Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich promises a crack-down on corporate monopolies that he says are cheating farmers out of a livelihood. Kucinich, who is a Congressman from Ohio, says if he’s elected president, he’ll propose a new law that breaks up corporations he considers monopolies in order to end consolidation in the ag industry. He singled out A-D-M, Cargill, ConAgra, Smithfield and General Mills, saying those companies conspire to keep commodity prices low. Kucinich also promises to pull the U.S. out of the North American Free Trade Agreement, known as NAFTA, and the World Trade Organization. He also proposes that farmers enter into collective bargaining agreements, or unions, that would allow farmers to negotiate together and get higher prices for their crops and livestock. Kucinich also envisions those unions bargaining with suppliers so farmers could buy seed, gas and fertilizer in bulk at cheaper rates. Kucinich would have the feds step in and regulate large-scale livestock units, and force those businesses to comply with the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. Kucinich visited farms near Thornton and Ames yesterday, protested near a large-scale hog confinement and met with farm activists at a Hy-Vee deli in Webster City.
