MILKING THE SYSTEM - Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America - page 137

of the dairy supply chain. They set U.S. dairy policy and control the venues where farmers' milk prices
are determined. Dean Foods, the largest milk processor in the country, benefits enormously from policies
that encourage overproduction and low prices. Likewise, Walmart and the other grocery giants also profit
from having the market power to strike sweetheart deals with the largest milk suppliers for high volumes
of cheap milk.
While these companies duck criticism by declaring their commitment to sustainability and family farm-
ers, they cynically use their economic and political power to maintain their privileged position in the mar-
ketplace at the expense of farmers and consumers. It is time for the USDA and the Department of Justice
to open an investigation into industry giants like Dean Foods' practices, including its relationship with the
grocery industry.
DFA, and the handful of other corporate-like cooperatives that operate as virtual monopolies, must also
be investigated. They are using their tax-exempt status and the special privileges it brings to hold dairy
farmers hostage to a market with one buyer. The decisions that DFA makes about how to distribute milk
payments to its member producers are unfair and unethical, especially since the cooperative does not pass
on any price premiums for the highest-value products. While DFA is exempt from antitrust law based on
size, it is not exempt from antitrust rules based on the use of predatory practices against its own member-
ship. An investigation must be opened on the collusion that this corporate cooperative engages in with milk
processors like Dean Foods.
If we truly want to rebuild a regional food system, we must collectively build the political power to
break up dairy monopolies. Rebuilding a local food system requires enabling dairy farmers to make a liv-
ing, while providing consumers with a high-quality product. To do so means we must focus our energies
on revitalizing antitrust protections and creating farm policy that allows farmers to get paid according to
logical rules in a fair marketplace.