Austin Frerick's new book, Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry, unpacks how a select few have reshaped America's food landscape.
Twilight Greenaway reports for Civil Eats.
In short:
- Frerick explores the rise of industrial farms and the displacement of small, diverse agriculture, spotlighting the shift towards monopolized farming systems.
- He critiques policies favoring large agribusinesses, including the transformation of the "New Deal Farm Bill" into a system that encourages overproduction and environmental neglect.
- The book calls for a fundamental rethinking of the farm bill and USDA policies to address the monopolistic control and its impacts on farmers, communities, and the environment.
Key quote:
"I wanted to call attention to how intentional the rise of industrial farms was by the business community in Iowa, as well as the failure of public servants like Vilsack to do what voters had wanted."
— Austin Frerick, author of "Barons"
Why this matters:
America's food landscape has been profoundly reshaped by the food industry, with significant implications for public health, the environment, and the economy. This transformation has been driven by a combination of technological advancements, policy decisions, and consumer behavior, often favoring large agribusinesses at the expense of smaller farms and more sustainable practices.
EHN writer Kevin Walker argues that our food system’s reckoning with nature is coming.
