National Security, Where’s the NON-Contaminated US Beef & Pork?

“I’ll never forgive myself for taking us to that damn food joint,” Papa said to Mama. First time I saw Papa cry as he rushed me to the ER.

Boycotts and closure of 850 McDonald’s franchises in Russia has been reported. Hell, why not shut them down permanently? Know where their meat and eggs come from?

Tyson, Cargill, National Beef, and jBS are known as the “Big Four” in the meat industry.

Unlike the first two, National and jBS are Brazilian owned. Americans, how do you like foreigners controlling what meat you eat and how much you pay?  American companies have been selling out to foreigners for decades. Meat companies are no different. Swift & Company followed by Smithfield Foods sold out to jBS.

BUT, unlike the past “sins of the father,” or sell-outs, present day mendacity of their bastard sons or the Meat Packers have been screwing Farmers and feeding Consumers Bullshit for decades. So what’s the beef?

Traditional ranchers and workers have a vested interest in healthy practices. But amongst meatpackers and oil giants you find those “Licensed to Kill”: WANTED → US Oil Giant – BOUNTY→ Land & Medal of Honor.

In the film Giant, “Big Texas” is the scene of a duel between cattle and oil. But in the real world, Meat Packers and Big Oil & Gas are monopolizing the industries. Today the Battle is not between them. It’s against them. The People’s fight against CONTAMINATED water and food.

In recent decades many farmers have been forced to sell unable to sustain their business primarily due to price fixing by meat packers.

According to Meghna Chakrabarti at WBUR, it’s about “More than money: The monopoly on meat.”  Chakrabarti  adds that “In 1977, the Big Four, as they’re commonly called, owned just 25% of the market. Many mergers later, the Big Four now control 85% of all meat packing in America.”

TOM VILSACK shares his talk with a producer, “I just sold my cattle, and I lost $150 a head. But the processor made $1,800 a head. How can that be?”

Bill Bullard, head of the advocacy group Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund explains “…there’s a narrow window of opportunity to sell those animals, and it’s about a two to three week window… If you go beyond that…cattle producer loses money. Now the meatpackers know this, and they have a tremendous bargaining advantage over the independent producer.”

Basically, “four packers acting as gatekeepers. They can decide who does and who does not have timely access to the marketplace, so they create market access risk for producers.”

Harm to Americans? Biological and Economical

Unlike a flu viral infection, there is no vac for gastroenteritis, but they’re working on it. Unlike bacterial infections, antibiotics do not work against this type of virus.

Whole Foods, WTF are you accomplishing with “Global Animal Partnership” (GAP)? Critical Reports keep arising questioning the validity of this “partnership.” Could this GAP seen on labels be a front for meatpackers who are in partnership? In other words, is it a way to pass foreign meats as “born, raised and harvested in USA”?

Bullard notes:

“We do not have consumers sending demand signals upstream in the beef supply chain. And they cannot, because there is no indication as to the country of origin on the beef. And without that country of origin label, the meatpackers can substitute imported products from over 20 countries, and displace the American cattle producers’ access to their own domestic market.”

Fallacy of “competitive pricing” is one explanation for no country and/or company label. Markets like Joey the Traitor, are known for this practice. What are they hiding? If US beef why not label it? Says Bullard, “Because we cannot have consumers indicating that they want cattle produced from American cattle producers. The meatpackers have been free to import large quantities of beef and cattle from foreign countries…”

American Consumers are not known to question or haggle. Investigative criminal research and consumer reports show most can be compared to those ordering drugs online and picking up prostitutes. When they see something they like, they ask how much and pay it. Not, I’d like to know where you and this shit comes from.  

Says Bullard, “consumers are being exploited on one end of the supply chain, and cattle producers are being exploited on the other end…” But according to Shane Miller, Tyson’s group president, “The present spread between live cattle and beef prices has everything to do with the law of supply and demand.”

Funny how corporations are quick to cite the “law of supply and demand” but squirm away from anti-trust laws.

Notes Chakrabarti, “American antitrust regulation has followed a basic premise: Are consumers being harmed?”  Of course, when the Courts and Corps say “harmed” they mean high prices. In other words, what’s the harm in getting sick from contaminated meat?

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst. Author of the Age of Betrayal: The Triumph of Money in America and editor of Colossus: How the Corporation Changed America, points out, “Everything now in the legal profession comes down to, Is it a monopoly if the price is remains low? If the consumer gets a bargain, there’s no harm done.”

