Latest Stories — Food & Power

A Thanksgiving Reading List on Food Monopolists

Did you know Nestle sells 80 percent of the world’s canned pumpkin? Or that cranberry cooperatives will destroy one-fourth of this year’s crop in order to maintain fair prices for farmers? Before you sit down to enjoy your Thanksgiving feast, come prepared with some monopoly facts for the family with this Food & Power turkey day reading list. We start the list with two “classic” articles on the monopolists at your table, one by our friend Chris Leonard, and one by Chelsea Harvey of the Washington Post:

Claire KellowayNovember 21, 2018commodity, resiliency

Big Ag Moves to Shut Down Debate on Minnesota Mega-Dairy Expansion

Last week, seven corporate agriculture interest groups sued the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to halt the extension of a public comment period on a proposed mega-dairy expansion in Winona County, MN. The suit highlights broader efforts by agribusiness to silence opposition from rural residents who speak out against large concentrated animal feeding operations in their communities.

DairyClaire KellowayNovember 8, 2018CAFO, community organizing, dairy, Farm Bureau, pollution, right to farm, rural communities, Ag-gag

Workers Fear Injury as Administration Clears Way for Faster Chicken Slaughter

Late last month, the Trump administration cleared the way for chicken plants to increase their processing line speeds from 140 birds per minute to 175 birds per minute. The change deals a blow to workers and reverses the efforts of labor and animal welfare advocates, who fought to halt poultry line speed increases in 2014. It also indicates the administration will likely soon remove line speed limits in hog slaughter and lower workplace injury reporting requirements throughout all sectors of the economy.

Labor, Processing & DistributionClaire KellowayOctober 25, 2018chicken, FSIS, labor, line speeds, poultry, slaughter, USDA, worker safety, pork

Mexico’s Native Corn Varieties Threatened by New NAFTA

Last week, after the Trump administration struck a deal with Canada and Mexico to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, the White House declared victory for US farmers, who gained greater access to Canadian dairy, egg, poultry, and wheat markets. Unfortunately, the new deal called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, also includes lesser-known provisions that could allow agribusiness corporations to patent Mexico’s native corn varieties and challenge the country’s ban on genetically modified (GM) corn cultivation.

Seeds & AgrichemicalsClaire KellowayOctober 10, 2018commodity, GMO, grains, Trade

After Florence, Small Farmers Face Major Hurdles to Federal Relief

Farmers and farm advocates in the Carolinas are beginning to tally the full scope of damages from Hurricane Florence. Over the course of three days, 3.4 million poultry and 5,500 pigs drowned, and countless acres of cotton, tobacco, peanuts, and sweet potatoes were damaged or ruined. As of Wednesday, the USDA estimates that North Carolina growers lost at least $1.1 billion worth of farm products.

Big Food Paybacks to Cafeteria Operators Spark Controversy

Last week, a coalition of farmers, fishermen, and food system activists launched a new campaign that calls on three dominant food service management companies, Aramark, Compass Group, and Sodexo, to increase local and humane food purchasing, invest in racial equity, and reduce their carbon emissions, among other demands. These companies represent 77.5 percent of the food service management industry, or the business of running cafeterias and restaurants for hospitals, schools, stadiums, corporate headquarters, and other institutions.

Will Big Booze succeed in becoming Big Buzz?

Earlier this month, Constellation Brands, maker of Corona, Svedka, and Robert Mondavi wines, invested $4 billion in the largest pot corporation in the world, by market cap. The deal expands Constellation’s ownership stake in Canadian Canopy Growth Corp from 9.9 percent to 38 percent and includes warrants to eventually own over 50 percent.

Mergers & AcquisitionsClaire KellowayAugust 30, 2018cannabis, capital, investment, mergers, Beer

Ag Bank Mergers Exacerbate the New Farm Crisis

Last year, the Nebraska Rural Response Hotline, which connects farmers and ranchers with legal, financial, and mental health services, set four monthly records for the number of new callers in financial distress. This spike reflects the broader hardship facing rural Americans in the midst of what some are calling the new farm crisis.

Mergers & AcquisitionsClaire KellowayAugust 16, 2018consolidation, credit, Farm crisis, grains, commodity, mergers, Banks

As Independent Grocery Stores Wane and Amazon Looms, Wholesale Middlemen Merge

Last week, organic and natural foods distributor, United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI) announced plans to buy the largest publicly traded grocery wholesaler, Supervalu, for just under $3 billion. The deal is largely a defensive move by UNFI after Amazon bought their largest customer, Whole Foods.

RetailClaire KellowayAugust 2, 2018Amazon, consolidation, distribution, farmworkers, merger, OTA, Supervalu, UNFI, Whole Foods, Wholesaler, mergers, retail

Colluding Pork Packers Accused of Pigging Out On Fixed Prices

Since roughly 2009, Americans may have been paying too much for their pork chops, barbeque, hams, and trotters.

Processing & DistributionFood & PowerJuly 19, 2018collusion, lawsuit, pork, price fixing, Agri stats

Meet the Monopolists Who Took “Independence” Out of the Fourth of July

As Americans gather to celebrate liberty by shooting off fireworks and firing up the grill, their shopping carts tell a much darker story about power in America. Even though the average grocery store carries 47,000 products, five times more items than they did in the 1970s, our 4th of July dollars go to fewer and fewer companies.

Claire KellowayJuly 9, 2018

Mars Buys Another Veterinary Network, as a Candy-Company Turned Pet Care Giant Furthers its Influence Over Animal Health

Last week, Mars, the company best known for brands like Snickers, Skittles, and Wrigley’s gum, purchased AniCura, a network of 200 animal hospitals spanning seven European countries.

Mergers & AcquisitionsClaire KellowayJune 21, 2018candy, M&A, Pet food, vertical integration, mergers