Poultry plant closure: cracks in a flawed food system. Suddenly, a crisis in agriculture: 380 jobs down the chute as the Maple Leaf Foods poultry plant closes in Canard. Hog farmers on the brink too, and Maple Leaf’s meat-packing plant in Berwick also in question. Is there more to come? [News Source]

Saving farmers’ four-legged bank accounts. Most of the world's poor depend on livestock to survive, but international poverty reduction efforts devote little attention to the health of these animals, experts say. [News Source]

Beef row threatens U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement. A potential free trade agreement between the United States and South Korea hinges on something not even officially part of the intense negotiations: the complete resumption of American beef imports into the world's 10th-largest economy. [News Source]

Letters to the editor for Jan. 20 (The Olympian) Would you eat meat from cloned animals? Remember the E. coli cases from spinach, or lettuce, the illnesses from fresh juices, and the threat of mad cow disease? What's next? [News Source]