What Is The Beef Industry Unethical

Have you ever gone to a fast food restaurant and wondered what is really in your cheeseburger? If you knew what was in it, there is a good chance you would not want to eat it. The real tragedy is that the American beef industry knows this, so they make it difficult for the average person to learn what goes into the production of their beef. But the beef industry is not the only party that is guilty of this. The large corporations who produce our food are all doing the same thing. The morality of the free market and the institutions in which our economy operates under in a free society needs to be reconsidered. In modern day America, the food industry, in particular, has become a perverse monster that is controlled by a few of large corporations, and as consumers we should demand something better.
According to Food, Inc., a documentary examining the growing industrialization of the food industry, “now there are essentially a handful of companies controlling our food system,” a result of the growing dominance of fast food chains like McDonalds who are big buyers in the market and look to be able to purchase from a big supplier, for products like beef, instead of many smaller ranchers/suppliers. According to the film, “in the 1970’s, the top 5 beef packers controlled only about 25% of the market” (Food). In just forty years, things have changed rather drastically, as “today, the top four control more than 80% of the market” (Food). This means more than eight out of ten burgers we order at Micky D’s or packages of beef we buy at the supermarket come from either Tyson, Cargill, National Beef, or Swift and that these four companies now have a virtual monopoly on the beef