorders and lameness.

Battery cages.
Nationwide, hundreds of millions of egg‐laying hens are confined in tiny, barren, battery cages so small that the birds can’t spread their wings, nest, dust-bathe, perch, or even walk more than a few painful steps. Each caged hen has less space than a sheet of letter‐sized paper on which to live for more than a year before she is killed.