It should not be news that the meat industry needs more competition. USDA Secretary Vilsack made the point as he wrote, “This case highlights the urgency of USDA’s multi-billion efforts … to increase the competitive choices in meat and poultry processing — a competition that would benefit taxpayers, consumers, and producers alike.”
The problem is that JBS, which recently paid a $256 million fine to USDA for bribing Brazilian officials, controls so much of the US meatpacking industry that US consumers would be forced to go without meat if the guilty plants were closed down.