RURAL AMERICA DOESN'T HAVE TO STARVE TO DEATH.

AGRICULTURAL economics; GLOBAL studies; TAX havens; SUSTAINABLE agriculture; CENTRAL business districts

Meat-packers "had to run around the countryside looking for pigs to keep their plant running", said Iowa farmer Chris Petersen, one of the few independent pig farmers still operating. According to Fiegen, farmers typically take out large debts to finance the buildings, leaving them utterly dependent on the large firm to supply enough piglets to raise (then take away as grown pigs) at a per- animal price that the farmers must accept. The CAFO farmers' constant anxiety about making the interest payments on their loans adds to the large firm's leverage, enabling it to pare farmers' income down to the lowest level they can survive on and remain on the farm. Two of the five biggest meatpacking companies in the United States are JBS, a Brazilian firm with a long record of corruption, and the Chinese-owned Smithfield Foods, which is substantially influenced by the Chinese government. [Extracted from the article]

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