The Right To Process and Sell: The American Farmer’s Food Fight
Updated
President Trump has recently acknowledged some major issues within the American food system. From high food prices and a historically low U.S. cattle supply to broader consumer relief, what PR message did his executive order deliver about what American farmers and ranchers need to stay competitive?
In late August, Trump signed a proclamation to ensure ‘affordable beef’ by increasing the quantity of lean beef trimmings that are imported with no above-quota tariff.
The proclamation allowed 300,000 tons of ground beef to be imported over the next 90 days. The only problem was that there was little information about the country of origin of the beef. In addition, American beef doesn’t have labeling mandates that let consumers know where their beef comes from.
The result left many questioning the order. The Alabama Cattlemen’s Association called the move a ‘slap in the face.’ Congressman Thomas Massie echoed the call on X, writing:
“What a slap in the face to American cattlemen & consumers. Worse than socialism! Dumping foreign beef in U.S. markets can temporarily lower prices but it won’t incentivize American farmers to raise more beef. Bring back Country Of Origin Labels & pass my PRIME Act.”
Shortly after, Trump’s followed up with an executive order aimed at supporting ranchers. The order calls for a “comprehensive review and upgrade of all federal government agency regulations and policy to promote ranchers’ interests…and prepare further actions to promote ranchers’ financial viability and market access.”
Great that the overarching federal government apparatus, which has favored meat processing monopolies over American ranchers for decades, is now ‘reviewing’ and ‘preparing further actions’ to assist them. Hopefully those will come sooner than later.
Regarding labeling, the order “…directs the Secretary of Agriculture to review country-of-origin labeling for beef products. Based on this review, the Secretary of Agriculture may propose new regulations and legislative recommendations regarding such labeling.”
Farmers want action, and consumers want transparency. Are words directing a ‘review’ that ‘may’ lead to country-of-origin labeling enough?
These are slights upon President Trump. In fact, his administration has favored farmers and ranchers more than any other in the previous decades. However, the situation American farmers, and the entire American food industry, finds itself in currently is the result of the continued bipartisan sellout of American food by subsequent administrations, going back to former President Richard Nixon removing the dollar off of the gold standard in the 1970s.
I shot an entire documentary surrounding this history from Nixon to MAHA and beyond called The Great American Food Fight you can watch on HighWire+ exclusively for supporters.
Looking at the political landscape governing American food, the polls clearly show the demands of the people.
A poll by the Brownstone Institute and Health Freedom Defense Fund asked whether small farmers should have the right to sell unprocessed raw food directly to consumers. A resounding yes from Republicans at 78.8%, Democrats at 62.5%, and Independents at 66.4% settled the question.
Similarly, a poll by the 1776 Law Center went further, asking whether people should have the right to buy food directly from farmers without obtaining government permission. The poll also asked whether farmers should have the right to sell food directly to customers without government approval. To both questions, there was nearly 70% approval for each.
Congressman Massie recently visited farmer Joe Salatin at his ranch and spoke on the matter.
Missouri Farmer Joe Maxwell also spoke out recently and echoed Salatin regarding how bad the industry and current market are for farmers.
From Salatin and Maxwell’s comments, real farmers understand that the lopsided, monopolized beef processing and sales industry has a long way to go for balance and transparency. Trump’s orders are shots in the right direction but appear to have missed the bullseye. Are his orders well-intentioned moves to begin turning an industry around, or rushed orders to placate voters without fully upsetting his monopolistic processing mega-donors?
Time will tell, as changes desperately need to be made in order to fix the American beef industry and bring small farmers back online. The weak supply chain, strained by corporate overreach, struggling small farms, and the energy shock from the Iran war are all dangers that could further erode our food independence in America.