Foodopoly the battle over the future of food and farming in america

FOODOPOLY FOODOPOLY The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America Wenonah Hauter © 2012 by Wenonah Hauter All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, in any form, without written permission from the publisher Requests for permission to reproduce selections from this book should be mailed to: Permissions Department, The New Press, 38 Greene Street, New York, NY 10013 Chapter draws from the 2012 Food & Water Watch report “Why Walmart Can’t Fix the Food System.” Chapter draws from the 2011 Food & Water Watch report “A Decade of Dangerous Food Imports from China.” Chapters 8, 9, and 10 draw from the 2010 Food & Water Watch report “Factory Farm Nation: How America Turned Its Livestock Farms into Factories.” Chapter draws from the 2008 Food & Water Watch report “The Trouble with Smithfield: A Company Profile.” Chapter 13 draws from the 2012 Food & Water Watch report “Genetically Engineered Foods: An Overview.” Chapter 16 draws from the 2012 Food & Water Watch report “Farm Bill 101.” Published in the United States by The New Press, New York, 2012 Distributed by Perseus Distribution LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Hauter, Wenonah Foodopoly : the battle over the future of food and farming in America / Wenonah Hauter p cm Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 978-1-59558-794-7 (e-book) Food supply—United States Agricultural industries—United States Agriculture—Economic aspects—United States I Title II Title: Battle over the future of food and farming in America HD9005.H358 2012 338.10973—dc23 2012025605 Now in its twentieth year, The New Press publishes books that promote and enrich public discussion and understanding of the issues vital to our democracy and to a more equitable world These books are made possible by the enthusiasm of our readers; the support of a committed group of donors, large and small; the collaboration of our many partners in the independent media and the not-for-profit sector; booksellers, who often hand-sell New Press books; librarians; and above all by our authors www.thenewpress.com Composition by dix! This book was set in Minion 10 This book is dedicated to family farm defenders who steward the land and fight for justice CONTENTS Acknowledgments Introduction Part I: Farm and Food Policy Run Amok Get Those Boys Off the Farm! Part II: Consolidating Every Link in the Food Chain The Junk Food Pushers Walmarting the Food Chain Part III: The Produce and Organics Industries: Putting Profits Before People The Green Giant Doesn’t Live in California Anymore Organic Food: The Paradox Part IV: Deregulating Food Safety Poisoning People Animals on Drugs Part V: The Story of Factory Farms Cowboys Versus Meatpackers: The Last Roundup Hogging the Profits 10 Modern-Day Serfs 11 Milking the System Part VI: Corporate Control of the Gene Pool: The Theft of Life 12 Life for Sale: The Birth of Life Science Companies 13 David Versus Goliath 14 The Future of Food: Science Fiction or Nature? Part VII: Building the Political Power to Challenge the Foodopoly 15 Eat and Act Your Politics 16 The Way Forward Notes Bibliography Index ACKNOWLEDGMENTS So many people have helped make this book possible I could never have completed Foodopoly without the help of my really smart, talented, and wonderful research assistant, Lily Boyce She was always cheerful and efficient, spent months creating the charts and graphics featured in this book, and helped tirelessly with research Lily is a star! I want to acknowledge and thank the extraordinary staff of Food & Water Watch I owe an intellectual debt to Patrick Woodall, our brilliant and talented research director, for his deep thinking, number crunching, and research, and for being a patient and supportive sounding board as I struggled through the complex web of issues that have created the dysfunctional food system A special thanks to Patty Lovera, director of the food program, who is incredibly knowledgeable on a broad range of issues, and who helped tremendously with many aspects of this project Many thanks to Darcey Rakestraw, communications director, who was enormously supportive in so many ways during this project, including helping with editing I am grateful to Lisa Mastny, who was extremely helpful with editing and with suggestions for clarity, making this dense material more readable My colleague Lane Brooks, the chief operating officer, took over many of my duties and responsibilities as I wrote this book I am forever thankful to him for his good judgment and for being a calm, dependable, and good-humored partner in running Food & Water Watch I greatly appreciate the wonderful Food & Water Watch staff, who provided research and technical support, covered for me during this long project, and offered endless moral support: Sarah Alexander, Dave Andrews, Sarah Borron, Royelen Boykie, Jon Brown, Tony Corbo, Zach Corrigan, Scott Edwards, Noelle Ferdon, Clay Gatewood, Anna Ghosh, Kim Girton, Mitch Jones, Doug Lakey, Michele Merkel, Eve Mitchell, Rachel Nissley, Darcey O’Callaghan, Matt Ohloff, Genna Reed, Mark Schlosberg, Ben Schumin, Tim Schwab, Adam Scow, Tyler Shannon, Elanor Starmer, Yi Wang, Anna Witowaska, Emily Wurth, Gabriella Zanzanaini, and Ron Zucker I am deeply grateful to Helaine and Sid Lerner for their confidence in and encouragement and support for this project I can truly say that without their dedication to the creation of a better food system, this book would never have been written and so much important work would never be done A special thanks to GRACE Communications Foundation for ongoing support and assistance with so many areas of my work: Scott Cullen; Leslie Hatfield; Lisa Kleger; Destin Layne; and the staff of the Eat Well Guide, the Meatrix, and Sustainable Table I am so appreciative of the support and encouragement from Joan and Bob Rechnitz, who have had the great foresight to understand that nature should not be financialized and that extreme forms of energy threaten our food and water This book would not have been possible without the knowledge and perspectives of the many people that I interviewed and provided material for the book I am indebted to the following people for taking the time to speak with me and provide valuable insight and information: Mark