Global, multinational corporations, like Monsanto, Syngenta, Cargill and Unilever, pollute, and expand, pollute and swallow up smaller companies in their huge wake. They’re so big, in fact, and there are so few of them, you could easily eat from just 13 multinational food corporations for the rest of your life.

To these big corps, the global economy is king and while they may lay claim to celebrating smaller, local communities, we know better.

We’ve gathered together a handful of ways you can arm yourself with the knowledge of what you’re really buying and stand up to the big guns.

Say no to Tesco towns

Tescopoly is a campaign supported by a diverse alliance including Friends of the Earth, to War on Want and the New Economics Foundation.

They are dedicated to challenging the growing power of supermarkets.

There are numerous ways to support their campaign, including asking the government to include a competition test to support local shops before allowing another supermarket to open.

Tescopoly writes…

“Having travelled to many countries to meet farmers it was very clear that supermarkets treated all farmers equally  – unfortunately that is equally badly and it was the name of Tesco which came up time and time again. If we are to have a future as farmers and sustainable agriculture then we need to control supermarket power.“

Michael Hart, chairman of Small and Family Farms Alliance

Tesco now controls over 30% of the grocery market in the UK. In 2009, the supermarket chain announced profits of over £3bn.

Growing evidence indicates that Tesco’s success is partly based on trading practices that are having serious consequences for suppliers, farmers and workers worldwide, local shops and the environment.

The UK’s biggest supermarkets are grappling for ever greater market share. Small independent stores and suppliers, and ultimately consumers, are paying a direct price in the face of unfair competition. In the five years to 2002, 50 specialist stores including butchers, bakers, fishmongers and newsagents closed every week.

Tesco currently operates in 13 countries and it is very possible it will expand into further countries.

Challenge Monsanto

Monsanto is one of the largest seed, pesticide and biotech company’s in the world. It’s best known for developing Agent Orange, used in the Vietnam War and for the herbicide Round Up, used in crops and gardens throughout the world.

More recently, however, it has become involved in the biotech industry and is responsible for the genetically modified seeds now dominating the corn industry in America, the soya industry in South America and the cotton industry in India.

Farmers in those areas claim to have no choice but to use Monsanto seeds, since the GM seeds dominate over the local market.

Environmentalists see this genetic modification as the first step towards patenting life and accuse this global mega-giant of wanting to own the world’s food supply.

Monsanto, however, maintains they are “life sciences” company who merely want to help feed the world.

Heavy stuff indeed.

Check out the Monsanto documentary on Debate Your Plate TV which takes a look at where the truth lies.

When you’re done take a look at Monsanto’s own website. (Note how found they are of the word “sustainability.”) And check out Debate Your Plate’s Food File on Monsanto.

The European Commission has just approved growing GM potatoes for the first time but a new initiative allows 1 million EU citizens a chance to make official requests of the EU. A “facts not crops” petition to the EU, from the online campaign organisation, Avaaz, asks for research first, before allowing GM food into Europe.

Combat Monsanto is a collection of environmental groups including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. Check out  for background information and ideas on how to stand up to Monsanto.

Keep an eye on the corporates

Many of the really big corporate food companies exist behind the closed doors of the food chain – so you may never have heard of some of them. Here’s a couple of websites where you can find out more about how they work.

Check out Corporate Watch for some background research and the US based Corpwatch for more newsy updates. And it may be a few years old now, but  The Corporation documentary on Debate Your Plate TV is a great backgrounder.

Corporate Watch says…

Growing evidence indicates, however, that the success of these companies is based on trading practices that are having serious consequences for suppliers, farmers, overseas workers, local shops and the environment.

The key issue is the concentration of power into the hands of a few powerful companies who can then dictate the terms and conditions to millions of small farmers and other small suppliers. This imbalance has been created over the last 30 years through food and agriculture policies and global trade agreements which promote trade liberalisation and the globalisation of the food economy.

As farmers and plantation owners are squeezed to produce more and more at ever decreasing margins, its no wonder that farm workers, animals and the environment are exploited. It is also no wonder that we are suffering from a global farming crisis.

Photo: Thanks to Abulic Monkey on Flickr.

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