When so much of our food is provided by an increasingly small and centralized group of companies, instead of many smaller independent food producers, this is the result.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/big-corporations-have-an-overwhelming-amount-of-power-over-our-food-supply/5391615
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.
It's possibly the best example of how control of a basic need in the hands of few giant corporations can be a bad or dangerous thing. The linked article talks mostly about the economic troubles that it causes, but this recall is another problem that we face. If a single giant centralized processing plant has a listeria outbreak, or an e-coli contamination, or staph or salmonella, it's not just an economic problem; people die.
My husband runs a restaurant, and his whole philosophy is locally sourced, prepared in-house, and sustainable. No orders of boil-in-bag meats from Sysco, no hollandaise made from a powder, no imported-from-China produce.
A bit on his philosophy:
https://t.co/Bo5as4euXs
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