Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
CME, Bunting says, the other factor in the low prices is globalization and the importation of milk protein
concentrates (MPC) that replace milk in cheese.
MPCs are dumped on the market way below the price of milk and are used in foods like Kraft
Singles—which they label a processed cheese product to circumvent an FDA rule on labeling—and other
cheese products and processed foods. They are created by putting milk through an ultrafiltration process
that removes all of the liquid and all of the smaller molecules, including the minerals that the dairy industry
touts as being essential for good nutrition.
What is left following the filtration is a dry substance that is high in protein and used as an additive in
products like processed cheese, frozen dairy desserts, crackers, and energy bars. Because MPCs are gen-
erally produced as a dry powder, exporters can ship it long distances very cheaply; almost all of the dry
MPCs used in America are imported.
MPCs can be the product of cow's milk or they can come from animals like yak or water buffalo that
are used for milk in some exporting countries, such as India and China. With such imprecise definitions
and vague standards, it is hard to imagine how regulatory agencies manage to keep track of where this
ingredient comes from and how it is used. As it turns out, they don't have to, because MPCs are largely
unregulated.
Bunting writes: “Importing MPCs into the U.S. is the same as importing milk, except that MPCs are
loaded into box trailers at the dock for transportation to plants. No one notices. USDA does not count
MPCs as milk. If the imported MPCs for December 2008 could be converted back to milk hauled in tanker
trucks, the convoy would be nearly 65 miles long, bumper to bumper.” 36
Bunting is not the only dairy farmer furious about the situation. Around the country, MPCs have been
identified as one of the factors causing the price of milk to plummet for farmers. Joaquin Contente is pres-
ident of the California Farmers Union. He and his brother own a farm that has been in the family since
the 1920s. In a July 2009 congressional hearing, Contente called upon the federal government to include
“the cost of production, not the costs paid to producers more than 30 years ago.” Among the causes he
named for the “devastation of the dairy industry” were rising concentrated dairy imports, a lack of compet-
ition in the marketplace, consolidation, and rising input costs. He went on to sum up the problem: “Dairy
producers have fought for years to pass legislation to regulate dairy imports. . . . So far, dairy processors
and food manufacturers, with their well-funded lobbying firms, have fought off any regulation. To end the
dairy crisis, lawmakers need to direct their attention to the dairy imports that are flooding our market and
forcing so many operations to the brink of financial disaster.” 37
Imports are one more nail in the coffin of family dairy farms. Some short-term actions could be taken
to address this issue, like transparent labeling of MPCs and other types of imported dairy ingredients in
processed foods and “cheese food,” alerting consumers to the inferior nature of these products. However,
in the long term, to address the problems associated with corporate-driven globalization, trade policy must
be reformed. This is the only way to prevent cheap, low-quality products from undercutting the viability
of local and regional production of milk and other foods. As long as MPCs and other cheap dairy inputs
destabilize the market, it will be impossible for dairy farmers to make a living or for consumers to have
access to safe and healthy food.
Stopping the heartbreaking impoverishment of dairy communities and the hemorrhaging of family dairy
farms also means addressing the arcane and complicated way that dairy farmers are paid. The federal gov-
ernment's formulas for calculating the price of milk should be based on the cost of producing it and enough
profit to provide them a livable wage. But just a few large companies now use these formulas to lower
farmers' prices nationwide.
Moreover, key to achieving reform in what dairy farmers get paid is addressing the rampant consolida-
tion that marks the industry. From the cow's udder to the milk carton, a few large players control every step
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