U.S. Food System ‘Broken’ Long Before Coronavirus: Booker, Warren

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey is taking another crack at changing the nation’s “broken” farming industry. And this time, he has Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts on his side.

Last week, Booker reintroduced the “Farm System Reform Act” in the U.S. Senate. It’s since picked up Warren as a co-sponsor; Rep. Ro Khanna of California has filed companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Read the full bill here.

If it becomes law, the bill would help to change a food system where a few large multinational corporations have a “stranglehold” on supply, Booker said.

According to the senator, who first introduced the bill in 2019:

“The Farm System Reform Act would massively reform this broken system by, among other things, cracking down on the monopolistic practices of multinational meatpackers and corporate integrators, placing a moratorium on new factory farms, and investing heavily in more sustainable food production.”

Here’s how it would work, according to Booker:

• Place an immediate moratorium on new and expanding large concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), and phase out by 2040 the largest CAFOs as defined by the Environmental Protection Agency
• Hold corporate integrators responsible for pollution and other harm caused by CAFOs
• Provide a voluntary buyout for farmers who want to transition out of operating a CAFO
• Prohibit the use of unfair tournament or ranking systems for paying contract growers
• Protect livestock and poultry farmers from retaliation
• Create market transparency and protect farmers and ranchers from predatory purchasing practices
• Restore mandatory country-of-origin labeling requirements for beef and pork, and expand to dairy products
• Prohibit the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) from labeling foreign imported meat products as “Product of USA”

Booker said the necessity of the bill has become even more apparent during the global coronavirus crisis, which has exposed a laundry list of dangers and inequalities that already existed in the United States.

• See related article: Coronavirus Is Exposing Racial Gaps In NJ, Advocates Say

“Our food system was not broken by the pandemic and it was not broken by independent family farmers,” Booker charged. “It was broken by large, multinational corporations like Tyson, Smithfield, and JBS that – because of their buying power and size – have undue influence over the marketplace and public policy.”

For example, just four companies control nearly 85 percent of the U.S. beef market. Pork and chicken supply are similarly consolidated, the senator said.

“We need to fix this broken system,” Booker added. “That means protecting family farmers and food system workers and holding corporate integrators responsible for the harm they’re causing.”

• See related article: US Senator Takes On 'Foodopoly,' Wants To Halt Big Agro Mergers

Warren agreed with Booker, commenting that it’s time to stop turning a blind eye to the problem.

“For years, regulators looked the other way while giant multinational corporations crushed competition in the agriculture sector and seized control over key markets,” she said.

“The COVID-19 crisis will make it easier for ‘Big Ag’ to get even bigger, gobble up smaller farms, and lead to fewer choices for consumers,” Warren continued. “We need to attack this consolidation head-on and give workers, farmers, and consumers bargaining power in our farm and food system.”

The bill was endorsed last year by groups including Family Farm Action, Indiana Farmers Union, Pennsylvania Farmers Union, American Grassfed Association, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, Women Food and Agriculture Network, Missouri's Food for America, Family Dairy Farms LLC, American Public Health Association, Food & Water Action, Center for Food Safety, Public Justice, Waterkeeper Alliance, Natural Resources Defense Council, Mighty Earth.

Booker and Warren both made splashes as presidential candidates before ending their campaigns earlier this year.

• See related article: Cory Booker Drops Out Of 2020 Presidential Race
• See related article: Elizabeth Warren Drops Out Of 2020 Race, 'Will Stay In The Fight'

Booker has also worked on legislation with other former 2020 presidential candidates such as Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, including a plan to cut prescription drug costs last year and a bill to legalize recreational marijuana in 2018.

• See related article: Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders Support Plan To Cut Drug Costs In US
• See related article: Rolling Back The War On Weed; Sanders Backs Booker's Bill

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