The Global Supply Chain - Civic Agriculture: Reconnecting Farm, Food, and Community - page 36

Sam's Club 498 18,396

Costco Wholesale Group 363 17,690

Delhaize America 1,466 15,200

Publix Super Markets 675 14,742

Winn-Dixie Stores 1,150 12,903

Source: Food Marketing Institute: http://www.fmi.org/facts_figs/faq/top_retailers.htm
* Wal-Mart Supercenters sales are for groceries only.

Corporate Reach: The Men and Women behind the Food System

The large agribusiness firms are run by seemingly faceless boards of directors. A recent study
of the food-processing industry showed that only 138 men and women sit on the boards of
directors of the ten firms that account for over half of all the food sold in America. 11
The boards of directors of most large U.S. corporations are composed of individuals who
share a great deal in common. Two well-known sociologists, C. Wright Mills and Willi-
am Domhoff have examined the characteristics and behaviors of America's economic elite. 12
They found that individuals who are recruited to sit on the boards of large American corpor-
ations come from similar social and economic backgrounds and belong to the same social
circles. They interact with one another through memberships in the same clubs, churches,
and organizations.
A board of directors is the ultimate source of power and control in a corporation. Corporate
directors are responsible only to stockholders. It is the directors' job to protect the stock-
holders' interests and to monitor corporate management's policies. According to the British
sociologist Stephen Hill, not only does the board of directors monitor the state of the com-
pany, its members also engage in strategic planning. More particularly, the job of directors is
“to appoint appropriate managers to the various businesses and to ensure there is appropriate
succession planning … and … to make specific decisions in relation to matters of particular
importance such as capital expenditures above certain limits, acquisitions, disinvestment de-
cisions, capital increases.” 13
It is boards of directors that make decisions to “expand, close, or move factories and of-
fices.” 14 For example, Grand Metropolitan's decision to sell off or close all its Green Giant
processing plants in the early 1990s and disrupt the lives of thousands of workers, their fam-
ilies, and their communities was made by a handful of men and women, most of whom were
not residents of the United States. More recently, the multinational chicken and pork produ-
cer Tyson Foods announced that it would close its pork-processing plant in North Carolina
and lay off five hundred workers in an effort to increase profitability, while Frito-Lay, a sub-
sidiary of Pepsico, announced plans to close plants in North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi,