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• Michigan saw a 3 percent decrease in the number of very small cattle Corporation and sells over a billion pounds of
operations (fewer than ten head), even though nationally the number turkey a year.
of such farms increased by 4 percent; Two large-scale industrial meat trade as-
• Michigan and the U.S. as a whole both saw decreases in the number sociations, the North American Meat Institute
of small to mid-size cattle farms (ten to five hundred head); and the Southwest Meat Association, also got
• Michigan saw a 35 percent increase in the number of very large cattle seats on the committee. U.S. Foods, one of the
farms (over one thousand head), even though the number of those largest food service distributors, got a seat.
operations decreased nationally. Even more, while the number of cattle Three non-industry associations got seats.
in large operations basically stayed steady nationally, Michigan saw The Consumer Federation of America and
a 50 percent increase in the number of cattle on large farms. Center for Science in the Public Interest both
opposed exemptions for small farmers in the
In other words, while both USDA and Michigan are hiding whatever Food Safety Modernization Act and now op-
internal analyses they have of the costs, it’s clear that the electronic ID pose the PRIME Act. A member of the Center
program hurts small farms and helps big ones, just as we predicted. We for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention
need to stop the rest of the country from going down the same road as also got a seat. While we’re not familiar with
Michigan. that organization’s work, it appears to be focused
While USDA will stop approving non-electronic forms of “official on high-tech solutions to deal with the problems
identification” at the end of this year, the mandate to use RFID tags created by the conventional meat supply, rather
will not go into effect for two more years, providing a window of op- than addressing the underlying reasons for the
portunity for producers to continue using the tags that have already been problems. And the remaining members are
approved—and to continue working to roll back this decision. a large catfish producer, academics and state
government officials.
UPDATE ON USDA ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON MEAT While the addition of two small-scale pro-
In the last Wise Traditions, we reported that the USDA had appointed cessors to the committee is a good step, we still
two Big Meat reps to its National Advisory Committee on Meat and have a long way to go to change the get-big-or-
Poultry Inspection: one from JBS and one from Pilgrim’s Pride. get-out mindset at USDA.
After an outcry about these appointments, USDA did add two small-
scale meat processors to the committee: Greg Gunthorp and Dr. Denise REFERENCES
1. https://apnews.com/article/david-scott-atlanta-georgia-
Perry of Lorentz Meats. Both are excellent additions. archive-collin-peterson-b53d676b442d48593dab034c4
82c2285
Yet even with the addition of these small-scale processors, USDA has 2. It’s worth taking time one day to look at all the committees
ensured that the discussions are heavily slanted away from the interests in the House of Representatives, at https://www.house.
of small and sustainable meat production. At the same time, the agency gov/committees. Spend a few minutes clicking on each
added a third large meatpacker, Butterball, which is owned by Seaboard one and see all the bills that are assigned to each one.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE
What does it take to make a difference? At a recent conference, I asked Congressman Thomas Massie, the champion
of the PRIME Act, how people can best make a difference. His response was that meetings and phone calls from con-
stituents are powerful. Often, people believe that it takes huge numbers to make a difference. After all, on high-profile
issues such as tax reform, gun rights and abortion, we hear of elected officials’ phone lines being overloaded. But what
about more run-of-the-mill issues, which make up the vast majority of the work of any elected official? Congressman
Massie noted that his office receives ten or fewer calls on many days, and on some days only gets a couple of phone
calls! He noted that the calls on those slow days typically come from “frequent flyers”—the people who call almost
every day. While encouraging people not to become frequent flyers, he pointed out that calling once a month, and
getting a few friends to do the same, can have a huge impact.
This matches what I have heard from every elected official and legislative staffer I have spoken with over the last
fifteen years. Elected officials represent large numbers of people (in the case of a U.S. Representative, about 750,000
people), and vote on an incredibly wide range of issues. On most of those issues, they simply don’t know anything
about the topic because no one can be an expert or even reasonably track every issue with education, taxes, the
budget, foreign affairs, agriculture, homeland security, food access, food safety, health care, transportation, oil and
gas, veterans affairs, and so much more. By necessity, they rely on their colleagues (who each focus on a few issues),
2
lobbyists and their constituents to educate them. You truly can have a major impact by taking on that role. So make
those calls and start getting to know your legislators’ staff!

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