1. USA Agriculture & Food Structure of Agriculture
About 1% of the USA population are farmers (2004); 1920: 30%; in 1787: 90%
17% of the total labor force work in food-related industries
23 million food-related jobs with 90% of the jobs off farms
17% of the country's GNP
One farmer/rancher provides for 114 people: 92 in the USA and 22 abroad.
With off-farm agricultural-related jobs, each farmer feeds only 16!
About 90% of farms (total 2 million) are family-owned.

2. USA Agriculture & Food
2% of farms with $500,000 or more sales operate 13% of the land
6% of all landowners control over 50% of farmland
[in Venezuela: fewer than 5% of all landowners control over 75% of farmland]
2% of farms with $500,000 or more sales generate 50% of gross farm sales
9% of farms produce 73% of farm sales

3. USA Agriculture & Food
10% of the largest & richest farms receive 75% of federal farm program payments

4. Federal government farm subsidies per capita by county
USA Agriculture & Food
Federal government farm subsidies per capita by county
20% of the largest farms received 80% of federal farm program payments.

5. USA Agriculture & Food
Vertical Integration in Agriculture: production -> consumption
An Example: ConAgra -- vertical integration and contract farming
In the 2004 Presidential election, 82% of ConAgra’s political contributions ($197,252) went to the Republican Party [Source: The Hightower Lowdown, January 2005]
top four firms processing of beef, pork, broilers, sheep, turkeys, and seafood.
second largest food firm in the USA; fourth largest in the world with operations in 32 countries.
D) Retail Brands: Country Pride (fryers), Banquet, Beatrice Food (TV dinners and pot pies)
C) Transportation: owns 1,00 barges, 2,000 railroad cars, 100 grain elevators
B) Feed and Farm Chemical Supplies:
1) largest fertilizer producer and agricultural chemicals
2) produces its own poultry and livestock feed
A) Production:
1) owns and operates chicken hatcheries
2) contracts with “independent” farmers to raise chickens
3) processes chickens in its own slaughterhouses

6. USA Agriculture & Food
4 largest livestock commodity processors’ share of the US market
10 companies supply more than 50% of all food and drink sold in the USA.

7. USA Agriculture & Food
4 largest plant commodity processors’ share of the US market

8. USA Agriculture & Food
Manipulating Beef Prices: Step 1

9. USA Agriculture & Food
Manipulating Beef Prices: Step 2

10. USA Agriculture & Food
Manipulating Beef Prices: Step 3

11. USA Agriculture & Food Creating Foods and Advertising
Creating foods – two examples
1) Pringles (first introduced in 1973) by Proctor & Gamble
Problem: what is wrong with potato chips?
150 marketing research surveys: Consumers did not like broken, irregular, stale, and burnt potato chips
Solution:
use small and irregular potatoes – lower costs; lower value to farmers
combine with 6 chemicals (color, shelf life, etc.) and sugar
mush poured into potato chip-shaped molds
package in tennis-ball like cans (20% of the total product’s cost)
spent $5.4 million in advertisements; captured 75%+ of the market
2) Fresh Horizons
advertised as 400% more fiber than standard breads
third largest ingredient is pulverized wood pulp
Canada banned it; FDA is testing if wood pulp is dangerous to health

12. USA Agriculture & Food
Consequences: farmers received 10¢ in 2004 for each food dollar spent;
35¢ in 1984; 40¢ in 1949
Annual return on investments: for farmers 4-5 percent vs.
for food-processors about 20 percent
Item
Retail Price
Farmer's Share
Box of cereal
$3.71
4.6 cents
Loaf of bread
$1.39
5 cents
Sirloin steak (1 lb.)
$4.39
68 cents
Cheddar cheese (1 lb.)
$5.91
$1.05
Potato chips (9 oz.)
$1.99
3.3 cents
Head of lettuce
$1.29
9 cents
Bacon (1 lb.)
$3.29
40 cents
Yet when asked to compare financial rewards received by different levels of America's food production system,
43 percent of the respondents thought food processors received the most,
32 percent thought farmers receive the most, and
24 percent thought supermarkets received the most financial reward.
Source: American Farm Bureau Federation
Source: Figures based on Washington-area food prices and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (March 20, 2000) and Small Farm Center.

13. USA Agriculture & Food
best value
worst value

14. USA Agriculture & Food
Federal government subsidies to food corporations
McDonald got $1.6 million to help advertise their fast food products overseas
Sunkist got $78 million since 1986 to promote orange juice in Asia
All USA agribusiness and food corporation received $6.2 billion per year
Food and Fun and Health
1997 giveaway Teenie Beanie Babies increased sale for McDonalds’ Happy Meals from 10 million a week to 10 million a day!
96% of USA school children can identify Ronald McDonald; only Santa Claus scores higher!
average four oz. hamburger patty consists of beef or fat tissue from between 55 to 1,082 cattle
[Source: Colorado State University study, cited in The Economist, 9 March 2002]

15. USA Agriculture & Food Other Amazing Facts about Foods
25% of all food in the USA is wasted at home, restaurants, and stores
In 2000, U.S. food traveled 1,500 to 2,500 miles from farms to consumption (20% more than in 1980)
Socially Irrational but privately profitable international food trade
USA exports $20 million of lettuce to Mexico and imports $20 million of lettuce from Mexico.
New York exported $431,000 of California almonds to Italy and imported $397,000 of Italian almonds to the USA.
California sells $18 million of asparagus abroad while importing $39 million of asparagus from other countries.
Source: Food First, Backgrounder, 2004 and Coop America Newsletter, 2006.

16. USA Agriculture & Food fat hungry
The USA is the largest food producer, yet 35 million go hungry and nearly 66 percent are overweight!
Wealthier neighborhoods have 2-3 times as many supermarkets as low-income areas.
White areas have 4 times more food stores than Black neighborhoods.
Source: Food First, Backgrounder, Vol. 10, No.1, Winter 2004.