> I intuitively want to think that vertically integrating and cutting out several middle men, and selling locally would reduce the price You’re missing the PPP

> I intuitively want to think that vertically integrating and cutting out several middle men, and selling locally would reduce the price You’re missing the PPP arbitrage. When you can vertically integrate and process the cow in a third world country where median incomes are $1000/year, it would still be cheaper to buy from there and import, than your vertically integrated local farm in a country with $60000/year median incomes. Even though labor costs aren’t everything, PPP affects everything from fuel prices to feed prices.