This is NUTS

It appears that a company with a terrible track record has purchased the second largest lamb processing facility in the country under dubious conditions.

First, here is an article with the details on that mess. It is nearly impossible to buy US lamb unless you buy from a local farmer...nothing wrong with that, but supplies are limited. It's all imported and not of the quality that my grandma used to bring to the table at Sunday dinner for sure. I really like lamb but we almost never have it for those reasons.

Now the supply will become even more constricted in times when we should be looking for more domestic products rather than fewer. He who controls the food controls everything!

Below is an article I wrote in June of '17, a bit rambling, but enough to show that this is neither a good company or a new situation.

Yes, you read that right...slavery!

JBS Swift is one of the largest meat processors in the USA as well as the biggest cattle feeder in the world. With businesses in 150 countries, they boast 8,000 “team members” and operate more than 100 facilities in the United States, Australia, Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico.


They are also in trouble.


Recently charges of far reaching corruption have been brought against them, which follow close on the heels of reports of skeevy meat, peddled on the markets of the world. The earlier scandal saw 63 people indicted for selling expired and adulterated meat products both domestically and through export markets. According to the Tri-State Livestock News, “All have been charged with passive corruption, use of forbidden or illicit substances, falsification of medical records, adulteration of food products or substances, embezzlement, malversation, and use of false documentation, among others.”


This may have contributed to illicit advantages over American producers, as well as leading to possible lower domestic beef prices. The same source reports that the Billings, Montana-based cattlemen’s organization, R-Calf, sent a letter last week to President Trump, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue calling for an investigation into the alleged wrongdoing, included allegedly bribing nearly 2000 politicians. “JBS is the second-largest beef packer in the United States and owns the nation's largest cattle feeding company, which the group contends was used by JBS, in conjunction with imported cattle and beef, to manipulate the cattle markets in 2015 and 2016, causing fed cattle prices to fall by more than $850 per head.”


So extensive was the scandal that there was even potential for the Brazilian government to be brought down by it. The Sidney Morning Herald said the company’s controlling shareholder, J&F Investimentos, agreed to a fine of $5.4 billion under a leniency deal, “The settlement follows testimony from J&F's owners Joesley and Wesley Batista that they spent 600 million reais to bribe nearly 1900 politicians in recent years, revelations that have deepened Brazil's political crisis.”


Seems as if the news just couldn’t get worse for the company, right?


But, wait, there’s more.


In a June 6th article, the Guardian Newspaper said that the Waitrose Supermarket chain, a major grocery supplier in Great Britain, which holds a royal warrant to supply food and beverages to the queen, recently recalled its corned beef due to allegations of what some sources are calling slavery. The paper said in part, “In a series of raids in June 2016, prosecutors say federal police officers discovered men forced to live in inhumane and degrading conditions, with no shelter and no toilets or drinking water. Prosecutors believe the workers were in debt bondage, with payments for food and protective equipment illegally deducted from their wages.”


The owner of the farm in question has also been fined in the past for illegally clearing rain forest land. Not surprisingly, JBS denies the allegations, and says that it ceased buying from the farm as soon as accusations came to light. However, the problem appears to be widespread. The Guardian claims that 13,000 people have been rescued from what amounts to slavery on cattle farms since 1995.


Unfortunately, rather than clean up their act, it appears that the Brazilian legislature may simply change the definition of slavery to accommodate the foul conditions.


These scandals shine a spotlight on a much different culture of protein production than exists here. Kinda makes you wish for Country of Origin labeling again, doesn’t it? Maybe the 100% USA beef trademark embraced by the National Dairy Producer Organization is an idea whose time has come.


In a similar light it was announced recently that Stewart’s is partnering with the New York State Grown & Certified program to offer the program label on dairy products and eggs sold in the company’s over 300 stores. The program includes product labeling, informational signage, and instore videos promoting the whole deal. Unlike many if not most other retailers, the company has its farms under contract to supply locally produced milk for its dairy products, so it can make such a claim.


According to its own website, “New York State Grown & Certified is the first statewide, multi-faceted food certification program designed to strengthen consumer confidence in New York products, address food product labeling, and assist New York farmers so they can take advantage of the growing market demand for foods locally grown and produced to a higher standard.”


Looks like a good deal for farmer and consumer alike. It is particularly heartening to see such an arrangement extended to dairy products. As things stand now, milk moves freely all over the country. The boss counts milk trucks and identifies them by state of origin while he waits for Becky and me outside the library every now and then. You would be amazed how many don’t come from NY, despite our extensive dairy industry. He spots trucks from Ohio and Pennsylvania and even sometimes as far away as the midwestern states, all hauling milk to be sold here. Imagine how advantageous it would be if more retail outlets embraced locally-produced milk, both in terms of freshness for the customer and profitability for the farmer.


Besides helping those involved in the milk to table equation, this could bring into play what is called the “local multiplier effect”. Economists believe that money spent locally returns three times as much to the local economy as money spent on products imported from other regions. Thus a buck spent on local dairy, beef, or veggies, is worth more to the local bottom line than the same buck spent on goods from far away. Add the value of extra freshness, plus the tax dollars generated by farmland and you end up with a pretty good deal.


It’s hard to put a dollar value on verdant hills, or ribbons of corn winding green and golden along the roadside, and the scent of fresh-cut hay floating on the summer breeze, but with buying local you get that too.

So now JBS appears to be in a position to bring our already struggling sheep farmers to their knees, while gobbling up even more of the domestic beef market than they have already devoured. Monopoly much?