Comment on Investments and Opportunities for Meat and Poultry Processing Infrastructure

The food systems of the United States are in peril. This is no more evident than in the meat and poultry processing sector that exhibits monopolistic levels of consolidation, limited regulatory oversight allowing unsafe conditions for workers, and supply chain vulnerabilities, prone to attack by foreign agents. In response, The Biden-Harris Administration, to Build Back Better in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, directed the USDA to improve competition in agriculture markets. Complementing the Agency’s efforts to address meat and poultry processing bottlenecks, USDA announced Investments and Opportunities for Meat and Poultry Processing Infrastructure for an estimated $500 millions of American Rescue Plan Funds. In this written comment, CLF detail the deficiencies of the status quo and encourage USDA to focus on creating new and strengthening existing small and medium scale processors in cooperation with Minority Serving Institutions.