conglomerATE: The Consolidation of American Food

TM) CONGLOMERATE The Consolidation of American Food Never have fewer food producers been responsible for more food. This Thanksgiving, 221,000,000 pounds of turkey - 30% of all turkeys consumed in the US - will come from Butterball, and 50% of all groceries will come from 4 supermarket chains. 221,000,000 pounds of turkey is the equivalent of the largest asteroid to hit the Earth in this century; it weighed 100,000 tons and created an explosion 2,000 times stronger than an atom bomb. Even scarier, Big Food will help the average American male consume a body-warping 35 pounds of antibiotics via store-bought meat over his lifetime. It's time to learn more about what's in your food - and who's behind your food - THIS HOLIDAY AND EVERY DAY. BIG PRODUCERS Sales for the top four food producers in the US topped $240 billion for 2010; the combined sales are greater than the GDPS of 148 countries. PepsiCo Nestle Kraft Foods Tyson Foods $240 BILLION IN SALES OVER OVER OVER 1.2X 3.7X 19X IRELAND SUDAN ICELAND $207 billion $65.3 billion $12.6 billion Between them, the top four food producers have 817.000 EMPLOYEES Amassed, they would be the sixth-largest army in the world. BIG MEAT Three companies slaughter and pack 57% OF ALL US PORK (13.11 billion pounds) Smithfield 26% Tyson 19% JBS 12% Between these three companies, there are 46 EXECUTIVES Pounds of pork per executive: 285,000,000 Three companies process more than 70% OF ALL THE US BEEF (18.2 billion pounds) Tyson 28% Cargill 24% JBS 24% Between these three companies, there are 61 EXECUTIVES Pounds of beef per executive: 298,360,656 Two companies slaughter and pack 40% OF ALL US CHICKEN (14.4 billion pounds) Tyson 22% JBS 18% Between these three companies, there are 29 EXECUTIVES Pounds of chicken per executive: 496,551.724 How they all stack against the Turkey Asteroid: This is what 496,551,724 pounds of chicken would look like. This is what 298,360,658 pounds of beef would look like. This is what 285,000,000 pounds of pork would look like. Dwarfing the 221,000,000 pounds of Asteroid Turkey we already mentioned. BIG AGRICULTURE In 2010, the United States produced a world-leading 696,241.870 POUNDS OF CORN Yet only 10% of it is used for corn-based human food. 35% of it is used for Ethanol production, in a federal government effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lower gasoline prices for millions of Americans, HOWEVER THAT 35% OF CORN WE USE FOR ETHANOL PRODUCTION COULD FEED 325 MILLION STARVING PEOPLE FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR. END Brought to you by FRUGAL DAD Sources: http://www.foodprocessing.com/top100/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_ by_population http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid3238 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_ by_number_of_troops http://www.foodcircles.missouri.edu/07contable.pdf http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/people.asp?privcapld=1505790 http://ir.tyson.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=65476&p=irol-govManage http://www.cargill.com/company/management /index.jsp http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090105062359AAMW17S http://www.window.state.tx.us/specialrpt/energy/renewable/ethanol.php http://www.ewg.org/release/more-potential-giveaways-ethanol-energy-bill http://books.google.com/books?id=LWVHG_udfVcC&pg=PA85&lpg=PA85&dq=total+ethanol+profits&source=bl&ots=0AJR _6xIKZesig=QjXP4DAVCGKi4SyoU6-xOvzIRcw&hl=en&ei=pLDCTVS8NaSLiAKI8NIODA& sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&r esnum=3& ved=0CDQQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=total%20 ethanol%20profits&f=false http://reason.com/archives/2007/06/22/feed-suvs-and-starve-people http://povertynewsblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/two-million-children-starving-in.html http://documents.foodandwaterwatch.org/RetailConcentration-web.pdf http://www.distancebetweencities.net/los-angeles_ca_and_san-diego_ca/ http://meatami.com/ht/d/sp/i/47465/pid/47465 http://www.universetoday.com/38128/distance-from-earth-to-moon/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy http://www.whale.to/a/null9.html#Table_4:_Estimated_10-Year_Unnecessary_Medical_Events http://www.epa.gov/fueleconomy/420d06002.pdf http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/30919.shtml http://geography.about.com/library/fac http://www.universetoday.com/13891/distance-to-pluto/ http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2011/industries/ http://www.smithfieldfoods.com/our_company/leadership.aspx?cat=2 http://www.writeforarkansas.org/huntsville-butterball-plant-concludes-annual-%E2%80%98 fresh-season%E2%80%99/ zcircumference.htm http://www.eatturkey.com/consumer/history/history.html http://ask.yahoo.com/20020507.html