- Kroger is the number one
food retailer in the United States. Subsidiaries include: Ralph's,
Food 4 Less, Kings Sooper's, Fry's and Payless. Together, the
top five retailers in the U.S. - Kroger, Wal-Mart, Albertson's,
Safeway and Ahold USA (Giant Foods, Tops, Stop & Shop and
Bi-Lo) - control 42% of all retail food sales in the U.S.
- Cargill is an international
marketer, processor and distributor of agricultural and food
products that operates in 60 countries, controlling virtually
the entire global grain market. They develop genetically modified
seeds, as well as distribute and process grain and beef globally.
They supply packaged beef directly to Kroger Foods.
- Phillip Morris is one of the three largest food processors in the world. PM owns Kraft Foods and ranks third in U.S. dairy sales. As they gain greater market control, processors such as Phillip Morris and Nestle focus their attention toward their retail consumers such as Kroger and Wal-Mart, not the families who buy their product.
Increasingly, corporations are taking control of the food system, both in the U.S. and across the globe. This means that real people like you are losing control of the food you eat as corporations take the lead in growing, processing and distributing your food. Multinational corporations such as Cargill and Phillip Morris and domestic food retailers such as Kroger have almost complete control of the world's foods from seed to dinner salad and are taking control of America's refrigerators and diets.
Who are they?
How do they do it?
- Horizontal Integration is the
process of companies within a single sector merging and consolidating
to strengthen their power within a single industry. This trend
has been particularly prevalent in food retailing and processing
sectors such as Kraft's and Tyson's buy out of smaller dairy
and chicken processing operations across the country.
- Vertical Integration refers to one corporation controlling the successive steps in the production, processing and distribution of one product. Cargill is a prime example, with their control of seeds, feed, and beef processing, along with their special relationship supplying Kroger with packaged beef.
THE JUICY TRUTH
These integration trends shut out small farmers and independent producers from processing and retail opportunities. They are left with few options but to contract themselves out to the major corporations, who then control the prices that they receive for their crops. Gail Lennon's story provides an excellent example of the unjust treatment contract farmers often encounter.
Unlike many farmers who are destroyed by the corporate control of the production process, Gail and the other members of Fall River Wild Rice Co-op had the resources, courage, and insight to stand up to the corporate bully. By opening their own processing plant, the wild rice growers are able to take control of how their goods are processed and distributed.
As a participant of this Virtual CSA, you are already supporting a community-based food system that is not manipulated by multinational corporations. In the coming year, there will be many decisions made on food and farm policy that will directly affect the quality of food offered on our grocery shelves far into the future. It is important that we educate ourselves on critical food issues so that we can effectively communicate our desire for safe, ethically-grown food to Congress, both through direct communication and our consumer decisions. As part of your involvement with the Virtual CSA, we want to help you learn about these issues and offer you resources to take action.
Attached is "Freedom to Fail," an article by Ben Lilliston and Niel Ritchie that overviews the 1996 Farm Bill and its effects on small farmers. This is just the first of many articles and issues that we will be sharing with you. We hope that as you read "The Juicer" each month you will become involved in speaking out against policies that threaten farmers, the environment and your families.
As family farms disappear in the rise of corporate agriculture, many agriculture experts predict that unless our public policy and consumer habits change, the practice of small farming in the U.S. has only a few years left before extinction. "[T]his political struggle involves much more than saving the family farm. Its purpose is also restoring the promise of safe and wholesome food, protecting consumers from monopoly pricing and stopping techno-agriculture's harsh new methods for abusing the environment as well as animals" (Nation, 11/20/00).
Together we can take back our food system and our refrigerators!
THE APRIL SQUEEZE
Oppose Corporate Concentration
We are asking the Senate to:
- Ban packers from owning livestock;
- Place a moratorium on agribusiness mergers;
- Prevent packers from paying more to factory livestock operations than to independent family farmers;
- Insist all livestock marketing contracts should be traded on the open market, providing equal opportunity for bids from all producers.
What you can do:
- Write a letter or call Congress. Tell your Senators and
Representative that you are upset at the growing trend of
corporate concentration in agriculture and are concerned
about the safety of your food.
- Buy from independent producers. Join a CSA in your area for the summer (resources supplied in introduction packet), support local farmers markets, and visit SuperMarketcoop.com.
Be Part of Our Campaign for Food n’ Justice,
visit www.ruralco.org.
Questions on food and farm policy?
Contact Heather Fenney at (202) 628-7160.
To join or support our work:
Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural
1012 14th Street, NW Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 628-7160
Visit www.Ruralco.org or
www.SuperMarketCoop.com.