Page 90 - Fall2020

If USDA lars each year and corresponding expenses for And the other meatpacker representative
wanted to farmers. Even more money will be spent by both is from Pilgrim’s Pride—a subsidiary of JBS!
farmers and small businesses such as livestock Moreover this past summer the CEO of Pil-
address food auction barns on the readers, databases and grim’s Pride was indicted for price-fixing. And
safety and other infrastructure needed for the program. in a blatant example of how the company puts
All you needs do is look at who served profits over the interests of American consum-
animal on the working groups that developed this lat- ers, while grocery store shelves in America were
disease, it est version of the plan. There were few actual going empty, April saw some of the industry’s
would cattle producers, and the chairs and co-chairs highest exports of poultry to China.
increase were dominated by representatives of corpora- Two large-scale industrial meat trade as-
tions that manufacture electronic tags and the sociations, the North American Meat Institute
oversight and equipment necessary to apply, read and track and the Southwest Meat Association, also got
testing at the data from the tags, together with the organiza- seats on the committee. U.S. Foods, one of the

large meat tions that promote the corporations that already largest food service distributors, got a seat. The
control huge swaths of our livestock and meat token non-industry association to get a seat is
processing industries. the Consumer Federation of America, which
plants. What it’s really about is furthering corpo- opposed exemptions for small farmers in the
rate control of the meat industry by creating Food Safety Modernization Act and now op-
yet more regulations that promote international poses the PRIME Act. The remaining members
trade for the big meatpackers, are cheap for are a large catfish producer, academics and state
large-scale operations and burden family farm- government officials. There is no representation
ers. at all for small or very small processors, regen-
If USDA wanted to address food safety and erative meat producers or any sort of advocate
animal disease, it would increase oversight and for regional and local food production and dis-
testing at the large meat processing plants, and tribution.
stop boxed meat and live cattle imports from Particularly coming on the heels of the
countries with known disease problems. These blatant failures of these large industry players
two steps would do far more to promote a safe, during Covid, the committee assignments are a
secure food supply than sticking RFID tags in slap in the face to both consumers and farmers.
cows’ ears. The USDA’s latest committee appointment an-
nouncement shows that the agency’s historical
MORE PANDERING “get big or get out” attitude is alive and well.
Animal ID is not the only area where USDA
is doubling down on its support for the huge WHAT ABOUT CONGRESS?
meatpackers. Last month, USDA announced The alliance with big industry is showing
ten new appointments to the National Advisory some strain in Congress, however, where elected
Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection— officials have been hearing from their constitu-
and both seats for meat processors went to large ents about the problems with the conventional
meatpackers. system.
First there is a representative from JBS, the In April, as the meatpacking plants start-
American subsidiary of a Brazilian-owned com- ing closing their doors, Senators Josh Hawley
pany, JBS SA. In Brazil, principals of JBS SA (R-Mo.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) wrote a
are under investigation for bribing two thousand letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC),
elected officials in order to secure government urging that agency to open an antitrust inves-
funding to fuel their company’s expansion into tigation into the meatpacking industry and its
the United States. Joesley and Wesley Batista, potential to cause significant disruptions in the
the brothers who control the company, were food supply chain.
1
slapped with more than three billion dollars in In May, nineteen senators from both par-
fines in 2017, the largest fines in the country’s ties sent a letter to Attorney General William
history. Barr urging him to look into market manipula-
88 Wise Traditions FALL 2020