Walmart's Death Grip on Groceries Is Making Life Worse for Millions of People (Hard Times USA)

[lunasun]

http://www.alternet.org/food/walmarts-death-grip-groceries-making-life-worse-millions-people-hard-times-usa
Walmart's growing control of our food system has been to intensify the rural and urban poverty that drives unhealthy food choices
Walmart has made it harder for farmers and food workers to earn a living. Its rapid rise as a grocer triggered a wave of mergers among food companies, which, by combining forces, hoped to become big enough to supply Walmart without getting crushed in the process. Today, food processing is more concentrated than ever. Four meatpackers slaughter 85 percent of the nation's beef. One dairy company handles 40 percent of our milk, including 70 percent of the milk produced in New England. With fewer buyers, farmers are struggling to get a fair price. Between 1995 and 2009, farmers saw their share of each consumer dollar spent on beef fall from 59 to 42 cents. Their cut of the consumer milk dollar likewise fell from 44 to 36 cents. For pork, it fell from 45 to 25 cents and, for apples, from 29 to 19 cents.

Onto this grim reality, Walmart has grafted a much-publicized initiative to sell more locally grown fruits and vegetables. Clambering aboard the "buy local" trend undoubtedly helps Walmart's marketing, but, as Missouri-based National Public Radio journalist Abbie Fentress Swanson reported in February, "there's little evidence of small farmers benefiting, at least in the Midwest." Walmart, which defines "local" as grown in the same state, has increased its sales of local produce mainly by relying on large industrial growers. Small farmers, meanwhile, have fewer opportunities to reach consumers, as independent grocers and smaller chains shrink and disappear.

Food production workers are being squeezed too. The average slaughterhouse wage has fallen 9 percent since 1999. Forced unpaid labor at food processing plants is on the rise. Last year, a Louisiana seafood plant that supplies Walmart was convicted of forcing employees to work in unsafe conditions for less than minimum wage. Some workers reported peeling and boiling crawfish in shifts that spanned 24 hours. One might imagine that squeezing farmers and food workers would yield lower prices for consumers. But that hasn't been the case. Grocery prices have been rising. There are multiple reasons for this, but corporate concentration is at least partly to blame. For most foods, the spread between what consumers pay and how much farmers receive has been widening. Food processors and big retailers are pocketing the difference.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

1. I'm sorry but it really is time to lop off some heads.

[lunasun]

2. Well the number needed is lessening at least,,,,,,,,,sigh

[demosincebirth]

3. Walmart gets their price no matter what. That equals lower wages. Simple math.

[Big Blue Marble]

4. Shop Co-op!

If you can support your local farmers by shopping at your farmer's markets
and co-operativss. I do shop mostly at my local co-op which focuses on local farmers
and dairies. It is not always the cheapest. But I know it is healthy locally grown
organic food that benefits my family and the local economy.

[freshwest]

5. I'm fortunate to live in a region where WalMart is shunned and grocery workers are in unions.

I may be wrong, but I feel the conditions described are most common in red areas where the conservative mindset is not only in the owners, but the workers themselves who don't unionize. Their communities are against unions. Prosperty doesn't trickle down, it's from the ground up. But some areas are more concerned about gays and abortion and religion than they are about the basic facts of economics that would help.
I'm not sure what will make a difference, although I'm hoping the new labor secretary will make inroads to help. They are in terrible working conditions.

[JayhawkSD]

6. I dom't know all the answers, but a question or two arise.

If Walmart jobs are so terrible, how come they have five applicants for every job opening? They may not be making their employees rich, but they do have employees, which means they are providing jobs. Even now many large corporations are still laying off and almost none are hiring. I guess they could pay more and provide better benefits, in which case they would offer fewer jobs and have to charge higher prices. Which leads to the second question.

If Walmart is so evil, why are so many people buying there? Could it be because with the amount of money the customers have to spend they can walk out with a full basket of food instead of leaving Albertson's with a basket only half full?

You can't sell things to poor people at low prices that they can afford, when you are buying those things at high prices.

Third question. Is anyone putting a gun to the seller's head and forcing them to sell to Walmart? Are they prohibited in some manner from selling to anyone that will pay them a higher price?

I have no data on the spread between what farmers receive and what consumers pay and you provide no data. I do have data on the profits of the corporations which you say are "pocketing the difference."

The food processors and "big retail" grocery hains are far from usurious in their profits. Hormel, for instance, the biggest pork packers, makes 6.1% profit, which is decent but hardly excessive. The big crocery retailers average around 3% profit and the very highest of them make 6% profit. Walmart has driven their prices, and their profits, down. It's hard to see how that, in itself, makes Walmart evil.

Walmart's current profit is 3.2% That's not exactly pillaging anyone.