[ [link removed] ]A wrecking ball that says "collective people power" knocking down the
letters to the words "consolidated corporate power."

John,

Food prices are skyrocketing.^1 Black farmers are being crushed under
debt.^2 Black-owned grocery stores have become rare, and it’s all because
of anticompetitive practices within our food system, such as mergers and
acquisitions as well as predatory pricing.^3-5 Corporations, such as
Walmart and John Deere, engage in these practices which impact the food we
eat—from forgoing quality to dictating the foods that are available. We
need Congress to limit these corporations’ power by passing the
Prohibiting Anticompetitive Mergers Act, which would do the following:

* Require regulators to evaluate the impacts of a merger on communities
of color.
* Ban the biggest, most anticompetitive mergers.
* Overhaul the merger-review process to allow the Federal Trade
Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to reject deals
without a court order.
* Strengthen the FTC’s and DOJ’s tools to break up harmful mergers.^6

[ [link removed] ]SEND A POSTCARD TO YOUR LEGISLATORS TELLING THEM TO PASS THE
PROHIBITING ANTICOMPETITIVE MERGERS ACT

When profit is the priority, corporations’ decisions to eliminate their
competition harm Black-owned grocery stores, Black farmers, and Black
consumers. Corporations like Walmart have put Black-owned grocery stores
out of business through predatory pricing, where they undercut
competitors’ prices to steal their customers.^7 Then, when no competing
grocery stores are left, Walmart has a history of marking up the food
prices in those areas.^8 Currently, Walmart takes up at least half of the
grocery sales in 43 metropolitan areas and 160 smaller markets.^9 Black
farmers are stuck using farming equipment to produce our food from one
corporation, John Deere. In the past two decades, John Deere spent
billions of dollars buying up and eliminating over a dozen of its
competitors through mergers and acquisitions.^10-12 John Deere leverages
this power to withhold repair information, parts, and tools from farmers,
making repairs exclusive to them and subject to their prices. Therefore,
if the farming equipment breaks, farmers are stuck paying exorbitant fees
to John Deere instead of being able to go to a locally owned repair
shop.^13 With these anticompetitive practices, corporations are pricing
small businesses and farmers out of the ability to make a living and
pricing us out of affordable food. 

After squeezing small businesses, farmers, and consumers, John Deere and
Walmart use their massive profits to fund advocacy efforts that protect
themselves and devastate our communities. John Deere backed a lobbying
group to advocate against legislation that would make its farming
equipment easier to fix, while Walmart mounted a campaign to defeat the
reconciliation bill that included crucial climate policies.^14,15 Congress
needs to limit John Deere’s and Walmart’s power by breaking them up and
blocking future harmful mergers in our food system.

[ [link removed] ]SEND A POSTCARD TO YOUR LEGISLATORS TO LIMIT CORPORATE POWER

Corporations have tipped the scales of power in their favor, but passing
antitrust reform will help balance the scales for farmers, small business
owners, workers, and consumers. Antitrust reform and enforcement would
restrict predatory pricing and require these corporations to sell off
their acquisitions. Right now, we need your support in demanding that
Congress pass antitrust legislation—with a racial justice focus—that
breaks up this consolidated corporate power. This is especially important
as Big Tech companies branch out into other sectors (e.g., Amazon
acquiring Whole Foods) and have hired armies of lobbyists to defeat any
efforts to rein in their out-of-control power over our food systems.^16
Bad policies have led to unwieldy corporations, but we have the power to
dismantle them.

A better future is on the horizon—a future that centers the livelihood and
well-being of Black people. Black farmers would have the freedom to
implement farming practices that are sustainable and improve the quality
of the food.^17 There would be more Black-owned grocery stores.
Black-owned businesses, which are more likely to invest in our
communities, would be better able to hire from our communities and support
political movements.^18 Black consumers would have better options for
food. But we have to act now. 

[ [link removed] ]TELL YOUR LEGISLATORS WE NEED ANTITRUST REFORM

Until justice is real, 
—Jade Magnus Ogunnaike

References: 

 1. “Food prices jump 20.7% yr/yr to hit record high in Feb, U.N. agency
says,” Reuters, March 5, 2022,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 2. Alan Rappeport, “Black farmers fear foreclosure as debt relief remains
frozen,” The New York Times, February 21, 2022,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 3. “Predatory Pricing,” Merriam-Webster,
[ [link removed] ][link removed] 
 4. “Mergers and Acquisitions: What’s the Difference?” Investopedia,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 5. Tom Perkins, “Why are there so few Black-owned grocery stores?” Civil
Eats, January 8, 2018,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 6. “Warren, Jones Introduce Bicameral Legislation to Ban Anticompetitive
Mergers, Restore Competition, and Bring Down Prices for Consumers,”
Elizabeth Warren, March 16, 2022,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 7. Stacy Mitchell, “Report: Walmart’s Monopolization of Local Grocery
Markets,” Institute for Local Self-Reliance, June 26, 2019,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
 8. Ibid.
 9. Ibid.
10. “Mergers and acquire businesses,” U.S. Small Business Administration,
[ [link removed] ][link removed] 
11. “Cheat to Win: The John Deere Story,” American Economic Liberties
Project, October 14, 2021,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
12. “Competitive Effects,” Federal Trade Commission,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
13. Claire Kelloway, “Legal actions from all sides threaten to break up
farm equipment repair monopolies,” Food & Power, February 3, 2022,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
14. Claire Kelloway, “Legal actions from all sides threaten to break up
farm equipment repair monopolies,” Food & Power, February 3, 2022,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
15. Judd Legum, “Walmart calls for ‘strong climate policy now,’ backs
campaign to kill strong climate policy,” Popular Information,
September 30, 2021,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
16. Lauren Hirsch, “A year after Amazon announced its acquisition of Whole
Foods, here’s where we stand,” CNBC, June 15, 2018,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
17. Hiroko Tabuchi and Nadja Popovich, “Two Biden priorities, climate and
inequality, meet on Black-owned farms,” The New York Times, February
18, 2021,
[ [link removed] ][link removed] 
18. Brian S. Feldman, “The Decline of Black Business,” Washington Monthly,
March/April/May 2017,
[ [link removed] ][link removed]



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