Big Ag

Perhaps you think Big Agriculture’s influence over Congress and the Executive is limited to Monsanto and other Monopolist Mega-Corporations? Well companies like that have their own lobbying budget, but many Agri-Businesses are also members of mandatory marketing, public relations, and yes, lobbying groups.

In the sense that these ever had a purpose it was to promote family farmers, a breed that barely exists anymore, in the same way that a union in a closed shop does- since all the workers benefit from union representation all must pay dues.

In Big Ag this is called the ‘Checkoff System’.

Largest US food producers ask Congress to shield lobbying activities
by Sam Thielman, The Guardian
Monday 2 May 2016 14.38 EDT

The move follows a series of stories that showed the government-backed egg lobby, American Egg Board, had attempted to stifle competition from Silicon Valley food startup Hampton Creek, in direct conflict with its mandate.

Several agricultural lobbyists including United Egg Producers, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the National Pork Producers Council have now sent a letter to the congressional subcommittee overseeing appropriations for the Department of Agriculture (USDA) asking to be exempted from Foia.

Their argument is since the funding is private, their activities should not be subject to FOIA requirements even though the programs are co-ordinated by U.S. Government employees (specifically the Department of Agriculture which administers them).

Now this alone should probably outrage you. The idea that government Agencies are ‘regulatory capturing’ other Agencies seems counterproductive at best, and could fairly be considered anti-democratic and fundamentally corrupt.

The administrators of checkoff programs are appointed by the USDA and the programs themselves are funded by a levy on goods sold. The supreme court has ruled that contributing to the programs is mandatory, and that the programs themselves constitute government speech. The decision was controversial – small producers have long argued that checkoffs exclusively serve the interests of the their largest competitors and environmental and animal rights activists say checkoffs often obscure the cruelties of industrial farming.

Last year the Guardian learned through a Freedom of Information Act request by attorney Jeffrey Light and Foia expert Ryan Shapiro that the US department of agriculture (USDA)-backed American Egg Board (the egg industry checkoff) had advised Unilever on an ongoing lawsuit against Hampton Creek, a company that produces plant-based mayonnaise, and had agreed to attempt to use its influence to have Hampton Creek’s Just Mayo removed from Whole Foods.

Shapiro said the attempt to cast a shroud over shady dealings among checkoff groups came far too late. “Now that some of their blatantly improper dealings have been exposed via Foia, instead of cleaning up their acts, these boards are attempting to exempt themselves from Foia altogether,” Shapiro told the Guardian. “But as the already-released documents demonstrate, these boards are sorely in need of greater transparency and must not be allowed to shroud their already opaque dealings with even more secrecy.”

The Foia expert also observed that no less a pro-business titan than the late Antonin Scalia would have disagreed with the producers’ assessment of their own accountability. In a ruling slapping down a challenge to the checkoff programs’ authority by a group of small farmers, Scalia wrote of the beef checkoff: “The program is authorized and the basic message prescribed by federal statute, and specific requirements for the promotions’ content are imposed by federal regulations promulgated after notice and comment. The Secretary of Agriculture, a politically accountable official, oversees the program, appoints and dismisses the key personnel, and retains absolute veto power over the advertisements’ content, right down to the wording.”
…
Indeed, displeasure with the move appears to cross party lines. “This is crony capitalism organized by Washington at its worst,” said Republican senator Mike Lee in an emailed statement. “Not only is the federal government forcing market participants to collude, it is then actively engaging in a cover up of that collusion.”

Plutocracy. It’s incredible, the other white meat of Washington D.C., what’s for dinner.

And ultimately inedible.