Editor's note: Every trip to the grocery store now delivers the same gut punch. Ground beef, steak, and pork have never cost more, and American consumers - hopefully producing more than they consume - are told this is simply the price of scarcity, a shrinking cattle herd, a drought, a border closure. What almost never makes it into that explanation is the other half of the story, playing out three states over on a cattle ranch or a chicken farm, where the Americans actually raising the animals are being paid less for their work while a small handful of corporations pocket the difference. This is not a natural market correction working itself out. It is the visible symptom of a food system that four companies, led by Tyson Foods, have spent decades quietly locking down, using ownership structures, contract terms, and political access (Tyson owns Arkansas' US senators John Boozman and Tom Cotton and the state's four congress members) that most Americans never see and were never meant to. Understanding how that system was built, and who profits from it today, is the first step toward taking it back. Thank you Rep. Thomas Massie and beef rancher Joel Salatin for your insights:
