If we did actually have a capitalist system in this country, we would have a high level of competition in the food industry. But instead, the U.S. food industry has become increasingly concentrated with each passing year. Just consider the following numbers about the U.S. agricultural sector... The U.S. agricultural sector suffers from abnormally high levels of concentration. Most economic sectors have concentration ratios around 40%, meaning that the top four firms in the industry control 40% of the market. If the concentration ratio is above 40%, experts believe competition can be threatened and market abuses are more likely to occur: the higher the number, the bigger the threat. The concentration ratios in the agricultural sector are shocking. -Four companies own 83.5% of the beef market. -The top four firms own 66% of the hog industry. -The top four firms control 58.5% of the broiler chicken industry. -In the seed industry, four companies control 50% of the proprietary seed market and 43% of the commercial seed market worldwide. -When it comes to genetically engineered (GE) crops, just one company, Monsanto, boasts control of over 85% of U.S. corn acreage and 91% of U.S. soybean acreage. When so much power is concentrated in so few hands, it creates some tremendous dangers. And many of these giant corporations (such as Monsanto) are extremely ruthless. Small farmers all over America are being wiped out and forced out of the business by the predatory business practices of these huge companies... theeconomiccollapseblog/archives/big-corporations-have-an-overwhelming-amount-of-power-over-our-food-supply #Food #Health #FoodSafety #GMOs #Monsanto #corruption
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 15:00:01 +0000
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