Meat Processing and Red Tape

A friend sent me a link to this story yesterday, and here in beef country, it seems like something we should know about.

It would seem that an entrepreneur in the Sandhills–eager to provide a high-value product–is being stymied by “red tape” and the federal government. Big surprise, right?

Since August of 2019 owner Jacob Wingebach has been submitting and resubmitting forms and jumping through hoops in an attempt to
make this business a reality. FSIS keeps rejecting his request, not because of food safety issues but more resource management and budget issues in the USDA. The Denver office is undermanned and they would have to install a permanent inspector in the Sandhills area to inspect his plant. But the staff issue in FSIS is not just a regional problem; a brief google search shows scores of vacant FSIS positions all over the nation.

Whether with USDA inspections, or occupational licensing, or virtually any other regulation that any level of government imposes, the free market is inevitably going to inhibit the ability of businesses to provide goods and services, and consumers to purchase them. Most of us are probably willing to say that if REAL safety or health issues are at stake, that’s one thing, but this (and so much of the regulatory environment that we see) appears to raise barriers for the sake of raising barriers.