August 30 Deadline: Tell USDA How to Fix America's Meat Supply On July 9, USDA announced it will commit $500 million of USDA’s Build Back Better Initiative funds through the American Rescue Plan to support new competitive entrants in meat and poultry processing with a special emphasis on small- and medium-scale livestock producers and meat and poultry processors. USDA will provide grants, loans, and technical assistance to address concentration within the meat and poultry sectors and relieve supply chain bottlenecks by supporting new meat and poultry processing facilities. If you're a meat-eater and you think it's time to take back control of your food supply, if you want easier access to locally-raised meat products while ensuring your local farmers and ranchers will thrive for generations to come, PLEASE let the USDA know how to spend that $500 million. To comment, you don't need to get into the weeds of complex regulations and convoluted corporate legal structures (unless you want to). Just tell them what you think, what you feel. We know industrial-scale meat production produces meat of questionable quality, severely exploits its labor force, pollutes ecosystems and over-medicates the animals that end up on your plate. Comment deadline Aug. 30. Together we can rebuild regional economies, create jobs, improve our long-term food security and feed our families superb-quality meats if we persuade the USDA that a major investment in small- and medium-scale livestock producers and meat and poultry processors is the best direction to take for a better future. Go here to send your comment to the USDA via regulations dot gov: https://www.regulations.gov/document/AMS-TM-21-0058-0002 Here's some good background on the issue from today's Guardian News: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/25/meat-wars-why-biden-wants-to-break-up-the-powerful-us-beef-industry