Fifteen years ago, in responding to the question of why producers were receiving so little for their livestock, Dr. John Helmuth (economist, meat industry expert, and longtime critic of meat industry consolidation) said, “There is an economic term to describe this phenomenon: It is called stealing.”
Leon, I'm old enough to remember going with my dad to a place called a "stockyard." Every county had one. And once a week they had an open auction. Anybody could bring their cattle in, lead it around the ring and a half dozen or more meatpackers would bid on them. It's all gone. The big 3 meatpackers have divvied up the country and now, from what I understand, where ever you go there's one guy standing there telling you what price they'll pay you for your beef. It is stealing. It's ant--trust and technically illegal but the corporations run this coun try now so they do what they want.
