Bust the trust to take back control of our food

By Siena Chrisman, WhyHunger

There are 2 million farmers and 300 million consumers in the U.S. Standing in the middle are a handful of corporations who control just about everything that happens to our food between the farm and our plate ... how much it costs, how it's grown, where it comes from, what's in it, and who sells it. Most of what probably matters to you about why food isn’t healthier, safer, tastier, or all around better is affected by that narrow bottleneck of power standing between producers and consumers.

Standard economics holds that if the top four companies in any industry control over 50% of the market, that industry is no longer competitive. Right now, the top four companies control 85% of the nation's beef, 70% of pork, and 60% of the nation's poultry. Three corporations process over 70% of the nation's soy. Just one company controls 40% of our milk supply, and Monsanto holds patents on 80% of corn seed. Our food system has become one of the least competitive sectors of in the U.S., with implications that reach from our dinner tables to the empty plates of the world's hungry.

Federal antitrust laws prohibit corporations from anti-competitive behavior like colluding with other firms, excessive mergers, and predatory conduct like price-fixing. In reality, last year's near-collapse of the world financial markets made it clear that federal laws don't always work to curb corporate power. Indeed, the world food crisis, in the headlines just before the financial crisis hit, spotlighted the level of concentrated power of the world's biggest agribusinesses. In the winter of 2007/2008, the same period that saw lengthening lines at food pantries, tough times for farmers, and the most severe global hunger crisis in human history, the world's three largest grain traders reported profit increases ranging from 67% to 86%.

The world food crisis is out of the headlines, but it is clear that there is a growing crisis over who controls our food. The US Working Group on the Food Crisis, of which Food First and WhyHunger are founding members, is a broad-based alliance working to promote real solutions to fix the broken food system. As part of its unifying theme of ending poverty by rebuilding local food economies, the Working Group has identified corporate control of the food system to be a primary barrier to building just, prosperous, community-based food economies.

We now have an unprecedented opportunity to speak out against corporate control. The Justice Department and Department of Agriculture are conducting an investigation this year into the issue of corporate concentration in the food system. They have scheduled five public listening sessions around the country this year - and they are accepting public comments on how corporate concentration affects all of us.

At the first hearing in Ankeny, Iowa on March 12, the Department of Justice assured farmers that anti-competitive behavior would stop. Farmers are hoping the hearings are translated to action.

Hit hard by the dairy crisis, Southern Iowa family dairy farmer Jerry Harvey says, “What was the American dream turned out to be the American nightmare the last 15 months…We haven’t even made enough money to pay our feed costs. We’ve borrowed $5-6,000 a month. My kids that work with me - they are going to be gone too because we just can’t keep going like this.”

The price paid to farmers for milk has dropped by nearly 50% in the past 15 months, while retail milk prices have not come down nearly so far. Dean Foods controls 40% of the nation's milk, and in some markets, has a complete monopoly.

The US Working Group on the Food Crisis was on hand in Iowa, and will be present at all five hearings. The group commends the Department of Justice for initiating these investigations and plans to hold the administration to its promises of stepped up enforcement. Furthermore, we hope this will be an opportunity for citizens to become informed on issues of corporate concentration in food and agriculture and speak out in favor of a democratic food system.

Additional resources:

Visit bustthetrust.org to find out what you can do.

Food and Water Watch (December 31, 2009). Public Comment to USDA and Department of Justice Re: Agriculture and Antitrust Enforcement Issues in our 21st Century Economy. Washington, D.C., USDA and Department of Justice.

Hendrickson, M., Heffernan, William D. (2007). Concentration of Agricultural Markets. Columbia, MO, Department of Rural Sociology, University of Missouri.