Meat processing is a business dominated by a few very powerful companies. Biden has given
his experts in the ag and justice departments the job of boosting America’s smaller meat producers.
The goal: to build a fairer marketplace for small producers and consumers alike.
For instance, there’s this multipronged move launched early in 2022:
Biden offers $1 billion to small meat producers to fight inflation
The Biden administration will offer $1 billion to help independent meat and poultry producers in its latest measure to fight inflation, the White House announced Monday.
The Biden administration has argued that large corporations and corporate monopolies are responsible for rapidly rising prices. It specifically blames four monopolists in the meat-processing industry for increasing meat prices.
"Over the last few decades, we’ve seen too many industries become dominated by a handful of large companies that control most of the business and most of the opportunities — raising prices and decreasing options for American families, while also squeezing out small businesses and entrepreneurs," the White House said.
The money’s being used to jump-start projects aimed at independent meat processing — to boost competition, reinforce systems financing small processors, build a pipeline of well-trained workers, support safe workplaces and more. The money is also working to give more teeth to the rules that protect farmers, ranchers and consumers.
Biden has followed up with a carefully targeted new effort that debuted last year, as Successful Farming reported:
Small U.S. meatpackers get $9.6 million boost from Biden administration
The Biden administration is awarding an additional $9.6 million in grants and loans to expand meat processing across the country, as the government tries to diversify the industry beyond four companies that have long dominated it.
The effort to expand meat processing capacity comes after COVID-19 infections among workers in large meat processing facilities decimated meat production during much of 2020, contributing to higher food prices.
Is there still more work to be done? 100%! Lots more work. But Biden did more than many people guessed could be done. He deserves a lot of credit. AND he deserves to be re-elected.
What can you do to help?
Your donation will come bundled with others from our Good News community and will show Biden that there are many of us who support him and combine hard work with optimism in our battles for a better America!
Want to do something else?
Rec and comment on these posts to keep them alive at DKos and share them with others who might not realize how great a president Joe Biden has been.
Looking for something else? Here are some other ideas:
This is an entry in my ongoing series Boosting Biden.
Check the comments for more information on how to find other entries and subscribe.