Biden blames meatpacking giants for soaring US meat costs

Biden blames meatpacking giants for soaring US meat costs

WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Joe Biden offered independent US farmers $1 billion in aid Monday as part of a battle against meatpacking giants he blames for driving up food prices -- and hurting smaller competitors.

Biden was to meet by video with a group of independent farmers and ranchers to explain his "work to boost competition and reduce prices in the meat-processing industry," the White House said.

"The meat producers will talk about the challenges they have faced as large conglomerates have absorbed more and more smaller processors."

The White House unveiled an aid package including $375 million in grants to support independent meat processing plans and $275 million in loans at favorable rates for smaller businesses.

Biden was to be joined by the attorney general and secretary of agriculture, who argue that multinational meatpacking companies have taken advantage of the economic slump during the Covid pandemic to gouge consumers -- something the companies and some economists dispute.

Price rises for Americans  beloved steaks and hamburgers are among the leading items driving soaring inflation, a phenomenon that has badly hurt Biden politically, clouding what has otherwise been a generally healthy recovery from the pandemic economic shutdown.

November inflation hit 6.8 percent, the highest peak since 1982, while beef prices shot up 20.9 percent that month, pork rose 16.8 percent and hamburger meat 13.9 percent.

Inflation is being driven partly by enormous supply chain disruption across the world economy, as industries come back from the global slowdown at different speeds and demand outstrips supply.

Biden s critics claim that the president has fed inflation further with heavy government spending, while his Democrats say the spending programs saved the economy from even deeper damage.

Meat price rises are a politically sensitive area, along with gasoline prices, which have also hit alarming new highs.

Biden has been has been outspoken for months against the top processors, who handle most of the meat bought from farmers.

"Our overreliance on just a handful of giant processors leaves us all vulnerable, with any disruptions at these bottlenecks rippling throughout our food system," the White House said.

"Four large meat packing companies control 85 percent of the beef market," it said. "When dominant middlemen control so much of the supply chain, they can increase their own profits at the expense of both farmers -- who make less -- and consumers -- who pay more