|
consolidation 
Mon Mar 15, 2010 at 23:08:47 PM PDT
|
|
Friday, the DOJ (Department of Justice) held the first of a series of "workshop" to deal with antitrust issues in agriculture. This first one was in Iowa, focusing on issues of concern to farmers. In anticipation of the event, a broad coalition of family farm, anti-hunger, religious, environmental and public policy groups established the website Bust Big Food (obviously in support of government action in breaking up corporations that prevent fair competition in the marketplace).
WHY Hunger says the following about competition in food and agriculture:
There are 2 million farmers and 300 million consumers in the US. 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 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 freely 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 the marketplace.
If you want to send comments to the DOJ, please do so here (the deadline was Dec 31, 2009 but it seems that they are still accepting comments).
|
|
There's More...
:: (1
Comments, 758 words in story)
|
|
Wed Mar 10, 2010 at 14:53:17 PM PST
|
|
This week marks the first of a series of antitrust "workshops" by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). This first one will be in Ankeny, Iowa, focusing on "issues of concern to farmers," including "seed technology, vertical integration, market transparency and buyer power."
So... silly question: Should a workshop about "issues of concern to FARMERS" include presentations by farmers? Umm, maybe. According to the DOJ anyway. They've now amended the originally proposed schedule to include some farmer representation. Details below.
|
|
There's More...
:: (7
Comments, 1413 words in story)
|
|
Tue Dec 22, 2009 at 18:25:59 PM PST
|
The DOJ is looking into consolidation in agriculture. They are already investigating Monsanto but they are also doing a number of workshops ("to explore competition issues affecting the agricultural sector in the 21st century and the appropriate role for antitrust and regulatory enforcement in that industry") and taking public comments on the subject. Slow Food USA just put up an action alert that says:
Maybe you've noticed prices rising at the supermarket even while most big food companies made record profits this year;
Maybe you are a farmer who has trouble getting your meat to market because there are no small-scale processing facilities in your region;
Maybe you're concerned about food safety and the spread of bacteria like E. coli-which happens much faster when meat and vegetables are processed in big centralized locations;
Maybe your local farm has gone out of business because it couldn't compete with the prices set by industrial farms and consolidated buyers.
And you probably know consumers having trouble finding good food at affordable prices, as well as farmers having trouble getting good food into mainstream markets. Please reach out to them today: the Department of Justice needs to hear their stories.
Email your comments to agriculturalworkshops@usdoj.gov BY DECEMBER 31.
And read below for more info... including the dates, times, and locations of the workshops, some talking points for your own comments, and the talking points Big Ag plans to use.
|
|
There's More...
:: (4
Comments, 1635 words in story)
|
|
Sat Jul 11, 2009 at 19:11:13 PM PDT
|
The Des Moines Register published a fascinating story on Saturday about a small-town Iowa grocer's lawsuit against the industry's top two wholesalers, SuperValu Inc. and C&S Wholesale Grocers. Gary's Foods filed suit eight months ago and was joined by a Maine grocer in January. What's at issue:
The class-action lawsuit seeks monetary damages equal to triple what grocers in the Midwest and New England allegedly have overpaid for food due to the lack of competition since September 2003. [...]
Court papers describe C&S and SuperValu as the nation's top two grocery wholesalers by dollar volume, with combined 2008 revenues in excess of $28 billion. Documents say the companies strongly competed against each other in New England for much of the late 1990s, but things changed dramatically after C&S purchased the assets of a bankrupt Midwestern wholesaler in 2003.
"Faced with the prospect of competing against C&S in the Midwest, SuperValu had one of two options: Either vigorously compete, which would have substantially reduced prices to retailers, or conspire with C&S to eliminate competition between the wholesalers," court papers say.
C&S ultimately sold its new Midwestern assets to SuperValu in September 2003 as part of a deal that also had C&S purchase all of SuperValu's distribution facilities in New England. But court papers allege that there was a separate, "secret noncompete agreement" signed at the same time - a deal that was not publicly disclosed and unknown to the plaintiffs until "a former SuperValu executive" disclosed its existence to them in late 2008.
The wholesalers are trying to have the lawsuit dismissed on procedural grounds. According to the Des Moines Register, a hearing is expected next month in a Minnesota court.
|
|
Discuss
:: (0
Comments)
|
|
|
|
|
|
