The consolidation of our food system into fewer and fewer hands also poses serious risks to the security and well being of consumers and our nation as a whole. When it comes to the necessities of life, food is in a category all by itself. Americans, unlike the vast majority of our planet's inhabitants, take for granted an abundant, wholesome and relatively inexpensive food supply. They are in for a really rude awakening if the trend toward ever greater economic concentration continues on its current track. Of course, by then it may well be too late to do much of anything about it.
Farmers run into the consequences of economic concentration wherever they turn.
On the production side, suppliers of seed, chemicals, feed, fuel and the whole range of inputs have been undergoing tremendous consolidation. On the marketing side, the packing industry is already highly concentrated and markets for grains and other commodities are consolidating rapidly as country elevators dwindle in number and industry giants merge. Vertical integration, contracting arrangements and industrialization are compounding the effects of increasing concentration. And as President Kennedy said, farmers pay the freight both ways, so transportation industry consolidation has had a major effect on farmers. Even the changes in the banking, utilities and communications industries raise questions about how farmers and their communities will be served.