Why Namibia Can Send the U.S. 27 Tons of Beef and Ranchers Can't Ship Across State Lines
By Jim Mundorf
On April 24, 27 tons(25 tonnes) of beef arrived in the U.S. from Namibia. From what it sounds like this is the first shipment with many more to come. The beef was loaded up on a boat in February. I’m no sailor but two months at sea seems like along time, lets hope no one tripped on the freezer cord.
This news reminded me of back when I used to sell my families beef direct to consumer. We had a few local lockers that could butcher for us, but if we wanted to sell or ship across state lines we had to find a USDA inspected locker. Meaning a USDA inspector had to be there watching the whole time the beef was being processed. The closest one to us was across a state line, two hours away. A four hour round trip to drop off cattle and another one to pick up the beef. It was a giant pain in the ass, that added cost to our product, and it was one of the main reasons I quit the direct selling game.
So why can somebody sell beef from Namibia, that’s been on a boat for two months, nationwide, and a cattle rancher can’t sell his locally processed beef outside of the state? Its a good question, and like most things that are completely maddening, the answer is the government. In order to become a USDA inspected locker you have to pay to have a USDA inspector on site while you butcher, that is, unless you are in Namibia…or Mexico, or Brazil, or Argentina, or any other of the many countries that import meat to the U.S. If you live in those countries your USDA inspector doesn’t have to be on site all the time, they simply stop by to check up on you every 2-3 years. According to an industry expert, the USDA only visits an assortment of facilities when they audit, meaning not all packing plants we are importing from are even looked at. Also the plants that they do audit are given advanced notice for when the USDA inspections are coming. Are you pissed off yet? If not, you should also know that the majority of the beef imported to the U.S. gets packaged in U.S. packing plants, and if beef is packaged in U.S. packing plants they are allowed to mark it product of the U.S. no matter where it originally came from.
Right now politicians are haggling over legislation that would allow meat processed at state inspected lockers to be sold across state lines. It is called the PRIME act, Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is against this act. They say it is a food safety issue, but apparently foreign packing plants that are rarely inspected and know exactly when inspections are coming are not a food safety issue. Who do you trust more with your food, a small family business whose survival depends on the food they process and sell, or a massive Brazilian corporation whose owners have confessed to bribing government officials? (JBS) This is not a food safety issue it is a, USDA and NCBA snuggled up tightly in bed with corporate beef packing lobbyist, issue.
The Namibian beef sent over was purchased by a Boston Company called Verde Farms. Verde Farms is not a farm they are an importer of beef. They import beef from South America and now Namibia and wholesale it as 100% grass fed and 100% organic. How the hell they can guarantee those things about meat that was shipped across the globe, is beyond me. What I do know is that those are niches that many small farms and ranches in the U.S. have spent countless dollars and years developing. Many who try to sell their own beef locally also try to add value by selling certified organic, grass fed, or both. Now you have a wholesaler shipping in beef from around the world claiming it is both. There are no words for the amount of frustrations organic, or grass fed ranchers must be feeling.
Due to government restrictions and the welcoming of imports with open arms, today’s small cattle producer, trying to sell his beef directly to the consumer has nothing but an up hill battle to fight. If you would like to help them fight it, click here to go to USAbeef.org where you will find an easy to use directory of small farms and ranches selling direct. Also, watch the video below.
Jim Mundorf
Owner of Lonesome Lands and The Drover House. He also works on his families farm and cattle ranch in Iowa
