by: Ed Dubrick, ISA Policy Organizer
When a handful of corporations control your food system, you pay more and farmers earn less. Farmers don’t have access to true price discovery and instead are left with fewer options as to where they purchase their inputs and where they market their production. Consumers like you see price gouging and fewer options. As a society, we see less innovation and more races towards consolidation in the name of efficiency.
Alliance members like you are already energized and on their way to tackling issues related to the corporate consolidation of our farm and food system. At the annual meeting, members voted overwhelmingly to make this issue a priority focus for ISA’s work in 2026.
It seems every day there is a news story that comes out talking about the horrors of consolidation and market control, yet it doesn’t lead to the change folks like you are craving. These large corporations and their shareholders are unfazed by the headlines unless those headlines are followed up with antitrust enforcement action. By organizing together with like-minded people, you can help build the power needed to enact the changes needed to our farm and food system..
Alliance member and farmer John Williams says it best, “The consolidation of power in the ag community leaves farmers in Illinois with less options to make a living, leaves our community more vulnerable to disruptions or profit-driven decisions from multi-national businesses focused more on shareholders and less on the communities they work in.
Now is a vital time to continue this fight as we see a generational shift of farmland ownership, many farmers seeing immediate struggles to make a living and continued drive of large agribusinesses to squeeze out all they can from our farmland, our farmers, and our communities.”
Will you join John, the Alliance, and others in this grassroots movement?
It doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, it hasn’t always been this way. The United States had some of the best antimonopoly policies in the early 1900s. President Teddy Roosevelt may be the most famous trust buster. He won cases against JP Morgan’s railroad holdings company, Standard Oil, and many others while President. A century later, we find ourselves in a similar situation with just a few corporations controlling many industries. Agriculture, an industry we all rely on for our survival, is arguably the most affected.
According to FarmAction’s Agriculture Consolidation Data Hub two companies control 90% of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers in the United States (two of the most commonly used macronutrient sources for crops). Four companies process 85% of the nation’s beef. And four companies control 65% of retail grocery.
Economists have long stated that if 4 companies control 40% or more of a market, you begin to see oligopolic tactics. Those tactics can include but are not limited to price fixing, squeezing out competition, lobbying for policies or regulation that stifle entry or creativity, adapting practices that prioritize profit over human or environmental impact, etc. Many segments of food and agriculture are double that.
When industry consolidation goes unchecked, it hollows out communities. Rural communities see less local jobs for agriculture as the products locally grown continue to be shipped further and further away in the name of efficiency. In an urban environment, you see food apartheid or food deserts. That means fewer butcher shops, canneries, flour mills, and other food processors. Smaller grocers and processors simply cannot compete with the larger grocery stores’ prices or selection. Once the small stores close, rarely, if ever, do you see one of the big stores move in. Instead, there’s now a vacant business and less access to food. In rural or urban settings, this leads to us exporting our wealth and opportunity outside of our local community.
This is why you see gas station convenience stores and dollar store food markets dot the countryside without a true grocer often for 50 miles. This is why it can take two plus forms of mass transit to reach a grocer in urban areas. This hollowing out leaves less opportunities to access nutritious food and less opportunities to find jobs or a future in these communities.
When a handful of corporations have such undue say on policies that influence what is farmed, what products are made, and where that food is distributed or sold it undermines your personal liberty. Some may argue that these large corporations in our food system have allowed for food production to be streamlined or more efficient, but it’s not really efficient if so many people are being left behind.
You’re not experiencing vibrant communities if farmers and food system workers cannot make a living and you cannot easily find food that aligns with your values. Illinois imports 95% of its food from other states and countries, yet has some of the most fertile soils in the world. Why focus on feeding the world if we can’t even feed our own communities. In fact, much of Illinois’ $26.4 billion agricultural production is produced for fuel, animal feed, or exported to foreign markets. According to Illinois Department of Agriculture “Approximately 44 percent of grain produced in Illinois is sold for export.” Yet according to Feeding American more than 1 in 8 Illinoisans face food insecurity.
Illinois Stewardship Alliance is working to change that. We know that the market consolidation and unfair practices we endure did not happen overnight. They are the result of years of policy decisions where farmers and eaters didn’t have a seat at the decision table. Some changes were deliberately made to benefit the largest corporations and others were incidental or not foreseen when they were made into law. Poor policy and a lack of antitrust enforcement by the government has left us with this consolidation.
By building power together, we can build policy that restores market access, fair pricing, and the viability of our communities.
Imagine if policies were enforced that broke up this corporate capture, that helped rebuild opportunities in our communities, and helped Illinois farmers feed Illinoisans? If that sounds like a future you want, we invite you to take a seat at our table and work with fellow Alliance members focused on antitrust enforcement and leveling the playing field for a better food system. We want you to join us as we plan our next steps and add to the groundswell of movement on this issue. Together we can make a difference.
Illinois Stewardship Alliance is dedicated to being a part of the solution to this problem. Our members have spoken. The time is now for us to do this work. Consolidation is reaching levels not seen since the 1900’s. There is media attention on this issue. Our members know that we cannot buy our way out of this system; we have to use our individual and collective voices to change the policies and structures that perpetuate the status quo.
Together we have the power to build a system that serves the many, not the powerful few. Change is possible, but only by working together.
It will take significant collective power and visionary solutions led by directly impacted people like you to disrupt the power dynamics at play and do so fast enough to sustain independent and family farmers.
Join us as we work together to fix this issue before its too late!