Latest Stories — Food & Power

Flush with Cash, Cal-Maine Plans to Acquire Egg Patty Maker and Pay Out Family Owners

As Americans struggle with record egg prices, the largest U.S. egg company plans to transfer its record profits to a few family owners and buy up an egg patty maker in cash.

USDA Cuts Funds for Local Food Purchasing

Schools and food banks expected $1 billion from USDA to buy local foods this year. The Trump administration pulled those contracts, hurting farmers, kids, and rural development.

How Gutting the CFPB Will Hurt Rural America

Rural Americans struggle with medical debt, banking deserts, and discriminatory farm lending - dismantling the CFPB leaves them more defenseless to financial exploitation.

PolicyClaire KellowayMarch 6, 2025CFPB, discrimination, Debt, Secondary Feature

If You Care About Record Egg Prices, You Should Care About Corporate Consolidation

Egg corporations have too much power to exploit disruptions like bird flu to push up prices. Bird flu also hits harder on massive, consolidated farms: recent outbreaks on just 10 large farms could take out 18 million hens, or 6% of the U.S. egg laying population.

Poultry & LivestockClaire KellowayFebruary 18, 2025eggs, Bird Flu, Secondary Feature

What’s Next for Kroger and Albertsons

With their merger blocked, Kroger and Albertsons need to find other ways to compete. The chains are better off than their merger fearmongering implied, but short-term investor payouts could get in the way of growth.

RetailClaire KellowayFebruary 7, 2025grocery, Kroger, Albertsons, UFCW, Secondary Feature

Antitrust Action on the Way Out the Door, Biden Administration Finalizes Poultry Payment Rules and Sues John Deere and Pepsi

In the final days of the Biden administration, antitrust enforcers filed several lawsuits and finalized rules to help farmers and independent retailers.

Analysts Expect More Food Mergers in 2025

Food industry experts project that dominant brands and private equity firms will buy more mid-sized companies in 2025, threatening innovation, price competition, and jobs.

Mergers & AcquisitionsClaire KellowayJanuary 9, 2025mergers, killer acquisition, DOJ, FTC, mars, Secondary Feature

A New Threat to Small Meat Processors: Monopolized Waste Disposal.

A JBS-owned rendering company, MOPAC, canceled all services for independent meat processors on Dec. 1. Without a place for their waste, small packers and the farms they serve are going under.

The Monopolies Behind Your Thanksgiving Dinner

One company sells 80% of all canned pumpkin, one cooperative sells 70% of all cranberry sauce, and two companies sell 60% of all carrots. That’s not great for fair prices or resiliency.

Trump’s Antitrust Enforcers Could Kill Unfinished Cases. Will They?

Federal antitrust enforcers have outstanding cases against AgriStats, Kroger and Albertsons, and Corteva and Syngenta. What will happen to them during a Trump administration?

EnforcementClaire KellowayNovember 14, 2024Antitrust, FTC, DOJ, Trump, agri stats, Corteva, Syngenta, Robinson-Patman, Secondary Feature

The Future of Food on the Ballot: What to Expect in a Harris or Trump Administration

Next week’s Presidential election will have profound implications for food policy.

PolicyClaire KellowayOctober 31, 2024election, Trump, Harris

USDA Announces Future Rulemaking for Fair Cattle Pricing

Cattle producers want policies to protect competition in cash markets that set prices for the whole industry. USDA took a first step to do something about it, but it can’t finish the job before Biden’s term is up.