Time To Fix A 'Broken' U.S. Farm System, Sen. Cory Booker Says

NEWARK, NJ — Momentum is gaining for a farm reform bill that would “transform a broken system” dominated by multi-national meatpacking companies and factory farms, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey says.

On Tuesday, Booker, a Newark resident, reintroduced legislation that he says will “create a level playing field” for independent family farmers across the nation.

According to Booker, the Farm System Reform Act would:

• Place an immediate moratorium on new and expanding factory farms (also known as CAFOs), and phase out the largest by 2040
• 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
• Strengthen the Packers and Stockyards Act to protect family farmers and ranchers
• 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”

U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna of California has introduced companion legislation in the House. For more information on the Farm System Reform Act, see the section by section here and the full bill text here.

Here’s why the law is needed, according to a statement from Booker’s office:

“Economic concentration in agriculture has been hurting our country, especially rural America, for decades. The top four beef packing companies control nearly 85% of the market. The top four pork packers control 71% of the market. These companies have too much market power, and it comes at the expense of independent family farmers, who earn just 14.3 cents of every dollar spent on food. Agricultural concentration hurts consumers too, who see higher prices, poorer quality, less innovation, and reduced access to food. Making things worse, the [United States Department of Agriculture] has continued to allow beef and pork products that are shipped to the U.S. and processed or repackaged here to be labeled ‘product of U.S.A.,’ even when the animal was raised in another country. This allows multinational meatpackers to pass their imported meat off as American, further eroding fair competition and preventing shoppers from supporting local rural communities.”

Like many other weak links in the nation’s food system, this disparity was put in the spotlight during the coronavirus pandemic, when a hyper-consolidation of U.S. livestock and meat industry led to a near collapse of the supply chain, Booker said.

• See related article: Supply Chain Failed Miserably Amid Pandemic, NJ Hospital CEO Says

Booker recalled the early days of the pandemic, when consumers found empty shelves at their grocery stores, at least 259 meat processing workers died of the virus after their employers failed to provide safe working conditions, animals were “cruelly killed,” and farmers were left with no market for the livestock they produced.

“This broken system is not the result of inevitable market forces, but rather flows directly from the influence multinational meatpackers – who continued to make record profits during the pandemic – have over federal farm policy,” the senator charged.

“Large, multinational meatpackers, because of their buying power and size, are putting our food system at risk and harming everyone along the supply chain,” Booker continued. “We need to fix the broken system – that means giving family farmers and ranchers a fair shot and holding corporate integrators responsible for the harm they are causing.”

Tuesday’s announcement from Booker came just days after President Joe Biden issued an executive order promoting “competition” among companies and business across the U.S.

The proposed farm reform law has picked up support from two of Booker’s high-profile peers in the Senate, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts – both co-sponsors to the bill.

“Our farming economy today is not working for the majority of Americans,” Sanders said. “It’s not working for the family farmer struggling to get by, it’s not working for the environment, and it’s not working for our rural communities.”

“This rigged system, however, is working for huge conglomerates and the meatpacking industry who are raking in massive profits,” Sanders alleged.

“For years, giant multinational corporations have been crushing competition in the agricultural sector and seizing key markets while regulators have looked the other way,” Warren agreed. “And the COVID-19 crisis has made it even easier for Big Ag to get even bigger and gobble up small farms … leaving farmers out in the cold and consumers facing higher costs and fewer choices.”

“This bill is necessary to end the vice grip that Big Ag has over our farm economy, and to give our farmers, workers and consumers real bargaining power in our farm and food system,” Warren said.

Not everyone is thrilled with Booker's proposal, however.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) said the bill is "misguided," with one executive calling it a "broad, jumbled mess."

"95 percent of cattle raised in the United States visit a feedyard. Feeding operations aren’t antithetical to small, family-owned farms and ranches — they’re part and parcel of the same, symbiotic supply chain that produces the most nutritious, sustainable beef in the world," said Ethan Lane, vice president of government affairs.

"Cattle feeders respond efficiently to meet a wide range of consumer demands, and that efficiency is one of the main reasons why the United States has had the lowest beef GHG emissions intensity in the world for 25 years," Lane added. "As our food supply chain is taxed by a growing number of mouths to feed at home and abroad, this efficient production system will be more vital than ever."

However, it isn’t just the economy that will suffer if the status quo is left unchanged, Booker said.

According to the senator:

“Large CAFOs produce enormous amounts of animal waste and other harmful pollution, which are directly linked to environmental and health problems for farming communities across the country. These factory farms create runoff pollution that can contaminate waterways and drinking water. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, large CAFOs produce as much as 1.4 billion tons of waste each year and are not required to maintain a treatment facility for livestock waste. The number of CAFOs have dramatically increased over the years and the steady growth makes rural communities vulnerable to environmental hazards and threaten the economic prosperity of family farms. The overuse of medically important antibiotics by large CAFOs has led to the generation and spread of dangerous antibiotic resistant bacteria. In 2019, the American Public Health Association urged federal, state, and local governments and public health agencies to impose a moratorium on all new and expanding CAFOs, and a 2021 study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) found that air pollution due to animal agriculture is responsible for 12,720 U.S. deaths per year.”

Other support for the proposed law came from:

Michael Kovach, PFU Vice President and Policy Director – “Pennsylvania Farmers Union is proud to endorse this important and thoughtful legislation. The environment, family farmers, consumers, our nation’s food security, and the animals we raise for food, are all affected positively by the direction the Farm System Reform Act points our food system.”

Joe Maxwell, fourth-generation Missouri farmer and president of Family Farm Action – “The Farm System Reform Act tackles the root of our food system issues: consolidated corporate power. By shifting federal support away from production models that only benefit corporate agriculture firms, the Farm System Reform Act places power in the hands of farmers and workers. Now is the moment to work together and build a better food system.”

Jason Miller, Director of Campaigns and Development at Franciscan Action Network – “As Franciscans and Franciscan hearted people, we are called to follow the examples of Sts. Francis and Clare and care for all of God’s creation and its inhabitants. The Farm System Reform Act would be a big step forward in ensuring that we are in right relationship with the earth and one another. All human beings have dignity and worth and must not be left behind as profits continue to flow to the top. This is an issue of environmental, worker, racial, and immigrant justice and corporations can no longer view human beings as disposable. As Pope Francis calls on Catholics and people of goodwill to reject our ‘throwaway culture’ the Franciscan Action Network calls on Congress to act and pass the Farm Systems Reform Act immediately.”

Gene Baur, president and co-founder, Farm Sanctuary – “The FSRA represents a critically important step towards restricting the intolerable abuses of factory farming, while helping to create a more just and sustainable food system. We are proud to join with a diverse community of farmer, worker, environmental, health, and animal protection organizations in support of this vital legislation.”

Matt Bershadker, ASPCA President and CEO – “The COVID-19 pandemic exposed animal agriculture’s deceptive façade, revealing a broken factory farm system that is failing both people and animals. The Farm System Reform Act will help repair and bring compassion to our food system, protecting countless animals from unconscionable cruelty. We thank Senator Booker and Representative Khanna for championing this necessary legislation to build a food system that values animals, people and our planet —not just profit.”

A full list of endorsing organizations for the Farm System Reform Act can be found here.

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