Consolidated Control of Food Chain
Oakland Institute USA, has released a New Policy Brief Reveals that Consolidated Control of Food Leads to Declining Food Security, Economic Health, and Labor Standards :
Facing Goliath : Challenging the Impacts of Retail Consolidation on our Local Economies, Communities, and Food Security
This new policy brief from the Oakland Institute exposes how corporate consolidation in food retail has put our access to a reliable supply of healthy and affordable food at risk.
The top five food retailers, which now control more than half of all grocery sales in the country, have gained unprecedented market power," said Katy Mamen, Oakland Institute Fellow and author of the Policy Brief. "As a result, cost savings garnered through increased bargaining power are generally not being passed on to the consumer, supermarkets are abandoning low-income communities where profit margins are lower, and labor standards are being forced down."
The shift from small and medium scale food stores to big box stores brings broader economic turmoil for many communities. When a retail mega-store enters a community, independent shops that serve the local community are often forced to close. New Wal-Mart stores in a community have been associated with increased poverty levels and a decline in locally owned and operated businesses.
"In the U.S., the independent business owner is held in high regard - but small businesses throughout the food supply chain, from farmers to processors to grocers are being forced out as consolidation continues, undermining the American Dream," said Mamen.
The Policy Brief teases out the architecture of change in the food supply chain, outlines some of the key impacts on local communities, and suggests strategies for bringing balance back to the food retail landscape, including:
* Developing successful and innovative regional distribution and retail models;
* Re-creating real retail diversity that includes both locally-owned outlets that source a majority of their products locally and products that are direct marketed by producers;
* Fostering locally-owned and operated retail outlets in low-income communities;
* Working to balance the public subsidy and support system, which currently disproportionately favors large supermarket chains over independent markets;
* Raising public awareness about the social, economic and environmental benefits of locally owned and operated grocery stores.
Facing Goliath : Challenging the Impacts of Retail Consolidation on our Local Economies, Communities, and Food Security is a publication of the Oakland Institute, a think tank for research, analysis, and action whose mission is to increase public participation and promote fair debate on critical social, economic, and environmental justice issues.
Wednesday, 21 February 2007
Thursday, 15 February 2007
Prime Ministers's Valentines Gift
Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh, has decided to give a Valentines Gift to North Indian wheat farmers, of his own accord.
On Valentine's Day, mindful of the falling wheat production levels, and unmindful of the disincentives, that encircle Indian food growing farmers - while the Commerce Ministry and Agriculture Ministry, are busy entertaining the US Commerce Secretary, rather than rebutting his agricultural prescriptions, the Prime Minister has not told the Indian farmers that this Valentine's gift from him is a double edged sword, and actually, one more sacrifice they must make for the nation.
Vish ka pyala pee lo mere lal ... kisan bhai
Jai Jawan Jai Kisan !!!
With much sarcasm, his Agriculture Minister, Sharad Pawar, had claimed last year, at beginning of procurement season, that as Food Minister, it was his "duty to import wheat from anywhere in the world, that he found it cheap".
And that as Food Minister of India, he is more concerned about storage and transportation charges of North Indian wheat, to South Indian wheat eaters.
Thus he justified paying a higher price to Australian farmers than he would tolerate paying to Indian wheat growing farmers.
Thus maybe now, there is a case for having two separate ministers in India for Agriculture, one for North India and one for South India as per the logic of this minister. Or maybe it is just too many duties he is is burdened with for him to be able to do justice to all his contradictory roles.
This year it seems the reasons being given are that it forms part of a slew of measures to arrest inflation.
Wheat and milk export have been banned.
The Cricket Minister and the Sensex Minister, are busy playing the Pied Piper with Indian farmers and Indian consumers.
India currently exports less than 1 lakh tonnes of wheat.
Indian wheat farmers currently produce about 72 million tonnes annually.
India usually imports much more.
Indian inflation has touched 6.58 percent.
45 lakh tonnes of wheat imported by Sharad Pawar, is already in Indian markets.
What a country India is. Incredible India. Rising inflation - ban wheat exports !!!
1. Cant the Indian economy and industry import less oil, introduce fuel energy conservation practices, to stop global warming and play a responsible role in the climate change debate ? In climate change summits, Indian leaders and bureaucrats, blame poverty for India's energy bill, and dependence on hydrocarbon fuels. They mention the average energy consumption of the rural villager and do not mention the fuel guzzling Daimler Chrysler cars being bought by Indians, to show how eco sensitive Indians traditionally are. Real joke, but a trifle absurd one ....
They can fool Indian farmers, but they will not be able to fool the world once the global powers realize the double speak played by Indian elite in climate change arguments, and India's role in pushing up global temperatures.
After all global oil prices are falling for quite some time now, and the civilian nuclear handshake with USA has been accomplished.