Arax, John Bunting, Ben Burkett, Mike Callicrate, Lloyd Carter, Dale Coke, Joaquin Contente, Roberta Cook, Agatha D’Esterhazy, Cap Dierks, Diane Endicott, Hugh Espey, Larry Ginter, Joel Greeno, Andrew Gunther, Sean Hallahan, Kyal Hamilton, John Hansen, Michael Hansen, Diane Hatz, Gary Hoskey, Frederick Kaufman, Kurt Kelsey, Robby Kenner, Kendra Kimbirauskas, John Kinsman, Garry Klicker, Judy Labelle, Anna Lappé, Dr Robert Lawrence, Ray Leon, Scott Marlow, Michael Masters, Mas Masumoto, Larry Mitchell, Carole Morrison, Dr Keeve Nachmann, George Naylor, Dr Marion Nestle, Felicia Nestor, Harvey Nijjer, Kathy Ozer, Stan Painter, Rhonda Perry, Michael Pertschuk, Chris Peterson, Dr Daryll Ray, Matt Rogers, Valerie Ruddle, Rebecca Spector, Steven Stoll, Dr Robert Taylor, Warren Taylor, Bruce von Stein, Lori Wallach, Dr David Wallinga, Mike Weaver, Tom Willey, Brad Wilson, Donna Winburn, and Mark Winne I am extremely grateful to Marc Favreau, my editor at The New Press, for having the confidence in this project and for helping me every step of the way I am so very fortunate to have had Marc shepherding this project His patience and understanding have made this experience a pleasure Thank you also to my production editor, Sarah Fan, who along with Marc provided an experienced eye with editing and made this a much better book than it would have been otherwise I am grateful to Rachel Burd for the thorough and painstaking copyediting Thank you also to Azzurra Cox and all of the other helpful staff of The New Press Many thanks to my dear friend and colleague Maude Barlow, who saw the value of this book when it was just an idea and who helped make it possible with important introductions and ongoing moral support when the going got tough I appreciate the advice, positive reinforcement, and camaraderie of my colleague and dear friend Lisa Shubert, who was always available with a kind word I am fortunate to have been trained by the brilliant organizers of the Midwest Academy, who taught me that the only way we can bring about long-term progressive change is by building political power, and that it takes a long-term grassroots organizing strategy I owe Steve Max, Jackie Kendall, and David Hunt a deep debt of gratitude for years of organizing mentoring I spent almost a decade working for Public Citizen, a group that Ralph Nader founded forty years ago I am grateful to Ralph for helping to shape my worldview and for his decades of fighting the foodopoly, among so many other injustices He also had the wisdom and foresight to help support and publish the landmark book by the late Al Krebs, The Corporate Reapers: The Book of Agribusiness In writing Foodopoly, I drew freely from Al’s work Those of us in the fair food and farm movement miss him deeply His knowledge and insight on agriculture and farm policy—from the 1770s to 1990 —was unmatched I also owe an intellectual debt to social scientists Dr Bill Heffernan and Dr Mary Hendrickson, who were pioneers in documenting the foodopoly Their excellent research on consolidation in the food system and the impact this has had on farmers and consumers laid the groundwork for this book I want to acknowledge Tim Wise, director of research and policy at the Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University, whose important work on farm income and rural development provided the underpinning for many of my arguments on agriculture policy Likewise, I would like to recognize Dr Daryll E Ray, director of the Agricultural Policy Analysis Center at the University of Tennessee, for his decades of work on farm policy, which provided the basis for my analysis on the negative role of overproduction on our food system and recommendations for changes in policy I am very appreciative of Harriet Barlow, who emanates wisdom “on the commons” and helped facilitate my opportunity to spend a delightful and idyllic month at the Blue Mountain Center, during which time several chapters of this book were written The center’s staff—Ben Strader, Alice Gordon, Sis Eldridge, Diane McCane, Nico Horvitz, and Jamie Barret Riley—made the writer’s retreat an enjoyable and productive experience, as did all of the interesting people who were part of the residency program With all my heart I am so thankful to have loving and supportive friends and family, who have been patient and enormously understanding over the last year while I was completely absorbed in this project My beloved children, Adrina Miller and Che Miller, always my most enthusiastic cheerleaders, provided constant love, care, and encouragement I am so lucky that our family bonds are deepened by mutual respect and friendship My dear stepdaughter and friend, Christy Nichols, texted or e-mailed me almost daily with uplifting messages to spur me on and sent me flowers to brighten the day I so deeply appreciate her kindness and positive reinforcement My cherished friend of four decades Sue Hays and her husband, Tom Hays, never ceased to offer support, care, and delicious meals My extended family and friends —Erin Dougherty, Alton Dulaney, Debbie and Wayne Hauter, Kelsie Kerr, Pat Lewis, Kathy and Chip Reid, Mary Ricci, Leo and Jan Scolforo, and Kelly Wolf—were all helpful and supportive through the different phases of this project I am grateful for the young people in my life, who inspire me to keep on fighting for a better world: Mark and L.J Hilberath; Tyler, Christian, and Bennett Nichols; and Jackson Wolf Lastly, I must thank the farmer in my life, my loving husband, Leigh, who tutored me in politics and has been my friend, companion, and comrade We have shared almost three decades in the struggles not only for a fair food system but also for social, economic, and environmental justice ... against their land to survive and keep farming, often using all of their equity until the bank foreclosed Thousands of farm families faced the loss of their homes and land The overseas demand... Constitution and Look, the publisher of the Washington Post , the head of the Book -of -the- Month Club, the board chairman of Curtis Publishing, and the presidents of Time-Life and the Columbia Broadcasting... Farm and Food Policy Run Amok Get Those Boys Off the Farm! Part II: Consolidating Every Link in the Food Chain The Junk Food Pushers Walmarting the Food Chain Part III: The Produce and Organics Industries: