Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 3/15/16


Food monopolies are everywhere – and they’re growing, according to a new book by a Michigan State University professor that dissects the trend and shows how it is happening on all levels of the food chain.

“At almost every key stage of the food system, four firms alone control 40 percent or more of the market, a level above which these companies have the power to drive up prices for consumers and reduce their rate of innovation,” said Phil Howard, associate professor of community, agriculture, recreation and resource studies, and author of “Concentration and Power in the Food System: Who Controls What We Eat?”

“These trends are often hidden from most of us – and even from people who work in these industries – because acquisitions may not result in changes of brand names,” according to Howard.

The book cites the following examples: Walmart rules retailing, owning 33 percent of the U.S. market; AB InBev dominates more than 46 percent of the U.S. beer market; and Monsanto controls 26 percent of the international seed market. In the dairy case, Unilever accounts for more than 51 percent of sales of margarine while ConAgra accounts for nearly 17 percent of all U.S. sales.

The book identifies dominant corporations and supermarket chains and shows the extent of their control over markets and the strategies they use. The book also charges that these large food corporations influence vulnerable populations, such as recent immigrants, ethnic minorities and people with lower socioeconomic status.

Turkey stands out as a positive
The book does point to some positive trends when it comes to diversity in food production, notably, the turkey industry.
In 1997, there were only 1,300 individual turkeys in the United States that weren’t broad-breasted white. Today, there are tens of thousands of heritage turkeys being raised around the country, giving consumers many choices in many price ranges, according to Howard.

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.