Grist Article - Wall Street bets on JBS takeover of pork giant Smithfield

By Tom Philpott
June 29, 2010

"As the chart to the left shows, the great bulk of the meat consumed in the United States comes from just four large, powerful companies. Three of them -- Tyson, Smithfield, Cargill -- will be familiar to most readers; the fourth isn't exactly a household name. Over the last two years, a Brazilian beef-packing conglomerate called JBS has come barreling into the U.S. meat market, taking advantage of a weak dollar and economic troubles among top domestic players...."

http://www.grist.org/article/food-wall-street-bets-on-jbs-takeover-of-pork-giant-smithfield/