Politico reports that House Agriculture Committee member Greg Casar (D-Texas) is introducing two new bills, co-led with Senate Agriculture member Peter Welch (D-Vt.), targeting large agricultural corporations that have significant influence on the farm bill reauthorization.
The Agricultural Worker Justice Act seeks to use the federal government’s purchasing power to enforce fair wages and secure working conditions, aiming to prevent what they say are big corporations from exploiting American workers. The issue has been on the agenda for several months, with USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack having previously addressed Congress about the over consolidation in the meatpacking industry, citing it as a reason the federal government couldn’t sever ties with a food supplier found guilty of bribery in Brazil. Further issues such as illegal child labor across the food industry have reinforced the demand for improved sourcing requirements. Casar argued that large food companies, especially those few meatpackers receiving significant taxpayer funds, should be obligated to source their food domestically and treat their employees with respect.
Casar’s second legislation, the Fairness for Small-Scale Farmers and Ranchers Act, is likely to meet resistance from larger companies in the food sector. It proposes a moratorium on mergers within big agribusiness, food and beverage manufacturing, and grocery retail, while prompting further reviews. The legislation also lays out numerous steps to provide new resources to smaller farmers, promote competition in critical areas of the agriculture industry, like the cattle spot market, which is a contentious topic on Capitol Hill.
As for the goals for the farm bill, Casar and Welch aim to get “significant pieces” of both bills into the farm bill reauthorization, including a country of origin labeling for meat products, a move that has been advocated for by some lawmakers for years. Read the latest Pro Farmer news.
