Move over Paula Deen, Smithfield's got a new bacon mama.
That is, if the largest Chinese buyout of an American company is allowed to go through.
Chinese takeover of Smithfield.
Smithfield is already the biggest, baddest bacon producer around, controlling about one third of the U.S. pork supply, most of which is raised on
factory farms. Now the largest Chinese pork company wants to buy them out completely for $5 billion.
Here are a few reasons this is a really bad idea , for farmers and for the U.S. food supply:
1. China has weak food safety standards, and Shuanghui Holding International, the Chinese company that is buying Smithfield, was embroiled in a food
safety scandal for producing and selling pork laced with the banned veterinary drug clenbuterol, which is linked to serious human health risks.
2. Chinese ownership of Smithfield can only complicate and shield potential future food safety problems from U.S. oversight.
3. Smithfield is the world's biggest pork producer and owns the most hogs in the U.S. The company has a growing stranglehold over U.S. farmers, who
have fewer options for selling their hogs at the market and are prey to abusive contracts from processors like Smithfield.
4. Already, 95% of hogs in the U.S. are raised on factory farms, and this merger could increase that. We may export the pork, but we keep the millions
of gallons of manure right here in U.S. hog raising communities in North Carolina and Iowa.
More here :
www.forbes.com...
No offense to the Chinese ,but have a huge problem with this,because of how the Chinese treat animals in general . Our food factories are bad enough .
This would be much worse .
I however,have no issues with the hog manure .
I think it could easily be used as an alternative fuel supply ,which is just ignored by the fuel and energy entities in the usa.
edit on 05/28/2013 by PtolemyII because: (no reason given)