July 31, 2025 The Midwest Center For Investigative Reporting
Snack attack: Jack Link's bets big on Trump to save its market share
Jack Link’s isn't just one of America's favorite snack food brands; it's a political powerhouse.
Fueled by its Sasquatch marketing campaign and the nation’s current obsession with protein, the beef stick and jerky company has cemented its place on shelves nationwide. Millions in donations to President Trump have also helped Jack Link’s secure White House access and influence over food-related policies.
Jack Link's and the processed meat industry now confront growing pressure to curb their products in state nutrition programs and new federal dietary guidelines.
In a new story from Investigate Midwest, reporter John McCracken explored Jack Link’s history of gaining political clout and its new lobbying efforts amidst calls for less processed meat consumption. While Trump has historically been supportive of the meat industry, companies like Jack Link’s may also be feeling new pressure as the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, spearheaded by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is advocating for government policies that promote healthier eating.
“There’s very much a conflict within this administration about the role of corporate power and public health,” said Judith McGeary, executive director of the Texas-based sustainable agriculture and farmer advocacy group Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance.
— Ben Felder, editor in chief
DATA HARVEST: California hit hard by federal immigration raids
By Jennifer Bamberg, Investigate Midwest
Federal immigration agents descended on California farms in early June, targeting farmworkers from blueberry fields to vegetable packing facilities.
This focus on rural communities followed a burst of indiscriminate workplace raids in urban Los Angeles, causing scores of noncitizens statewide to avoid leaving home, causing a 3.1% dip in the state’s workforce, according to a new study from researchers at UC Merced.
The report notes that only two moments in recent history compare to the June 2025 drop: the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. But unlike those events, this downturn took place nearly overnight. California’s private-sector workforce shrank one month faster than the 3.3% unemployment rise during the first full year of the Great Recession.
View the charts here.
OPINION: California's Prop. 12 faces tough new challenges
By Dave Dickey, Columnist
Having failed time and again in the courts to find California’s Proposition 12 unconstitutional on Commerce Clause arguments, Big Meat is looking toward a new two-pronged strategy from USDA and Congress to terminate the law.
Prop. 12 requires any pork producers wanting to do business in California to house their sows in 24 square feet of living space. In state. Out of state. Makes no difference.
The first comes from pig-happy Iowa. U.S. Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst in April introduced the Food Security and Farm Protection Act that promises to “prevent States and local jurisdictions from interfering with the production and distribution of agricultural products in interstate commerce, and for other purposes.”
If the bill was enacted, a flotilla of plaintiffs would be beating down on district courts with lawsuits in hand opposing Prop. 12. Guaranteed.
But there’s an even more immediate threat to Prop. 12’s survival.
Up to now, those opposing Prop. 12 have primarily filed lawsuits focused on porcine housing standards. But Prop. 12 also includes laws regulating poultry housing standards.
Read more here.
ICYMI: SNAP use is down, but the biggest budget cut yet is coming
By John McCracken, Investigate Midwest
Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has declined in nearly every state, yet the program now faces its largest proposed funding cut in history. Experts warn this could strain families and local economies already under pressure. It’s a critical backdrop to this week’s main story on how major food companies like Jack Link's are lobbying to maintain access to SNAP dollars for their products.
Read more here.
Investigate Midwest is an independent, nonprofit newsroom. Our mission is to serve the public as a watchdog over influential agricultural corporations and institutions through in-depth and data-driven investigative journalism.
