Protesting Corporate Greed and Corruption? Set Your Sights on the Food Industry
Categories: Talking Points
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Mother Jones magazine's great food correspondant, Tom Philpott, wrote a barnstormer of an article this past week titled "Foodies, Get Thee to Occupy Wall Street." Food is no side issue, Philpott argues, to the nationwide protests voicing outrage over the unchecked power of corporations. When it comes to forming monopolies, screwing over workers, and controlling legislation with lobbying dollars, the food industry rivals the banks and Wall Street in its profligacy.
Companies like Monsanto and Cargill control the grain and soybean trade -- from the genes in the seeds to the sale of the grain -- to an unimaginable degree. The meat industry's labor practices constitute human rights abuses. Wall Street speculation is behind the 2007 and current price hikes that have resulted in starvation for so many around the world. And thanks to billions of lobbying dollars, regulators and legislators are powerless to stop it. Don't look for the Obama administration to rectify the situation, says Philpott, who finds little hope in the president's food policy. Look to the streets.
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