2. Cant the Indian stock market, transform to bear from bull, and come to the rescue of Shri Man Mohan Singh, and the Sensex Minister, Shri Chidambaram and relieve currency and monetary pressures on Indian economy ? Cant RBI step in ?
3. Cant the American Commerce Secretary and Agriculture Secretary, help the Indian Commerce Minister with free food imports ?
4. Cant top Indian software companies, export more software services to balance out the import oil and energy bill ?
5. Cant Indian navratnas and private industry, stop importing defence supplies and announce 100% defence materials indigenous production and non reliance on foreign suppliers this coming Republic Day ?
6. Cant the Special Export Zones be incentivised and forced to compete with Chinese imports rather than only focussing on exports in preparation for WTO regime ?
7. Cant the government ministers accept a salary cut this year and eat less wheat ?
8. Cant there be a question about this on Kaun Banega CrorePati ?
9. Could they not forecast wheat outputs in advance and have to intervene only like the arhatiya at harvest time to depress wholesale prices ?
10. Why are the farmers not allowed to enter 10 year advance wheat export contracts with Africa ?
11. Cant all the leading industrialists of India, and the industry bodies and commerce federations, come together in national interest, to arrest rising inflation in India as a small contribution to Shining India ?
12. Cant the finance companies, mortgage banks, construction companies, and housing builders, be persuaded to reduce house prices and work at lower profit margins, as a small sacrfice towards arresting spiralling inflation ? Afterall farmlands, are available very cheap as farmers are dying off one by one.
Indian farmers can text so many questions and answers, if only Shah Rukh Khan will ask these question on prime time media. Aaj Ki Raat...kisanon ke saath...sarkaar se kuchh sawaal ?
The farmers of India, will be ready to pay the full fees of Shahrukh by distress selling their lands, if only he does one special Questions night like this following the Special Valentines Night questions. - Special Kisan Questions Night with Sensex Minister !!!
No, it seems the Indian economists, RBI, Commerce Ministers, Finance Minister and industry are determined that they must give a dubious gift to north Indian wheat farmers this Valentine's Day. All while they tell a different story to the American and European visitors, about opening up domestic Indian markets to finance, health, insurance, food retail, food logistics and food processing multinationals.
And they sing a different tune, from what they do in Delhi, when they represent India in Global Warming and Climate Change summits in foreign countries.
And all in the name of providing wheat buffer stocks, for South Indian wheat eaters and arresting inflation, that the Indian farmer is supposedly responsible for, with his futures commodities trading, his contract farming contracts, his investments in the food retail sector, his global export ambitions under the ambit of WTO.
Do Indian politicians and economists think that Indian farmers are so very illiterate ?
Is this what the Prime Minister, Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister and Commerce Minister are sitting in New Delhi for ?
This is in fact, fine tuning by New Delhi and Mumbai, of the rural surplus plunder of last six decades.
In this WTO era, it is now fine tuned into an Exit Policy for Indian farmers.
WTO will never ever be a WTO for Indian farmers, Indian politicians will ensure that. If they are delaying it today, it is only because they are still looking at ways by which WTO can also be yet another tool to deny Indian farmers, control over his life and freedom from the diktats of Delhi and Mumbai.
Congress government is planning an exit policy for Indian farmers.
The Russian thinker Lev Tolstoy, whose statue is standing on Janpath in New Delhi, said this ..."I sit on a man's back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself, and others, that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means - except by getting off his back " - Leo Tolstoy
This Congress government has changed Lal Bahadur Shastri's words to "Jai Jawan, Hai Kisan". What a mockery of Shining India, Incredible India.
On Valentine's Day, mindful of the falling wheat production levels, and unmindful of the disincentives, that encircle Indian food growing farmers - while the Commerce Ministry and Agriculture Ministry, are busy entertaining the US Commerce Secretary, rather than rebutting his agricultural prescriptions, the Prime Minister has not told the Indian farmers that this Valentine's gift from him is a double edged sword, and actually, one more sacrifice they must make for the nation.
Vish ka pyala pee lo mere lal ... kisan bhai
Jai Jawan Jai Kisan !!!
With much sarcasm, his Agriculture Minister, Sharad Pawar, had claimed last year, at beginning of procurement season, that as Food Minister, it was his "duty to import wheat from anywhere in the world, that he found it cheap".
And that as Food Minister of India, he is more concerned about storage and transportation charges of North Indian wheat, to South Indian wheat eaters.
Thus he justified paying a higher price to Australian farmers than he would tolerate paying to Indian wheat growing farmers.
Thus maybe now, there is a case for having two separate ministers in India for Agriculture, one for North India and one for South India as per the logic of this minister. Or maybe it is just too many duties he is is burdened with for him to be able to do justice to all his contradictory roles.
This year it seems the reasons being given are that it forms part of a slew of measures to arrest inflation.
