Pandemic shows the need for more diverse meat production

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden signed an executive order calling for strengthening vulnerable agricultural supply chains and encouraging production here at home.

In the past 18 months, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on agricultural producers, processors, and other small businesses revealed the dangerous effects of consolidation up and down the food supply chain. Farmers, processors, and retailers faced significant losses, and customers found product shortages and high prices.

The pandemic isn’t the only issue. News of the recent cyberattack on meat processing company JBS ma...