Part 4/10:
As food prices sunk, the structure of the agricultural industry shifted, leading to the demise of small, independent farms. Before World War II, the United States boasted around 7 million farms; today, fewer than 2 million exist. Most of the farm production is now controlled by a select few large corporations. The Reagan Administration's relaxation of antitrust regulations in the 1980s fueled this corporate consolidation, leading to only a handful of companies controlling over 80% of the meat industry.