Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Thursday accused large food corporations of driving up grocery prices and announced new Democratic legislation aimed at increasing competition in the meat industry.
Speaking on the Senate floor, Schumer said he had just returned from an event at the National Press Club hosted by the American Economic Liberties Project focused on rising food costs. He stated that Americans are increasingly frustrated with the price of groceries and argued that the administration of Donald Trump had failed to deliver on promises to lower costs.
Schumer pointed to remarks from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who laughably suggested a low-cost meal—consisting of, in her words, “a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, you know, a corn tortilla and one other thing”—could be prepared for roughly three dollars. Schumer dismissed the claim as “nonsense,” further stating that many families are struggling with rapidly rising grocery bills.
As part of what he described as Democrats’ broader effort to lower costs, Schumer announced the introduction of the Family Reduced Food Costs Act. He argued that high prices are driven in part by consolidation within the food industry, particularly in the meat sector.
According to Schumer, a small number of corporations now dominate the market. He said four companies control roughly 85 percent of the U.S. beef market, 67 percent of the pork market, and 60 percent of the poultry market. That level of concentration, he argued, allows large companies to raise prices for consumers while squeezing farmers’ profits.
Schumer cited the price of beef as an example, saying it has increased by about 16 percent over the past year to roughly six dollars per pound.
Schumer Discusses Legislation To Lower Grocery Prices
The legislation, Schumer said, is designed to increase competition and weaken the market dominance of large corporations. Schumer argued that reducing monopoly power is essential to lowering grocery prices for American families.
To illustrate his point, Schumer pointed to earlier periods in American history when the federal government moved to curb monopolies. He referenced the publication of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, which exposed conditions in the early 20th-century meatpacking industry and helped spur federal reform.
Those reforms included the creation of the Federal Trade Commission and the passage of the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921, which aimed to curb the power of dominant meatpacking companies and restore competition.
Schumer argued that the United States is once again facing a similar concentration of corporate power in the food industry and said Congress should follow the same path taken more than a century ago.
“Americans love the free market and open competition,” Schumer said, but not when a handful of corporations dominate an industry and make it impossible for others to compete.
He said the new legislation would target monopoly power that he believes is contributing to higher grocery prices, particularly for beef and other meat products. Schumer also asked for unanimous consent to add additional Senate co-sponsors to the bill, noting that support for the legislation continues to grow.
