Simply put, [Big Food] is the $1.5 trillion industry that grows, rears, slaughters, processes, imports, packages and retails most of the food Americans eat. …At its base stands Big Ag, … the corn-and-soybean-industrial complex… Big Ag in turn supplies the feed grain for Big Meat … and the raw ingredients for the packaged-food sector… At the top of the Big Food pyramid sit the supermarket retailers and fast-food franchises.
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Each industry sector is represented in Washington by …powerful lobbying organizations…
These groups … frequently operate as one … In recent years the various sectors have been driven closer by the emergence of a common adversary: a food movement bent on checking their dominance in the marketplace and their freedom to operate with a minimum of oversight…
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Whenever the Obamas seriously poked at Big Food, they were quickly out-lobbied… Why? Because the food movement still barely exists as a political force in Washington.
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The power of the food movement is … the appeal of its aspirations — to build community, …to nourish both our health and the … land. …[W]hat ideas does Big Food have? One, basically: “If you …pay no attention to how we do it, we can produce vast amounts of acceptable food incredibly cheaply.”
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Why Did the Obamas Fail to Take On Corporate Agriculture?
