America has a monopoly problem, and no sector is worse than food and agriculture. In just the past two years, chemical and seed company acquisitions and mergers have allowed three companies to control two thirds of the crop seed and nearly 70% of the agricultural chemical markets. The four largest multinational corporations have gained control of 71% of the pork market, 85% of the beef market and 90% of the grain market. Economists agree that more than 40% Read More …
New Legislation Introduced by Senator Booker Will Hit the Pause Button on Mega-Mergers In the wake of unprecedented concentration in the agriculture and food sectors, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced legislation yesterday to place a moratorium on large agribusiness, food and beverage manufacturing, and grocery retail mergers and acquisitions. S. 3404, known as the Food and Agribusiness Merger Moratorium and Antitrust Review Act of 2018, would also establish a commission to review mergers, concentration, and market power in those Read More …
Citing “significant interest from stakeholders,” the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) approved a request from the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) and American Grassfed Association (AGA) to extend the public comment period for the groups’ petition to stop imported meat from being mislabeled “Product of U.S.A.” The new deadline for comments is Sept. 17, 2018. The OCM and AGA joint petition, filed on June 12, 2018, would restore the original FSIS handbook Read More …
Do you want a food system in which the biggest cheaters win, and global monopolies control our food supply? It’s what we have today. Current USDA policy allows cheap imported meat to be mislabeled “Product of U.S.A.” Global food corporations find it very profitable to deceive U.S. consumers and drive U.S. family farmers and ranchers out of business while our government looks the other way. It’s time to stop this criminal practice, so we at Organization for Competitive Read More …
Tri-State Livestock News By Amanda Radke When consumers shop the meat case, they have a variety of labels to choose from such as natural, organic, antibiotic-free, grassfed, Certified Angus Beef and Certified Hereford Beef, just to name a few. While beef and pork muscle cuts are no longer under the list of commodities covered by the country-of-origin-labeling (COOL) regulation (as of February 2016), many products, such as grassfed beef, are still labeled as a “Product of U.S.A.” However, Read More …
By Rohit Chopra and Julie Margetta Morgan This is an excerpt of Mr. Chopra and Ms. Margetta Morgan’s report, “Unstacking the Deck: A New Agenda to Tame Corruption in Washington.” View the full report on the Roosevelt Institute’s website. In an October 2017 poll, Americans named “corruption of government officials” as their top fear, ranking it above North Korea’s use of nuclear weapons. According to the Pew Research Center, the last decade has been the longest stretch of low trust Read More …
Politico’s Morning Ag By Sabrina Rodriguez USDA defied the will of Congress when it rolled back two rules aimed at balancing the power between meatpacking companies and contract growers –– more widely known as the GIPSA rules, according to the latest brief filed in a lawsuit challenging Perdue’s decision to withdraw the rules last year. The lawsuit, brought by legal nonprofit Democracy Forward on behalf of the Organization for Competitive Markets, also argues that the department failed to provide a Read More …
Washington, D.C. — On behalf of the Organization for Competitive Markets and individual farmers, Democracy Forward replied to the Trump Administration’s attempt to keep independent farmers out of court in their suit challenging the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s unlawful withdrawal of rules designed to protect family farms from big agribusiness abuse. The brief comes as President Trump’s trade war escalates and highlights the extent to which family farmers are paying the price for Trump Administration policies here at home. Illegally stripped of Read More …