Wabasso hog farmer & @LSPNow organizer Paul Sobocinski speaks truth to power on PBS

In Trump wants to keep meat processing plants open. Is that safe?, Wabasso farmer and Land Stewardship Project Policy Paul Sobocinski makes an appearance.

• Fred de Sam Lazaro:

  Paul Sobocinski decided two decades ago to scale back from what he calls the industrialized system that now produces much of the nation's meat.

  Has it been the right decision financially?

• Paul Sobocinski:

  This isn't perfect, but, overall, it's been a good decision.

• Fred de Sam Lazaro:

  His animals are processed at a small nearby slaughterhouse, where no one has tested positive for COVID-19.

  The meat is sold through a national network of independent producers called Niman's Ranch. Sobocinski has long been an activist against a system that he says has concentrated power and profit in a few corporate hands, at the expense of both laborers and farmers.

• Paul Sobocinski:

  Meat prices went down substantially because of the coronavirus. Who's grabbing all that money? Has food come down in the grocery store? No, it hasn't.

  I think it's important that we retool what we're doing out here. We need more local processing, so more of that is done here in the community. It helps build the community.

Here's the YouTube of the PBS feature:

Earlier Sobocinski posts:

• Paul Sobocinski Star Tribune LTE: Cracks in industrial food system have been there all along
• Session Daily: Struggling farmers could see relief from loan fees with passage of Lippert's HF3739
• Guest post: Senate language defining feedlots as pasture could mean more manure in waters
• Paul Sobocinski: MN rural reality & factory farms

Photo: Screen grab of Mr. Sobocinski on PBS News Hour.

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