THE GREEN GIANT DOESN’T LIVE IN CALIFORNIA ANYMORE - Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America - page 57

This is not intended as a criticism of Frey Farms, which is no doubt a well-run, privately held produce
company specializing in the growing, packing, shipping, and marketing of watermelons, pumpkins, canta-
loupes, and ornamentals. Frey Farms' organization is similar to many of the larger produce operators in the
Central Valley of California. But the produce from this centrally managed company, with farms located in
different regions of the country, does not meet most people's definition of local agriculture.
In a short YouTube video titled Growing Business Together, Family Farm Supplies Wal-Mart , the view-
er is told that “Frey Farms has grown along with Walmart and now supplies millions of pumpkins, water-
melons and cantaloupes to Walmart stores across the country.”
One of Frey Farms' owners, Sarah Talley, advised businesses in a Harvard Business School newsletter
article about how to negotiate with Walmart. Among the tips she gave: “Do not let Wal-Mart become more
than 20 percent of your company's business. It's hard to negotiate with a company that controls yours.”
Which gives a pretty good indication of the size of Frey Farms. 11
It is time for the mavens of the sustainable-food movement who have praised Walmart to take another
look at the long-term effects of consolidation. Large, centrally managed, industrial produce operations do
not qualify as local and sustainable agriculture. And more consolidation in the grocery industry from Wal-
mart's pressure to provide “everyday low prices” can only have a chilling effect on local vegetable and
fruit production.
The mounting pressure on the produce industry in California, which is causing the loss of small, mid-
size, and even some larger produce farms, bears witness to this fact. Even in a state with near-perfect con-
ditions for growing fruits and vegetables—subsidized water, good land, and a mild climate—farmers are
struggling to make a living. Only large-scale, well-capitalized packer/shippers with the financial and tech-
nological capacity to meet the growing demands of the grocery industry can survive, much less thrive.
Without significant changes to antitrust law and trade policy, the drive to cut costs and use economies
of scale will trump efforts to grow a substantial percentage of vegetables or fruit at a more local level. It is
high time that a strong antitrust platform be added to the good-food agenda. The longer that monopoliza-
tion is allowed continue and advance, the more difficult it will be to reclaim the food system.