Congress enacted the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA) in 1921 to protect farmers, ranchers and consumers from the anti-competitive stranglehold that large corporations had over meat and poultry markets in the United States.
Unfortunately, after a century of industry attacks and weak enforcement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the PSA hasn’t lived up to its promise, and very little has changed.
Today, just a handful of mega-corporations control the beef, pork and poultry markets. And these corporations use their extraordinary power to manipulate these markets – lowering the earnings for farmers and ranchers, while raising prices for consumers. And they rake in profits!
If that’s not bad enough, they also lock farmers and ranchers into abusive contracts. It’s time for farmers and consumers to get a fair break!
Instead of being protected from unfair, anti-competitive treatment, many farmers and ranchers find themselves subjected to exploitative contracts and unfair practices that pit farmer against farmer, and force them into smothering cycles of debt. Despite our farmers and ranchers being turned into corporate serfs, USDA has been asleep on the job.
President Biden’s executive order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy specifically called out meat and poultry markets and the need to strengthen enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act.
Food & Water Action and its affiliated organization, Food & Water Watch, are advocacy groups with a common mission to protect our food, water and climate.
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