Farm Action’s Angela Huffman sounded the alarm on CNBC news that America’s family farmers are struggling under harmful government policies that put the largest corporations first. As a result, the U.S. is growing less and less of its own food and we are becoming increasingly dependent on foreign countries to feed us.
The agricultural supply chain is dominated today by roughly three dozen companies, according to an analysis from Farm Action.
“The FTC and DOJ [Department of Justice] now have much stronger guidelines. Over time, I think that’s going to make a big difference, regardless of who’s president,” Farm Action president Angela Huffman said.
Joe Maxwell, co-founder of Farm Action, a nonprofit that works against agricultural consolidation, believes Vilsack is an example of the ways regulations have been delayed or stymied because of the close nature between the federal government and industry
As of 2020, the five biggest egg companies controlled between 36% and 40% of all egg-laying hens in the United States, according to a recent report by Farm Action, a group that fights corporate control of the food system.
During a recent webinar hosted by Farm Action, Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter discussed the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) approach to addressing the concentration and corporate consolidation impacting the agricultural sector.
The industry has what they call a “tournament system” which helps suppress what is paid to a farmer.
“In all of these cases they’re using a convenient excuse to price gouge,” said Angela Huffman, president of Farm Action. “The reason they are able to do that is because there are so few companies in each of these sectors.”
“Farmers have long deserved this certainty,” said Sarah Carden, research and policy development director for Farm Action.
“This rule is a critical step for protecting our nation’s workers and making labor markets fairer and more competitive,” said Farm Action’s Angela Huffman.
