If the World Won't Eat Our Meat, Why Should We?
Trump's deregulation agenda and the case for reclaiming local, sustainable farming
The Trump administration's sweeping deregulation of food safety, agricultural oversight, and environmental protections has been met with justified outrage from public health officials and global trade partners. But if we take a moment to look past the carnage, there’s a sliver of opportunity glinting in the rubble: the chance to reclaim control over how and what we eat.
In April 2025, Trump railed against countries like Australia for refusing to import American beef, calling their safety standards "unfair trade barriers." But it wasn’t always this way. These countries didn’t suddenly become picky. They’ve refused U.S. beef and poultry for decades because our products don’t meet their basic safety or animal welfare standards. Trump’s solution, predictably, was not to clean up the industry, but to demand that other nations lower their standards or face retaliation.
That should tell us something. If our food isn’t safe or humane enough for international markets, Europe, and Asia all decline our meat products, why are we feeding it to ourselves?
