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James Talarico has denied allegations of being vegan. (Yfat Yossifor | KERA)<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\tJames Talarico has denied allegations of being vegan. (Yfat Yossifor | KERA)<\/p>\n
Democratic U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico visited a barbecue restaurant in South Dallas to talk about the rising cost of beef \u2014and the fact that he\u2019s not a vegan.<\/p>\n
Talarico\u2019s Republican opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, accused Talarico of being a vegan during his victory speech after the May 26 primary runoff election<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a vegan who thinks God is non-binary and that there\u2019s actually six biological sexes,\u201d Paxton said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to imagine someone more radical than that.\u201d<\/p>\n Talarico has confirmed multiple times that he\u2019s not a vegan. At Smokey Joe\u2019s BBQ in Dallas, he told the press Paxton\u2019s attacks are a distraction from more important issues, like the price of beef and affordability.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s going to lie about what I eat,\u201d Talarico said. \u201cI\u2019m going to focus on making sure Texans can afford to eat.\u201d<\/p>\n The U.S. cattle herd is shrinking<\/a>. There were 86.2 million cattle and calves in the U.S. as of January 1 according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture<\/a>, the lowest since 1951.<\/a> The Washington Post reported<\/a> the higher cost of beef contributed to the closure of several Texas barbecue restaurants.<\/p>\n Paxton launched an antitrust investigation of the meatpacking industry alongside the Department of Justice last month, accusing four companies of driving up beef prices and lowering the amount paid to Texas cattle ranchers.<\/p>\n \u201cTexans deserve fairly priced beef and our state\u2019s cattle ranchers deserve to be paid fairly for their hard work,\u201d Paxton said in a press release.<\/a> \u201cIf major meatpackers manipulated the market to underpay ranchers while forcing families to pay higher prices at the grocery store, we will hold them accountable. My office will aggressively investigate any violations of antitrust law to protect fair competition, ranchers, and Texas consumers.\u201d <\/p>\n Talarico pointed to tariffs and cuts to the U.S. Department of Agriculture as reasons for the increase in beef prices. He also said the cost may become intolerable soon for Texans\u2019 wallets.<\/p>\n \u201cI think with the rising price of beef, we may all be forced to be vegans pretty soon,\u201d Talarico said.<\/p>\n Got a tip? Email Caroline Love at clove@kera.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n