Urge your reps to support the Food and Agribusiness Merger Moratorium and Antitrust Review Act.
John,
From seed to supermarket, our food and farm system is hyper-consolidated.
A small number of agribusiness corporations and food retailer giants control every link of the food chain. And some of the biggest agribusiness and food mergers have happened in just the past few years.
What does this mean for farmers? They’re left selling into an over-concentrated marketplace that has reduced the prices they receive for their crops and livestock, contributing to collapsing farm income. For consumers, it means big companies dictate the prices we pay for essential items. This merger mania needs to end!
The Food and Agribusiness Merger Moratorium and Antitrust Review Act would establish a commission to study how to strengthen antitrust oversight of the farm and food sectors and publish recommended improvements to merger enforcement. Any mergers in the food system would be put on hold until Congress acts on the recommendations from the commission.
This moratorium would provide much-needed time to develop new tools to strengthen merger enforcement and antitrust rules to address the unique conditions in the farm and food economic sector to protect farmers, workers and consumers.
Agribusiness and food industry mergers have shut down food manufacturing plants, causing tens of thousands of layoffs and leading to stagnant or declining wages and benefits. Consumers face higher food prices and dwindling choices as more and more foods are dominated by a few monopolistic companies.
The recent infant formula crisis is a prime example. The alarming level of corporate concentration in the infant formula market – with just four companies controlling nearly 90% of the market – creates a serious risk to infant health as a nationwide shortage occurs and families are left struggling to adequately and safely feed their infants.
With your help, we can take down corporate dominance of our food and farm system and fight for a better future for farmers and consumers – a future with more sustainable agriculture systems and vibrant regional food production systems that will help rural communities thrive.
Wenonah Hauter
Founder and Executive Director
Food & Water Watch
P.S. Check out our new research reportthat lays out the pathway for breaking the industry stranglehold on our hog system and supporting diverse, family-scale farms.
Food & Water Watch and its affiliated organization, Food & Water Action, are advocacy groups with a common mission to protect our food, water and climate.
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