This is an unusual, perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to support a US bill to reverse the decades-long “go big or go home” approach to centralizing meat production
I generally don’t write about anything political, but this is a highly unusual issue that gets to the heart of our food system and transcends the political polarization we find all around us.
Since the 1960s, the USDA’s “go big or go home” mentality has led to the enduring centralization of our food supply.
We now have our first big chance to reverse this by allowing local farmers to use local butchers without going through exceedingly expensive USDA-stamped intermediaries.
The ask is that if you live in the US you put in a phone call to your legislators to support it. Typically they receive only ten phone calls on a bill so a call carries a lot of weight.
Here is a guest post from my friend John Moody.
===============================================================
For around six decades, farmers and homesteaders across the US have faced a growing problem – the lack of accessible and affordable butchering options. Starting in the late 60s, changes to federal regulations lead to the loss of tens of thousands of abbatoirs and butcher shops across the country.
By the late 1990s, five or so companies controlled roughly 80% of beef, turkey, chicken, and pork consumed in the United States.
American Buddhist Net 