WTF! NaturBusiness to Go With Agribusiness?

"Control the oil and you'll control the nations;
control the food and you'll control the people."
Henry Kissinger (1970)

About a year ago I wrote an article called "Food Miles & What that Means to Us" (http://www.scribd.com/doc/50950574/Food-Miles-What-That-Means-to-Us) and about 6 months ago I wrote an article called “Food for Thought – Who Controls Our Food?” (http://www.scribd.com/doc/58850015/Food-for-Thought-Who-Controls-Our-Food) – Well I am still researching and dang it if these corporations don’t keep changing the playing field with acquisitions, buy-outs and consolidations!

"After decades of consolidation, giant grocery retailers occupy the most powerful position on the agro-industrial food chain. Wal-Mart isn’t simply the largest grocery retailer, it’s the planet’s largest corporation."
ETC Group

I recently came across some new information that is even scarier than the other info I collected and is much more recent (2000-2009).

“In less than three decades, a handful of multinational corporations has engineered a fast and furious corporate enclosure of the first link in the food chain.”
ETC Group

On average, any given piece of food on a plate in the U.S. has traveled 1,500 miles from the farm where it was grown.

"The world’s six largest agrochemical manufacturers are also seed industry giants."
ETC Group

12% of the vegetables, 40% of the fruit, and nearly 80% of the seafood eaten in the U.S. come from other countries.

The average farmer/rancher receives $.06 on every dollar spent at point of sale. The average grocery store receives $.13 of every dollar spent at point of sale. The remaining $.81 goes to the all the middle men and government in between these two points.

Most organic foods and meat substitutes travel an average of 1,800+ miles if purchased at a 'chain, organic market. Many of the fruits and vegetables in the U.S. Organic Food chain stores are from out of country.

The millage is actually much higher for meat substitutes. In some cases the travel miles and carbon footprint of the meat substitutes are greater than imported items of any kind from ‘across the great pond’. The fuel used to bring meat substitutes into the U.S. and distribute them is almost 1/3rd higher than for any other food item.

"After decades of consolidation, giant grocery retailers occupy the most powerful position on the agro-industrial food chain. Wal-Mart isn’t simply the largest grocery retailer, it’s the planet’s largest corporation."
ETC Group

The environmental impact of all the coal, oil and gas used to package, process and transport ALL our food items is the bulk (apx 49%) of our point of sale costs. Many organic products travel even farther.

According to the Kerr Center: From an environmental perspective, the biggest potential gains in improving the food system come from making it more local – reducing the food miles. The ideal would be a food system that’s both local and organic.

"In the name of moving “beyond petroleum” we’re seeing a new convergence of corporate power that is poised to appropriate and further commodify biological resources in every part of the globe – while keeping the root causes of climate change intact."
ETC Group

Out of these recent articles I put all the 'highlights' and graphs into a 'recap' document. The links to these documents are included in this recap, if you care to read the stuff for yourself - which I encourage you to do.

Even if you just read my recap; go back through it and at look at the sources to all this information. See any familiar entities? About how many times are the same corporate entities (or one of their subsidiaries) mentioned?

These articles are relatively current and yet there have already been many changes. With all the acquisitions, buy-out, mergers and partnerships, is it any wonder it is so difficult to figure out who owns and controls what in our food supply chain?

Concerned? Overwhelmed? I know I have been for quite some time.


Keep an eye on any food bills or any UN "consolidation for the good of humanity" directives and any U.S. Judicial decisions (mandates and precedents) concerning seed and food process copyrights. These things can sneak up on us so fast that we can be enslaved before we know it!

“Today is the Tomorrow that you worried about Yesterday”

TNT