Report | Food and Power: Addressing Monopolization in America’s Food System
Photo by Anne Preble on Unsplash
This report, “Food and Power: Addressing Monopolization in America’s Food System,” documents the degree of concentration found in different agriculture-related sectors of the economy and lays out solutions for policymakers.
Authored by Claire Kelloway and Sarah Miller, this report analyzes how over the last forty years, economies of scale in agriculture have made it possible for most Americans to spend far less of their income on food than did previous generations. Yet over the same period, the American food supply chain—from the seeds farmers plant to the peanut butter in our neighborhood grocery stores—has become concentrated in the hands of a shrinking number of giant multinational corporations.
Such concentrated power has many negative consequences, particularly for farmers, farmworkers, and for rural communities that depend on agriculture to drive their economies. For example, because of spreading agribusiness monopoly, the prices farmers pay for inputs such as seed and fertilizer continue to rise rapidly. At the same time, growing concentration among meat processors, grain traders, food processors, and retailers is responsible for driving down the prices farmers and farm workers receive for their labor. Largely because of these factors, a farm crisis is building across America on a scale not seen since the 1980s.
Monopoly also affects the quality of our food and agriculture’s environmental footprint, making it a concern for both food producers and consumers, both in rural and urban areas.
Download the report here or read the full report below.
Please note that this report was updated in September 2021. The updated version is linked above and included below. See the previous, outdated version here. Corrections made:
September 9th, 2021 – An earlier version of this report claimed that three out of four chicken farmers live below the poverty line. This figure is misleading and outdated and has been removed. This figure came from a 2001 study that found three out of four chicken farmers whose sole source of income was chicken farming lived below the poverty line. Today, most poultry households have off-farm income and a higher median income than the median U.S. household.
September 21st, 2021 – Market share figures for poultry, beef, pork, groceries, and global pesticides and herbicides were updated to reflect more current data.
