During a recent press briefing, White House press secretary Jen Psaki referred to the "the greed of meat conglomerates" playing a larger-than-usually-recognized role in the increasing price of food. The President and Secretary of Agriculture have both spoken about "the greed of meat conglomerates," she said.

“When people go to the grocery store and they're trying to buy a pound of meat, 2 pounds of meat, 10 pounds of meat, the prices are higher. That is because of ... you could call it corporate greed, sure,” Psaki said. Maybe Jen hasn’t filled up her car’s gas tank recently with the highest gas prices in two years. Is that greed, too?

Here is a dictionary definition of greed: “having or showing an intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth or power.”

Are these meat agents of “greed” hatching plans to depress cattle producer payments as well as conspiring to raise consumer beef prices just so they can reap untold wealth and power? Jen Psaki, along with the USDA Secretary Vilsack and even President Biden, would have us believe that unfair profits are being made by the Big Beef Behemoths. Seriously?!?

Where is the economic sense or business reality in our leader’s comments? Was there any consideration given to the profit-impinging factors such as the increasing cost and shortage of labor, or the drought affecting feed-raising areas forcing up its cost, or the large land and plant infrastructure and attendant cost necessary to turn a live animal into edible, nutritious and healthy protein, just to name a few? And, what about the other factors with which any business must contend that affect its ability to profitably price its product? Was there any thought given to the thousands of human beings these “greedy” meat conglomerates employ? Not that I can see and that’s not just too bad, but imbalanced reasoning.

In this past Sunday’s New York Times (NYT), Ezra Klein, (a vegan, but don’t hold that against him) wrote an opinion piece, “The gross cruelty of factory farming.” In his article, Klein offers two cures for what he labels as cruelty of those who manage the large beef conglomerates in their zeal for profits by “factory farming” food animals. First, is “amelioration” by trying to better the conditions of raising food animals. Second, is “substitution” by replacing animals with “meat” made from plants.

Klein seems to be telling us that it is cruel to efficiently raise food animals for profit as that, by its very definition, is factory farming, which is tantamount to “greed” no matter its degree of humaneness as developed, maintained and verified by independent food animal production experts. Or, eliminate the whole damn food animal protein industry and replace it with a plant-based industry whose current level of development raises questions about its future efficiency, efficacy and sustainable profitability.

This whole effort to condemn animal food production by labeling it as cruel but usual, to paraphrase the U.S. Constitution, is an unabashed attempt to rid our country of any form of food animal protein raising, processing and marketing. But, is the situation really that dire?

Yes and no. There are roughly 600,000 to 650,000 head of fed cattle, 2.3 million hogs and 1 billion chickens processed and marketed weekly in the U.S. The outcry to dampen and eventually eliminate these massive production numbers by shaming those who consume such forms of proteins is, indeed, a stretch. Is it a threat to those of us who toil in the food animal production business?

Nah, not while a majority of consumers are a little long in the tooth. But for those Gen Y or Z consumers, veganism or at least a lessening of meat protein consumption is an existential and growing movement that must be recognized. Meat marketing mavens must develop methods to convince them that such shame is not realistic, viable nor healthy. Instead, they can shamelessly consume animal protein with the full knowledge that it is raised humanely, in numbers that efficiently perpetuate the industry providing nutritious and tasty protein without any gratuitous greed.

Making a profit is not greed, it is a function of capitalism and by that definition definitely not un-American. It becomes greed when it’s done for more than just profits — for unfettered wealth and its handmaiden, unrestrained power.

Has it become un-American to make a profit?

Join for free* to continue reading.