The Baby Formula Shortage: A Warning Sign 

Do you remember the baby formula shortage during the pandemic? I do. I was about to have my first child, and it terrified me to my core. Thankfully, I was able to breastfeed, but many mamas aren’t able to.

Why did this shortage happen? Turns out, there are only four major manufacturers of baby formula in the U.S. – Abbott, Mead Johnson, Nestle, and Perrigo – with Abbott and Mead controlling nearly 80% of the market. When Abbott’s plant shut down, the supply plummeted. It was a stark reminder of how fragile our food systems are when too much control lies in too few hands.  

The beef industry faces the same problem. There are four major processors who capture nearly 85% of the market, namely, Cargill, Tyson, JBS (Brazil based), and National Beef Packing Co (majority owned by a Brazilian company, Marfrig Global Foods). Half of this control is foreign. If that doesn’t raise food security concerns, I don’t know what does.

Why Should You Care?

What happens when one of these plants shuts down? When there’s another global pandemic? When Brazil stops “playing nice”? We saw what happened with the baby formula; panic, empty shelves, and families scrambling to feed their children.

When so much of our food system depends on just a few corporations, we’re vulnerable. If Washington won’t fix it, the only power we have is where we choose to spend our money.

What Can You Do?

It’s Sunday, and I need to go grocery shopping. I open my Kroger app, fill my cart, and schedule a pickup or delivery.  Talk about convenience. However, I never buy meat from the grocery store. I am lucky enough to have married a farmer. 

Here at Buckeye Valley Beef, you can shop just as easily as you do at Kroger.  Visit www.buckeyevalleybeef.com, choose pickup (at our farm store or in Milford) or home delivery,  and fill your freezer with beef, pork, chicken, and lamb products. Our products are frozen, unlike what you get from the grocery, so you don’t have to worry about creating that meal plan right away or worrying about it going bad. It might not be as simple as getting everything at Kroger, but your body, and your children, will thank you.

Your Choice Matters 

By simply changing where you buy your meat, you’re protecting your family’s food security, your local farmers, and your freedom to choose. If we keep buying from the “big four,” we’ll keep losing small American cattle farms one by one, and eventually, we’ll lose the choice entirely. It’s not about beef. 

It’s about the future of food.