The Monopolised Table, the Scorched Earth | Event Announcement

Every day, as we step into a supermarket or fresh-food market, or open a shopping app or food-delivery platform on our phone to buy milk, meat or ready meals, it feels as though the choices are endless.

Yet from the perspective of the global supply chain, the industrial power behind these foods is highly concentrated. The world markets for meat processing, grain trading, seeds, agricultural machinery and fertilisers are all controlled by a handful of multinational giants. For instance, the top four meat processors command 85% of the global market, and the top four grain traders control between 70% and 90%.

This power, exerted through long, even globally spanning supply chains, shapes the price and quality of our food every single day.

The concentration of corporate power not only undermines consumers’ right to choose, access and afford food, but has also “captured” governance systems through immense political, economic and legal leverage, rendering effective regulation nearly impossible. Meanwhile, within this system, smallholder farmers are forced to shoulder ever greater production risks, while profits flow overwhelmingly to a tiny number of multinational giants.

Against the backdrop of climate change, the carbon emissions of food and agribusiness companies have long been understated and overlooked. In fact, the food and agriculture sector is responsible for nearly one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions, with livestock farming a leading source of methane. Research shows that the top five global meat companies emit more methane than energy giants such as Chevron, Shell or BP, and that the combined emissions of the top twenty meat and dairy companies exceed those of high-emitting developed nations like Germany and Canada. Yet many meat and dairy giants lack credible climate action plans and even resort to industry playbook tactics of “distraction, delay and obstruction” to push back against policy progress.

◉ The organisation where this session’s guest speaker works has long been dedicated to exposing and addressing the climate impact of the meat and dairy industry, publishing a series of reports. These can be viewed and downloaded at www.iatp.org.

On these issues, a number of academic and advocacy organisations around the world have conducted in-depth and timely research. This Friday, 11 September, at 7 pm, Foodthink will invite a programme officer from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), a US-based institution that has tracked food and agriculture issues for years, to share cutting-edge international research and perspectives:

• To what extent are agricultural sectors such as meat and dairy dominated by corporate monopolies? How does this harm consumers and farmers?

• What role do meat and dairy giants play in the global climate crisis? What climate-related financial risks do they themselves face?

• What strategies have these giants adopted in the face of increasingly robust global climate disclosure laws? And what is the “methane reporting gap”?

• How should we harness policy change, investor pressure and support for local food systems to rein in the power of these giants and protect farmers in transition?

Readers in Beijing are welcome to sign up for the in-person event. For the registration link, please scan the QR code on the poster, or click “Read Original” at the end of this article.

Readers who are not in Beijing or unable to attend in person are welcome to book a livestream place:

◉ Two reports co-authored by Leila Yow examine in depth how meat and dairy giants exacerbate climate change, seriously underreport and underestimate their carbon emissions, and dodge accountability.

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