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For Our Food System's Sake, Let's Say "No" to Corporate Consolidation
Mergers puts food workers and small-scale farmers at risk and increase vertical integration, hurting farmers’ ability to compete.
Jan 01, 2017
When you look to the year ahead, what do you see? Ensia recently invited eight global thought leaders to share their thoughts. In this interview with Ensia contributor Lisa Palmer for Ensia's 2017 print annual, Real Food Media founder Anna Lappe responds to three questions: What will be the biggest challenge to address or opportunity to grasp in your field in 2017? Why? And what should we be doing about it now?
The food system is one of the largest forces impacting our planet's environment and people's health. The choices about what crops are grown, where and how they are produced, who gets access to that food and who makes those decisions all have global consequences.
One of the challenges to achieving a more sustainable and fair food system is corporate consolidation in the food sector. Consider the latest proposed merger between global giants Bayer and Monsanto pending antitrust approval. And remember, DuPont-Dow, Syngenta-Chem China and Monsanto-Bayer (if the mergers go through) aren't agriculture companies first -- they're chemical companies.
Particularly worrisome is that these multinational corporations are focused on just a handful of commodity crops, while we know global food security comes from supporting biodiversity. We know that corporate control leads to political capture as corporations use lobbying dollars and campaign contributions to shape public policy and regulation, with enormous implications for the environment and food safety. We also know that once four or fewer corporations control more than 40 percent of a market, true competitiveness is compromised: Consumers and farmers lack real choice and fair prices. Consolidation puts food workers and small-scale farmers at risk, and it increases vertical integration, further hurting farmers' ability to compete.
To achieve greater food sovereignty, we need to embolden our regulators to take antitrust action against these mergers. We need to see these not as simply business deals for Wall Street analysts to angst over, but as deals that affect the very essence of our food system.
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. US voters have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. If you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
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Anna Lappé
Anna Lappé is the Executive Director of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, which just launched a tool for policymakers to integrate food and farming system innovations that reduce the use of pesticides.
Lisa Palmer
Lisa Palmer is a journalist and editor based in Maryland. She reports regularly on the environment, climate change and green business for national magazines and online media. Her articles have appeared in Nature Climate Change, Slate Magazine, Yale Forum on Climate Change and the Media and Scientific American, among many others.
When you look to the year ahead, what do you see? Ensia recently invited eight global thought leaders to share their thoughts. In this interview with Ensia contributor Lisa Palmer for Ensia's 2017 print annual, Real Food Media founder Anna Lappe responds to three questions: What will be the biggest challenge to address or opportunity to grasp in your field in 2017? Why? And what should we be doing about it now?
The food system is one of the largest forces impacting our planet's environment and people's health. The choices about what crops are grown, where and how they are produced, who gets access to that food and who makes those decisions all have global consequences.
One of the challenges to achieving a more sustainable and fair food system is corporate consolidation in the food sector. Consider the latest proposed merger between global giants Bayer and Monsanto pending antitrust approval. And remember, DuPont-Dow, Syngenta-Chem China and Monsanto-Bayer (if the mergers go through) aren't agriculture companies first -- they're chemical companies.
Particularly worrisome is that these multinational corporations are focused on just a handful of commodity crops, while we know global food security comes from supporting biodiversity. We know that corporate control leads to political capture as corporations use lobbying dollars and campaign contributions to shape public policy and regulation, with enormous implications for the environment and food safety. We also know that once four or fewer corporations control more than 40 percent of a market, true competitiveness is compromised: Consumers and farmers lack real choice and fair prices. Consolidation puts food workers and small-scale farmers at risk, and it increases vertical integration, further hurting farmers' ability to compete.
To achieve greater food sovereignty, we need to embolden our regulators to take antitrust action against these mergers. We need to see these not as simply business deals for Wall Street analysts to angst over, but as deals that affect the very essence of our food system.
Anna Lappé
Anna Lappé is the Executive Director of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, which just launched a tool for policymakers to integrate food and farming system innovations that reduce the use of pesticides.
Lisa Palmer
Lisa Palmer is a journalist and editor based in Maryland. She reports regularly on the environment, climate change and green business for national magazines and online media. Her articles have appeared in Nature Climate Change, Slate Magazine, Yale Forum on Climate Change and the Media and Scientific American, among many others.
When you look to the year ahead, what do you see? Ensia recently invited eight global thought leaders to share their thoughts. In this interview with Ensia contributor Lisa Palmer for Ensia's 2017 print annual, Real Food Media founder Anna Lappe responds to three questions: What will be the biggest challenge to address or opportunity to grasp in your field in 2017? Why? And what should we be doing about it now?
The food system is one of the largest forces impacting our planet's environment and people's health. The choices about what crops are grown, where and how they are produced, who gets access to that food and who makes those decisions all have global consequences.
One of the challenges to achieving a more sustainable and fair food system is corporate consolidation in the food sector. Consider the latest proposed merger between global giants Bayer and Monsanto pending antitrust approval. And remember, DuPont-Dow, Syngenta-Chem China and Monsanto-Bayer (if the mergers go through) aren't agriculture companies first -- they're chemical companies.
Particularly worrisome is that these multinational corporations are focused on just a handful of commodity crops, while we know global food security comes from supporting biodiversity. We know that corporate control leads to political capture as corporations use lobbying dollars and campaign contributions to shape public policy and regulation, with enormous implications for the environment and food safety. We also know that once four or fewer corporations control more than 40 percent of a market, true competitiveness is compromised: Consumers and farmers lack real choice and fair prices. Consolidation puts food workers and small-scale farmers at risk, and it increases vertical integration, further hurting farmers' ability to compete.
To achieve greater food sovereignty, we need to embolden our regulators to take antitrust action against these mergers. We need to see these not as simply business deals for Wall Street analysts to angst over, but as deals that affect the very essence of our food system.
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