Wheat and milk export have been banned.
The Cricket Minister and the Sensex Minister, are busy playing the Pied Piper with Indian farmers and Indian consumers.
India currently exports less than 1 lakh tonnes of wheat.
Indian wheat farmers currently produce about 72 million tonnes annually.
India usually imports much more.
Indian inflation has touched 6.58 percent.
45 lakh tonnes of wheat imported by Sharad Pawar, is already in Indian markets.
What a country India is. Incredible India. Rising inflation - ban wheat exports !!!
1. Cant the Indian economy and industry import less oil, introduce fuel energy conservation practices, to stop global warming and play a responsible role in the climate change debate ? In climate change summits, Indian leaders and bureaucrats, blame poverty for India's energy bill, and dependence on hydrocarbon fuels. They mention the average energy consumption of the rural villager and do not mention the fuel guzzling Daimler Chrysler cars being bought by Indians, to show how eco sensitive Indians traditionally are. Real joke, but a trifle absurd one ....
They can fool Indian farmers, but they will not be able to fool the world once the global powers realize the double speak played by Indian elite in climate change arguments, and India's role in pushing up global temperatures.
After all global oil prices are falling for quite some time now, and the civilian nuclear handshake with USA has been accomplished.
2. Cant the Indian stock market, transform to bear from bull, and come to the rescue of Shri Man Mohan Singh, and the Sensex Minister, Shri Chidambaram and relieve currency and monetary pressures on Indian economy ? Cant RBI step in ?
3. Cant the American Commerce Secretary and Agriculture Secretary, help the Indian Commerce Minister with free food imports ?
4. Cant top Indian software companies, export more software services to balance out the import oil and energy bill ?
5. Cant Indian navratnas and private industry, stop importing defence supplies and announce 100% defence materials indigenous production and non reliance on foreign suppliers this coming Republic Day ?
6. Cant the Special Export Zones be incentivised and forced to compete with Chinese imports rather than only focussing on exports in preparation for WTO regime ?
7. Cant the government ministers accept a salary cut this year and eat less wheat ?
8. Cant there be a question about this on Kaun Banega CrorePati ?
9. Could they not forecast wheat outputs in advance and have to intervene only like the arhatiya at harvest time to depress wholesale prices ?
10. Why are the farmers not allowed to enter 10 year advance wheat export contracts with Africa ?
11. Cant all the leading industrialists of India, and the industry bodies and commerce federations, come together in national interest, to arrest rising inflation in India as a small contribution to Shining India ?
12. Cant the finance companies, mortgage banks, construction companies, and housing builders, be persuaded to reduce house prices and work at lower profit margins, as a small sacrfice towards arresting spiralling inflation ? Afterall farmlands, are available very cheap as farmers are dying off one by one.
Indian farmers can text so many questions and answers, if only Shah Rukh Khan will ask these question on prime time media. Aaj Ki Raat...kisanon ke saath...sarkaar se kuchh sawaal ?
The farmers of India, will be ready to pay the full fees of Shahrukh by distress selling their lands, if only he does one special Questions night like this following the Special Valentines Night questions. - Special Kisan Questions Night with Sensex Minister !!!
No, it seems the Indian economists, RBI, Commerce Ministers, Finance Minister and industry are determined that they must give a dubious gift to north Indian wheat farmers this Valentine's Day. All while they tell a different story to the American and European visitors, about opening up domestic Indian markets to finance, health, insurance, food retail, food logistics and food processing multinationals.
And they sing a different tune, from what they do in Delhi, when they represent India in Global Warming and Climate Change summits in foreign countries.
And all in the name of providing wheat buffer stocks, for South Indian wheat eaters and arresting inflation, that the Indian farmer is supposedly responsible for, with his futures commodities trading, his contract farming contracts, his investments in the food retail sector, his global export ambitions under the ambit of WTO.
Do Indian politicians and economists think that Indian farmers are so very illiterate ?
Is this what the Prime Minister, Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister and Commerce Minister are sitting in New Delhi for ?
This is in fact, fine tuning by New Delhi and Mumbai, of the rural surplus plunder of last six decades.
In this WTO era, it is now fine tuned into an Exit Policy for Indian farmers.
WTO will never ever be a WTO for Indian farmers, Indian politicians will ensure that. If they are delaying it today, it is only because they are still looking at ways by which WTO can also be yet another tool to deny Indian farmers, control over his life and freedom from the diktats of Delhi and Mumbai.
Congress government is planning an exit policy for Indian farmers.
The Russian thinker Lev Tolstoy, whose statue is standing on Janpath in New Delhi, said this ..."I sit on a man's back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself, and others, that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means - except by getting off his back " - Leo Tolstoy
This Congress government has changed Lal Bahadur Shastri's words to "Jai Jawan, Hai Kisan". What a mockery of Shining India, Incredible India.
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