These 10 companies control all foods you buy

https://www.businessinsider.nl/10-companies-control-the-food-industry-2016-9

by amelius • 5 years ago

32 26 5 years ago

samcheng2• 5 years ago

If you can, please buy whole (not processed) foods at a farmers' market instead of processed foods from these mega corporations.

- You end up eating a much wider variety of food, depending on what is in season.

- You end up eating delicious foods that may not travel well, such as amazing heirloom strawberry and tomato varieties during the summer.

- You cut out the middleman, and support local businesses instead of multinational food conglomerates.

- You will probably end up eating less meat, but will enjoy the meat you do eat more.

- You'll wind up meeting the same people every week at the market, turning grocery shopping into a social event.

In short, farmers' markets are good for the environment, your health, the economy, and the community. Use them!

spodek• 5 years ago

Also join a CSA (here's a guide https://www.localharvest.org).

I've bought nearly all my food for a few years from my CSAs, farmers markets, and food co-op. Nothing from any of the companies listed in the article. Much of the food I know the farmers and vendors.

As a side effect, the last time I emptied my garbage was Christmas 2019. I buy almost nothing packaged. I calculated my annual food expenses and it's a bit under the national average, but that includes feeding at least 50 other meals since CSAs provide so much food.

For people who don't have access, I've led workshops to people in food deserts, but the most effective way to improve access for others is to support CSAs, farmers markets, and food co-ops yourself.

If your area lacks them, it takes effort, but my family helped form a food co-op when I was young and it has become a cornerstone of the community. Every community benefits from healthy, delicious food.

ars5• 5 years ago

Just be aware you will be (indirectly) emitting more CO2, and using more pesticides and fertilizer by buying from Farmers Markets. So you have to decide what's more important to you. (Small farms are less efficient, less efficient means uses more energy and other inputs.)

There is a middle ground between the "processed foods from these mega corporations" (which I agree you should not buy) and farmers markets though: Just buy regular produce from a grocery store, and cook normal food.

readflaggedcomm2• 5 years ago

Megacorporate agriculture industry can save the climate? No wonder their lobbyists are so beloved.

madvoid• 5 years ago

I actually think what you eat is the dominating factor in food CO2 production: https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2020/02/Environmental-imp... Transport and processing are fairly minor components overall for all foods. The claim about pesticides and fertilizers I know nothing about though.

samcheng2• 5 years ago

You should buy organic at the farmers' market AND the supermarket, but that's a different topic.

It's definitely not clear to me that farmers' markets are worse for the environment - in many cases, it's the same farmer looking for a direct-to-consumer outlet for some of their product.

danaris• 5 years ago

Small local farms also don't have to ship the food across the country or the ocean to get it to you. That drastically reduces the carbon footprint of such consumption.

walrus01• 5 years ago

a somewhat better explanation in diagram form, for the relationship between consumer-known brand names, and their owners:

https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories/these-10-compan...

https://s3.amazonaws.com/oxfam-us/www/static/media/files/Beh...

ars5• 5 years ago

Yah, this article should just be changed to the oxfam URL.

joveian• 5 years ago

Thanks, "a lot of the food" may be true for many people, "all the food" seems unlikely to be true for anyone. I looked through the image and the only brand I might have purchased a few times in the past five years is Muir Glen. Maybe a half dozen I might have purchased a few times in the past decade. It really isn't difficult to avoid them.

hamolton• 5 years ago

Processed foods at grocery stores, at least. Here's what I assume the oxfam infographic in the article's dead link looks like: https://www.behindthebrands.org/images/media/Images/About/be...

The Behind the Brands website hasn't been updated since 2016, though, so this might be a little out of date.

ivan_ah• 5 years ago

slightly more HD version: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CBPMy1DUMAAgvRP.jpg

xcalibre• 5 years ago

This really only applies if your diet basically consists of processed junk or bottled drinks / bottled water.

skynet-9000• 5 years ago

"All" the foods you buy? This is a seriously clickbaity headline and not even what the Oxfam source material claims. (It would be slightly more correct if it said, "All the junk food you buy in the grocery store")

nslocum• 5 years ago

it's strange that Kraft Heinz wasn't included. It had sales of 26B last year

maxwell_smart• 5 years ago

For the US, they've forgotten a few:

Archer-Daniels Midland, oils, feed, ethanol, corn syrup (rev $65 B)

Sysco, restaurant supply (rev $55B)

Tyson, chicken (rev $44B)

Cargill, like ADM, oils, feed, ag products (rev $113B)

11thEarlOfMar• 5 years ago

The combined revenue of these 10 is ~$393 Billion in 2015. The US spent $1.7 Trillion on food & beverages in 2018[0]. That's 23% of just the US market, and these are international brands, yes? Whoever said click bait was, well... we're talking about BI after all.

[0] https://www.fb.org/market-intel/u.s.-food-expenditures-at-ho...

Vaslo• 5 years ago

Yes and there are other major companies that are not on this list. Kraft Heinz is a $25b company much more ubiquitous than someone like Danone. Why take Danone over them? Clickbait indeed.

boomboomsubban• 5 years ago

Roughly half of that $1.7 trillion is categorized as "food away from home," meaning it includes the cut restaurants and such get from selling you those same brands. Further, it's unclear if that $1.7 trillion includes alcohol, but those ten companies do not.

andreskytt• 5 years ago

No, they don’t. The world is larger than the USA.

These 10 companies control all foods you buy

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