As Congress prepares to pass the Farm Bill, many advocates have visited Washington to promote policies that challenge corporate consolidation in the food system. Food & Power has a roundup of their proposals.
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Last week, nearly 500 cattle producers from 14 states rallied in Omaha, Nebraska to denounce corporate control over cattle markets and to demand that the Trump administration do something to fix it.
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Last Saturday, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, and other Democratic Party presidential hopefuls gathered in Storm Lake, Iowa at the Heartland Forum to present their platforms for revitalizing rural communities. Preceding the forum, a coalition of farming groups held a rally nearby calling for a moratorium on large agricultural mergers and a Farmers Bill of Rights.
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During President Donald Trump’s recent trip to China, Montana Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) negotiated a $300 million beef cattle deal between the Montana Stockgrowers Association and the Chinese e-retailer JD.com. The deal calls for the retailer to buy $200 million of cattle between 2018 and 2020, and invest $100 million in a new feedlot and packing plant in Montana. Some ranchers are concerned that this unusual deal will favor certain ranchers over others, and further concentrate power over the American livestock sector in the hands of Chinese companies.
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Over the past month, health authorities in Europe, China, and Brazil have all temporarily pulled beef from the Brazilian meat giant JBS off of grocery store shelves, in response to evidence that the company was involved in a massive corruption scandal to export rotten and contaminated meat. Yet here at home, the Trump Administration has yet to take meaningful action against JBS imports from Brazil. On the contrary, JBS has continued to expand its reach and political power in the U.S.
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After largely ignoring one of the most extreme periods of concentration in U.S. history, President Obama on April 15 acknowledged that America has a monopoly problem. He did so by signing an Executive Order that pushes executive departments and agencies to use their rule-making authority to promote competition wherever possible.
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