What if I told you the meat at the grocery store, maybe labeled “Product of U.S.A.” really came from, say, Australia? Or Mexico? Or Canada? Overproduction of animals in many parts of the world means that their cheap meat has been exported to the United States, part of schemes devised by the top meatpackers. These are the companies that buy animals from farmers and process them into packages of meat for stores and restaurants. As middlemen, they control what is paid to farmers and also prices at the store.
In the US, four companies control 85% of our beef market—Tyson, Cargill, JBS and National Beef, which is owned by China. Looking at pork, JBS, Tyson, Hormel and WH Group, also owned by China, control 67% of the market. Tyson and Pilgrims Pride are the big winners in the chicken market, controlling about 45%.
In January 2022, Joe Biden signed an executive order asking USDA to straighten out this corporate concentration and the false “Product of U.S.A.” labeling. The order asked for stronger rules under the Stockyards and Packers Act, which was passed in 1921 and then largely forgotten; enforcement could break up the giant corporations who, confusingly, sell their products under many labels. Tyson, for example, sells meats labeled Tyson, Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Raised & Rooted, Aidells, State Fair, Nature Raised, Sara Lee, Lady Aster and many other brand names. Most of the brands were once trusted local labels gobbled up by the giant Tyson.
Biden’s order mandated new rules for the “Product of U.S.A.” label. His order also poured money into local markets and allowed small locker plants to expand. In my county, a place with farmland that varies from flat and tillable for row crops like corn to almost-mountainous land suitable only for livestock, we have always had one or two meat processors. Thanks to government grants and loans, we now have five within an easy drive. For food security, it’s a win.
This local-food reality is a true bonus for Missouri. Our state has an estimated 40,000 cattle producers. But from 2017 to 2022, 10,000 called it quits while the big packers took in unprecedented profits and blamed inflation for price increases. In 2022, PolitiFact reported that in 2021-22, JBS made a record net profit of $4.4 billion, a 70% increase over the previous year. Tyson raked in $4.1 billion in profit, a 91% increase and Cargill made a record $4.9 billion, a 60% increase.
Part of that increase comes because the “Big Four” take advantage of Country of Origin Labeling. In 2023, the giants imported 3.7 billion pounds of beef from other countries. Their interpretation of Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) means that they can import carcasses and cut them up here or even just move them from one packing crate to another. For the complete list of countries and the amounts, search for “usda beef imports by country” and the Agricultural Marketing Service will answer your questions.
In 2008, the Farm Bill insisted that COOL should be enforced but the order was immediately opposed by meatpackers. Then, in 2009, Canada challenged the rule in the World Trade Organization (WTO). Canada was quickly joined by other nations arguing that truth in labeling created an unfair advantage for US products. By 2015, COOL was unrecognizable.
Canada is, by the way, the leading exporter into the United States. In 2023, Canada sent us 306,099 metric tons of beef and they’ll more than double that in 2024. Some of that meat could have been raised elsewhere and imported through Canada. It is untraceable.
As the new Farm Bill waddles through Congress, Biden’s order is on the floor as Senate Bill 52. It would require that all meat sold in grocery stores is labeled with the names of countries where animals are born, raised and processed so that American consumers can choose American meats. SB 52 has bipartisan support and much love from consumer groups and farm groups.
We’re hearing a lot about the failures of capitalism these days and how it’s not providing pathways to economic freedom for the majority. While I haven’t heard of mobs chanting Marxist slogans (yet) I have heard leftist pundits recommending that we go back to school and read up.
As the meat business proves, however, it’s not capitalism that’s to blame. Capitalism based in our communities provided competition and prosperity for a majority of folks. And I just heard you think “privileged folks” but remember that in the late decades of the last century there were prosperous Black neighborhoods in small to medium American towns and prosperous Chinatowns in the cities, sheltering more folks than the small privileged suburbs.
The lesson? Support your community. Buy local. Know where your food comes from. If you’re an activist type, drop a line to your senators and ask them to make SB 52 a part of the next farm bill.
Margot Ford McMillen farms near Fulton, Mo., and co-hosts “Farm and Fiddle” on sustainable ag issues on KOPN 89.5 FM in Columbia, Mo. Her latest book is “The Golden Lane: How Missouri Women Gained the Vote and Changed History.” Email: margotmcmillen@gmail.com.
From The Progressive Populist, June 15, 2024
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