Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker Join Forces on Bill to Ban Most Factory Farming by 2040

Sen. Elizabeth Warren announced Thursday that she would be co-sponsoring Sen. Cory Booker's bill to phase out large-scale factory farming by 2040. The Farm System Reform Act would prohibit new large factory farms from going into business and force others to cease expansions before halting operations entirely within two decades. Warren's support for the law comes after multiple reports of unsafe conditions in the meatpacking industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Rep. Ro Khanna is also co-sponsoring the effort and has introduced companion legislation to the House. As many in the country began to fear shortages of meat, President Donald Trump issued an executive order late last month that invoked the Defense Production Act in an attempt to compel meatpackers to remain open as "critical infrastructure," despite large outbreaks of COVID-19 that have reportedly overwhelmed some facilities. While Booker's legislation may seem timely due to the impact the pandemic is having on the meat industry, it was originally proposed by the senator in December 2019. The bill was intended to support smaller farms by countering the influence of large, monopolistic corporations that had "run roughshod over the marketplace," according to Booker. If passed, the law would place an immediate moratorium on new large factory farms—also known as "CAFOs," or concentrated animal feeding operations. The largest CAFOs would be entirely phased out by 2040. Medium and small-sized operations would not be prohibited, although voluntary buyouts would be offered for farmers who want to cease factory farming...MORE