WASHINGTON – In the wake of escalating meat and poultry processing prices, the White House has unveiled an action plan targeted at increasing competition.

"The meat and poultry processing business is a textbook example of how lack of competition harms consumers, producers, and our economy," the White House stated in a fact sheet released on Monday as it presented its proposal to make the meat and poultry supply chain more competitive, fair, and resilient.

"When powerful intermediaries control so much of the supply chain, they can enhance their own profits at the expense of both farmers who make less and consumers who pay more," the White House said, noting that four huge meat-packing businesses control 85% of the beef market.

"Our food supply systems are vulnerable to shocks when too few corporations control such a huge share of the market. Many ranchers have nowhere to send their cattle if Covid-19 or other disasters like as fires or cyberattacks shut down a factory "According to the White House.

According to the White House, President Joe Biden's administration would use $1 billion in financing from the American Rescue Plan, which was passed into law last year, to expand independent processing capacity.

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