Industry Consolidation: an Ominous Trend?

"The world food shortage is the 'buzz' these days in the media. However, we should be equally concerned about the shortage of companies that produce food in the first place."

So begins an opinion piece by Leanne McConnachie in The Vancouver Sun.

"Through a series of mergers and acquisitions over the years," she writes, "all of the world's turkey breeding and egg-laying stock, and most of the world's meat chicken stock, now originate from two major corporations - The EW Group (Germany) and Hendrix Genetics (Netherlands)."

Ms McConnachie alleges that the poultry industry represents "an even more sinister scenario - the propensity for disease proliferation."

There is one bright spot in the article for the industry. Ms McConnachie, a vegetarian, recommends eating less meat, dairy and eggs to "allow more farmers to return to the organic methods of 50 years ago."

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