Family Farms vs. Corporate Concentration
We've seen the movies on public television about factory farming. Maybe we've gone to a showing of a local film about farming, but do we really know what's happening with the backbone of agriculture? How do our smaller family farms stack up against those giant corporations and what is "corporate concentration?" Simply put, corporate concentration is the amount of control that a few large corporations have over the food sector in our country. As a matter of fact, corporate concentration in United States agriculture is quite high, affecting everything from how farmers grow our food to how its marketed to the consumer. This trend has forced many families off their farms and even out of the farming business. What does this mean for you, the consumer? It leads to higher food prices and less choice at the market. USDA data shows that the cost of food to the consumer has risen steadily over the past twenty years. ...