Big Corporations Have An OVERWHELMING Amount Of Power Over Our Food SupplyMichael Snyder If you do not like how our food is produced or you dont believe that it is healthy enough, it isnt very hard to figure out who is to blame. These mammoth corporations are not in business to look out for the best interests of the American people. Rather, the purpose of these corporations is to maximize wealth for their shareholders. So the American people end up eating billions of pounds of extremely unhealthy food that is loaded with chemicals and additives each year, and we just keep getting sicker and sicker as a society. But these big corporations are raking in big profits, so they dont really care. 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 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. -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 businessby the predatory business practices of these huge companies Of course the control that big corporations have over our food supply does not end at the farms. For example, it was recently reported that Nestle is running a massive bottled water operation on a drought-stricken Indian reservation in California Nestle doesnt stop to ask whether it is right or wrong to bottle water in the middle of the worst drought in the recorded history of the state of California. They have the legal right to do it and they are making large profits doing it, and so they are just going to keep on doing it. Perhaps you are thinking that you can avoid all of these corporations by eating organic and by shopping at natural food stores. Well, it isnt necessarily that easy. According to author Wenonah Hauter, the health food industry is also extremely concentrated Everywhere you look, the corporations are in control. And this is especially true when you look at big food retailers such as Wal-Mart. Right now, grocery sales account for about half of all business at Wal-Mart, and approximately one out of every three dollars spent on groceries in the United States is spent at Wal-Mart. That is absolutely astounding, and it obviously gives Wal-Mart an immense amount of power. In fact, if you can believe it, Wal-Mart actually purchases a billion pounds of beef every single year. So the next time someone asks you where the beef is, you can tell them that it is at Wal-Mart. On the restaurant side, the ten largest fast food corporations account for 47 percent of all fast food sales, and the love affair that Americans have with fast food does not appear to be in danger of ending any time soon. Personally, if you do not like how these corporate giants are behaving, you can always complain. Collectively, however, we have great power. And the way that we are going to get these big corporations to change is by voting with our wallets. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Americans seem quite satisfied with the status quo. So the population as a whole is likely going to continue to get sicker, fatter and less healthy with each passing year, and the big food corporations are going to keep becoming even more powerful. Related selfnews Post Article: This article first appeared here at the Economic Collapse Blog. Michael Snyder is a writer, speaker and activist who writes and edits his own blogs The American Dream and Economic Collapse Blog. Follow him on Twitter here. 