12. America’s food chain became reliant on imported food on the late 20th century
Whether restaurants or retail stores, American food distribution runs on razor-thin profit margins. America’s chain restaurants, both fast-food and casual dining, maintain a spirited competition for customers, driven by the need to keep prices low. The same applies to grocery stores. The result is the importation of food at an ever-increasing rate, with foreign producers outpacing American farms. Not only fruits and vegetables in American stores and restaurants come from overseas. Beef raised in foreign countries ranging from Australia to Namibia appears in American markets, with much of it labeled “Product of USA”.
The misleading labels which exist to ensure Americans are consuming products raised on American farms come from changes in labeling laws in the late 20th and early 21st century. Meat from Australia, Canada, Brazil, and other trade partners which undergo any processing in a USDA-certified plant is labeled as a “Product of USA”, regardless of where the animal from which it came was raised. The cheaper price for imported meat at all grades pressured American farmers and ranchers beginning in the late 20th century, leading to decreases in American beef production as cheaper imports continued to flood the market, becoming a significant portion of America’s food production chain.