(00:00) Independent and natural family ranchers are forced to pay for their own demise through a government “tax” transferred to multi-national meat processors. Resistance is futile? The beef checkoff program forces small ranchers to pay into a fund that enables multi-national beef processors to divert other money into lobbying that destroys independent ranchers. It is as if you had to pay a portion of your pay so management can eliminate your job. It’s unfair and Congress sustains it by yielding to industry lobbyists. Sid Mahanta, author of Big Beef, It’s What’s Eating Your Dinner, explains.
Guest: Sid Mahanta
Learn more at: The New America Foundation
(18:30) One cannot overstate the power of Big Agriculture on the three branches of government. Consolidation has created food empires even larger than written by Upton Sinclair in the 1880s. Today Big meat processors are more concentrated than anytime in recorded history and yet there’s no antitrust enforcement. 93% of Americans want to know what’s in their food and from where it came and yet there’s no labeling requirements. Antibiotics in meat is so pervasive that our immune systems are weakening and there are no safeguards. Multi-national trade agreements are pushed even though they’re bad for economies. Who are these people and how much power do they wield? Fred Stokes tells us.
Guest: Fred Stokes
Learn more at: Organization for Competitive Markets
Music Featured:
“The Last Cowboy” – Jamey Johnson
“Light a Candle” – Neil Young
“My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys” – Willie Nelson
By Tim Danahey | Tim Danahey Show
