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> It was basically a case of a politician, Wendell Murphy, who helped pass 28 laws making it illegal to sue a factory farm, then left office and went into partn

> It was basically a case of a politician, Wendell Murphy, who helped pass 28 laws making it illegal to sue a factory farm, then left office and went into partnership with Smithfield Foods, a Chinese-owned company Said politician was in office (NC House/Senate) in the 80s, and his company was bought in 1999 by Smithfield Foods. Smithfield was bought by WH Group, a Chinese company, in 2013. > They now control 80% of pork US production This appears to be fiction. The closest I can find is that 6 large companies control 80% of the wholesale market, Smithfield being one of them.

Dig1t 3y ago
>Smithfield was bought by WH Group, a Chinese company, in 2013. Correct, Smithfield seems to have consolidated the market _before_ being acquired by WH Group. Which he says in the video. But the fact that they are still controlled by China and that they have a massive market share of the industry is still true. >This appears to be fiction I just went back and rewatched the video, sorry my bad. They control 80% of hog production _in North Carolina_. They control 26% of all US pork processing and 15% of pork production. It's hard to remember this stuff when posting on here casually during work. However Smithfield was in fact guilty of price fixing: https://www.reuters.com/legal/pork-consumers-75-million-price-fixing-accord-with-smithfield-approved-2023-04-12 https://www.reuters.com/legal/pork-consumers-75-million-pric... Which means they are big and powerful enough to manipulate markets like this.