But if you the consumer gets sick from crappy pricey meat it’s on you.

Joke of Enforcement and Regulation

In 1921, the Packers and Stockyards Act established “The Letter of Law.” But it did not prevail.

Bullard notes, “there is lack of enforcement. In fact, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, that was charged with implementing and administering the Packers and Stockyards Act, never even wrote rules to clarify what Congress meant by protecting producers against unfair, and deceptive and discriminatory practices…” 

Why and how did this happen? “…because the corporate agribusinesses went to Congress and the executive branch and convinced them that what the American family farm and ranch system could do well, they could do better…And as a result, we began losing hundreds of thousands of cattle producers all across the country…”  Ultimately, “the buck to stopped” with the consumer.  

Instead of tackling the problem head on, the Administration threw money at it, adding more processors for the big four to acquire. According to NPRs Scott Horsley:

“The administration is setting aside half a billion dollars to help bankroll new meat processors to compete with the big four. The Justice Department is also investigating alleged price fixing in the chicken market. The No. 2 chicken processor, Pilgrim’s Pride, pleaded guilty this year to conspiring with others to limit production and keep chicken prices artificially high.”

And still RECALL after RECALL after REPORTED FOOD CONTAMINATION,  “Tyson, the nation’s largest beef and chicken processor, categorically rejects the idea that the industry is overly concentrated or that that’s hurting ranchers and consumers.”

Chakrabarti at WBUR noting the “Biden plan or the additional $1 billion of government funding to expand meat packing capacity” spoke with Sarah Little, spokeswoman for the North American Meat Institute, representing meatpackers.

Little states, “The first problem with spending that money to invest in extra capacity is, Is it sustainable? Where will they get the labor to operate this new capacity, given the nationwide labor shortage…the new capacity supported by the government is not the answer to better prices for livestock producers.”  Not only does Little offer no solutions, she acknowledges there are no “better prices for livestock producers.” Of course, not admitting packers are responsible.

Meat Packers, like many other businesses and government, blamed inflation and lack of food health and safety on the supply chain and in turn the pandemic. Employees became scape goats and the public guinea pigs. Sure, one could say to the family struggling to feed their family whose child falls ill due to contaminated cheap imports, “you get what you pay for.” 

But now one is forced to pay top dollar for bottom shit than can sicken or kill you. Bullard stresses, “This crisis is so severe it’s now become a national food security issue. And Congress needs to act decisively in order to immediately restore competition to the industry.”

I remind you Reps, blood will not only be on the Meat Packers but in your hands.

BIOWEAPON?

In my July 2021 paper, Playing Russian Roulette With Swine, I point to Mark Wheelis, A Short History of Biological Warfare and Weapons:

“Although biological weapons have been used only sporadically throughout human history, and their military effectiveness has never been clearly demonstrated by use in war, the impact of natural disease outbreaks continually reminds us that they are potentially very effective weapons.” Who will be the next “target of opportunity”?  

How is monopolizing the food staple of America not National Security, especially when your competitors/enemies own your ass, along with your cattle? But do not approach all monopolies the same.

Meat Packers manipulating the supply-demand dynamics and engaging in reckless and/or dangerous “bait-n-switch” tactics of non-disclosing to consumers meat imports can constitute as a breach of national security.

What about Pork, the other white meat?  Focus on China’s labs took the focus from Chinese and Brazilian owned meat companies. In 2013, Smithfield Foods reportedly sold out to China for $4.72 billion and is now owned by WH Group. This company buyout is said to have been the biggest one by the Chinese.

Is this what US President means when he says, “Buy American”?  Homeland security, where’s you concern for National Security?

As to supply chains and stockpiles, China is said to be “the only country that has a pork reserve…80% vs 11% U.S.” Exactly how many other critical reserves like medicine, household and food product, etc. does it have? More importantly, why would nations dependent on overseas imports not have reserves?

Former Director of Office of Trade & Manufacturing Policy, Peter Navarro, spoke on the subject of U.S.-China Trade Relations in his 2007 book, The Coming China Wars, Where They Will Be Fought and How They Can Be Won. (Full Disclosure:  In my role as Faculty Assistant at the Paul Merage School of Business, I assisted Prof. Navarro.)

How could this happen in the US? Prof. Navarro explains ”… politicians allow this shell game to be run because they want to keep consumers and voters fat, dumb, and happy-and themselves in power.”

