CREDO Action offers an opportunity to request the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the large dairy processors under the antitrust laws for price-fixing at the expense of small dairy farmers. Using CREDO's website, I sent the following email to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
Dear Attorney General Holder,
I am greatly concerned about the lack of competition in the food and agricultural sectors and how this negatively impacts America's family farmers and consumers as they work to feed their families food that is safe, healthy and nutritious.
For too long, agribusiness corporations have been allowed to consolidate. Now their market power has created unfair prices that farmers are paid for their goods, the ever-increasing prices that they pay for inputs and the price that consumers pay at the grocery store. Excessive market concentration has also created an overly centralized food system that is prone to massive food safety outbreaks and has empowered mega agribusiness corporations that continue to demonstrate a blatant disregard for environmental and labor laws.
While I am encouraged by the recent Department of Justice suits filed against Dean Foods investigating their excessive market concentration in the dairy industry, these investigations are long overdue. For the past 18 months dairy farmers in America have faced their worst crisis since the Great Depression as the price they are paid for their milk has dropped more than 50% since December 2008. At the same time, giant dairy processors and co-ops have raked in record profits while dairy farmers are losing their farms and struggling to make ends meet just to feed their families.
I encourage you to enforce U.S. antitrust laws to return a fair and level playing field in the food and agricultural sectors and break up corporations that have violated these laws.
As a Vermonter I have many friends and neighbors who are small dairy farmers. A Vermont dairy farm is lost on the average of one per week because the price farmers are paid is only a fraction of the cost to produce it. While the milk processors squeeze farmers with low prices, the retail cost of milk increases. It’s time to pay dairy farmers a fair price for their product!
America's farmers, specifically our dairy farmers, deserve justice, before it's too late.
Sincerely,
Michael I. Yantachka
393 Natures Way
Charlotte, VT 05445
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