Facing blowback from ranchers after announcing a plan to floor American markets with tariff-free foreign beef, President Donald Trump used his Truth Social account to say his administration would give farmers and ranchers “the right to PROCESS THEIR OWN FOOD.”
In full, he wrote:
Ranchers and Farmers have always been a number one priority for me. They work very hard, are smart, efficient, and immaculately CLEAN, but for years I have heard that they have had a tremendous problem with the Big Processors, who many say are a nasty Monopoly. There are, essentially, 4 of them, a very non competitive number, and they make life miserable for our wonderful Farmers and Ranchers, and I can’t let that happen, can I? So, in order to break this powerful monopoly, with much of its ownership based outside of the U.S., I am authorizing legal documents to be drawn in order to allow Farmers and Ranchers to be given the right to PROCESS THEIR OWN FOOD. This should move quickly. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP
Per multiple reports, Trump’s big idea appears to have come directly from an interview he gave to right-wing pundit Glenn Beck two days earlier, when Beck peddled the notion that loosening food-safety inspections for small ranchers would allow them to process their own beef and break up agriculture monopolies.
Beck is repeating other cattle industry advocates who want to cut oversight from the Department of Agriculture. The elephant—or cow, in this case—in the room is that cutting food safety regulations also gives big business an opportunity to cut corners, potentially reinforcing their dominance while likely making the public less safe. (See: lettuce.)
Details of how Trump and his stooges plan on making this policy work, however, are murky. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins offered a vague promise on social media that “big announcements” will be made starting next week.
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