Fiat, Subsidies, and Misaligned Incentives

"The problem is that our beef industry is under attack and people don't realize that."

In this episode of The Bitcoin Podcast, host Walker America sits down with Tom Taber, Executive Director of The Beef Initiative, to expose what they argue is a deeply broken, centralized, and captured beef industry — and to explain why food sovereignty may be as important as monetary sovereignty.

Tom breaks down how government subsidies, USDA regulations, and corporate consolidation have created a system where a handful of processors control the majority of beef distribution, ranchers don’t set their own prices, and consumers are misled about the quality and origin of their food. The conversation explores how fiat incentives, regulatory capture, and data control have hollowed out rural America and put independent ranchers under extreme financial and psychological pressure.

A major announcement anchors the episode: Texas Slim has acquired Beef.com, positioning it as a “digital ranch” and open marketplace designed to protect rancher data, enable fair price discovery, and reconnect consumers directly with independent, regeneratively-raised beef producers.

Walker and Tom also discuss El Salvador, where The Beef Initiative is working with local stakeholders to help rebuild the country’s beef industry from the ground up — including better cattle genetics, regenerative ranching practices, and the return of local micro-processing plants to restore food security after decades of instability.

GUEST LINKS:

Tom Taber: https://x.com/tomtaberhodl

Texas Slim: https://x.com/moderntman

The Beef Initiative: https://x.com/beefinitiative

BEEF.COM

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