In the Chinese lunar calendar, Chinese zodiac marks 2019 as the Year of the Pig. On August 3, 2018, South China Morning Post reported “China culls 900 pigs after reports of first African swine fever outbreak in country.”  Reports by the BBC of the spread to parts of Southeast Asia in 2019 followed. It was only a matter of time before it spread once more and reached Eastern Europe.

In March 2020, soon after US and the World officially announced the lockdown for COVID-19, Journal of Virology reports:

“Currently, ASF is endemic in more than 20 sub-Saharan African countries. In Europe, ASF is endemic on the island of Sardinia (Italy)… affecting Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia…outbreaks occurring in 2018 to 2019 in China, Mongolia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Serbia, Myanmar, North Korea, and the Philippines…Belgium.”

“Outbreaks of this disease are devastating the swine industry from Central Europe to East Asia, and they are being caused by circulating strains of African swine fever virus derived from the Georgia 2007 isolate.” No surprise, nation leaders need a distraction for the peasants.

CHINA & COVID, then AFGHANISTAN & TALIBAN. And now RUSSIA & NUCLEAR WEAPONS WAR

What’s next? A global recession, 14 years since the global financial crisis.

Boycott or Short the Stock

Until the “Letter of the Law” catches up with the Spirit of the Law” in these criminal times, targeted boycotts and divestments are effective tactics and necessary to shut down dirty meat packers.

Immediate Tactical and Long-term Strategic Response: Main Street and Wall Street

We’re past the “sins of the father.” In this pandemic era the “new normal” is the mendacity of bastards. Too big to bring down? Boycott the Middlemen. Meet them where they are with ruthlessness!

Strategically “defund” one at a time. You can take a political, economic or moral stand. But you need to take a stand.

Main Street: Unlike “war on drugs,” do not go straight to the source or roots but Target their branches, Markets & Fast Food: COSTmo, Mart off the Wall of fridges laden with Johnny’s bacon, Jimy’s sausages, eggs from China’s chicks. Or the corner fast dealers: Mr. Donald, Mr. Big Burger, Mr. ChknLknGood, Sr. Taco y Sra. Bell, Herr Weiner, Signori Piza

To put into context, for example, UK population is half of that of Russia’s 144 million with about 850 McDonalds compared to Britain’s close to 1300. But the real comparison is that of the US with a population of about 330 million and close to 14,000 McDonalds. Yet China reports 2,400 McDonalds but with a population of @ 1.5 BILLION. Still, unlike the UK and China, US consumers like their “Supersized” meals and bodies, pay heavily for health insurance.

Wall Street: Gateways to their roots: Boycott Privately held companies; Short the market of publicly traded companies; Insider aka Activist Shareholder, put to practice your philanthropy$  Of course, there are some whose talents lie in backdoors…

Joe, Here’s the Grub

According to NPRs Natalie Krebs, “Joe Biden signed an executive order setting worker health and safety as a national priority, promising to increase federal safety regulations and plant inspections.”  Politicians’ promises. Don’t hold your breath.

Democrats, speaking of national priorities, the past continues to catch up with you. Heed,

Chevron, Iraq-Iran Negotiations in the Past. Big COBALT and NIOBIUM is the Future.

GOVERNMENT IS THE SOLUTION AND THE PROBLEM – “Occupational health and safety experts say both Congress and the local lawmakers still aren’t doing enough to create a stronger framework to protect workers from future outbreaks.” 

Says the chief medical officer for Tyson Foods, “We’ve invested hundreds of millions of dollars to transform our facilities with protective measures….and our always-on testing program.”

And yet RECALLS continue with Reports of contaminated products?

Let’s be clear, contaminated meat products have been reported for decades – stop confusing a flu caused by a viral infection with that of gastroenteritis, caused by food contamination.

I remind meat packers, death is death. Your Lord is not the only one who moves in mysterious ways.

My green friends, this also affects you. Not just meat lovers. Poisoning of green lettuces are as rampant as yearly recalls of contaminated packaged vegetables due to Listeria, Salmonella…

As you bite into your meal, be reminded Meat Packers are screwing American Farmers and feeding Consumers bullshit from around the world. Think about that the next time you order some grub from fast food joints, or pay a shopper to pick up vegetables and some beef.

Mr. President, seems you’re Building Back Bullshit and Sharing the Farce, not Faith.