ConAgra
Thieving Crows in the Corn Fields
Sightings from The Catbird Seat
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- From the Progressive Populist, by A.V. Krebs:
CONAGRA: An Unhealthy Choice
For Farmers, Workers, Consumers
and Environment?
ConAgra Inc., is the nation's second largest food manufacturer. It is the only major food company that operates across the food chain -- providing feed, fertilizers and chemicals to farmers and ranchers, trading meat and grain, and producing packaged foods for consumers.
Corporate agribusiness today, from seedling to supermarket, is dominated by such transnational corporate giants as Unilever, Nestle, Philip Morris, RJR Nabisco, Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland.
In attempting to demonstrate the nearly complete control that corporations have now acquired over our everyday lives, theAlliance for Democracy, a fledgling two-year old national populist movement, believes that food and the process by which we obtain our food is the appropriate place to begin an effort to achieve both corporate responsibility and corporate accountability.
The Alliance for Democracy (AfD), in its effort in seeking to end large corporation's domination of our economy, our government, and our culture, seeing the corporation's role as illegitimate in a self-governing democracy, believes that the time is now to publicly dramatize the need for corporate responsibility and accountability.
In ConAgra the Alliance sees a corporation that clearly reflects not only the prototype of a modern transnational corporation, but also one which graphically illustrates the unhealthy prices that family farmers, workers, consumers, the environment and our communities are being required to pay to support such corporate behemoths. It believes the record shows that by many of its recent actions ConAgra can be considered antithetical to the common good.
The AfD points to some recent examples:
ConAgra Inc. earlier this year agreed to pay $8.3 million in penalties, including a criminal fine of approximately $4.4 million, to settle federal fraud charges pleading guilty to a felony charge of wire fraud. In addition, ConAgra agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor charges of misgrading crops and adding water to grain.
ConAgra officials have maintained that the company's sophisticated watering systems were used to suppress the grain dust that can fuel elevator explosions. But the water also increases the weight of the grain, and thus its market value, because grain is sold by weight. The government investigation focused on whether Peavey Grain elevators around Terre Haute, Ind., and elsewhere padded profits by excessively dousing crops -- which the government considers "economic adulteration."
The Justice department said ConAgra reaped $3.5 million in criminal profits.
U.S. attorney Judith A. Stewart also announced that the company agreed to plead guilty to charges that it systematically cheated farmers who sold crops to a dozen of ConAgra's Peavey grain elevators in Indiana from 1989 to 1992.
Among other things, ConAgra employees doctored samples of grain being offered by farmers to make the crops appear to be of lower quality, and thus less valuable, according to documents in federal court in Indianapolis.
In September, 1992 some 100 undocumented workers were arrested in a raid on a Monfort meatpacking plant in Grand Island, Nebraska and were deported. In all, 307 illegal immigrants, most from Mexico, were arrested.
(For more recent Mexican smuggling, see Tyson Foods. )
Subsequently, the company, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of ConAgra, was fined $103,000 by a federal judge after pleading guilty to 25 counts of knowingly hiring undocumented workers and one count of engaging in a pattern and practice of employing aliens at its Monfort facility.
In the summer of 1995, ConAgra abruptly canceled poultry producing contracts with over 178 independent contract growers in the southern United States. In offering new and what one producer described as "abusive" contracts, ConAgra demanded binding arbitration be included.
A typical poultry contract is a unilateral contract, often referred to as a contract of adhesion. An adhesion contract is simply a "take it or leave it" contract. Frequently a farmer who has borrowed one-third to a half million dollars in order to secure a business contract with a processor like ConAgra has no option other than to sign, even if it means giving up his or her constitutional right to access their state and federal courts should anything go amiss in terms of fraud or dispute.
Some 53 families, at the risk of losing their farms and their homes, refused to accept such terms, saying it was clearly a violation of their freedom of speech. ConAgra's cancellation of contracts, many of the producers believed, came in retaliation for an earlier court suit brought on behalf of some 300 poultry growers in the region where a federal court jury awarded the producers some $17 million after they presented evidence of being cheated by ConAgra on the weight of their birds.
In 1991 the Exxon Corp. made a secret deal with seven Alaska seafood processors whereby the seafood processors settled claims with Exxon for about $70 million, but then promised to return to Exxon any money they received from awards of punitive damages. After the jury awarded $5 billion in such damages against Exxon, the nation's largest oil company, the seven processors put in claims totaling $745 million, or 15 percent of the $5 billion.
The seafood processors, however, had previously and privately agreed to "kick back" the $745 million to Exxon if their claims were upheld, and in turn receive from Exxon $12.4 million.
One of those seafood processors was Trident Seafood Corp., at the time a wholly owned subsidiary of the ConAgra Corp. Presiding Federal Court Judge H. Russel Holland of the U.S. District Court which tried the case, in a June 13, 1996, decision, described the arrangement as an "astonishing ruse," saying Exxon had deceived the jury and acted as "Jekyll and Hyde" by"behaving laudably in public and deplorably in private."
A federal court ruled that Golden Valley Microwave Food, a ConAgra subsidiary, obtained patents through "deception," concealing information from the government, filing fake affidavits, misrepresenting test results and unlawfully claiming another company's invention as its own.
Golden Valley Microwave Foods was also one of several companies that agreed to pay $6.8 million to settle a price fixing lawsuit after a federal court ruled in 1991 that "sufficient evidence exists that Golden Valley engaged directly or acquiesced in a pricing conspiracy."
In April 1996 Monfort abruptly closed its Des Moines, Iowa, plant giving some 1322 workers just one day's notice of termination. In announcing that ConAgra was cutting 6500 jobs planning to alter or shutting down 29 plants.
Philip Fletcher, ConAgra CEO and chairman declared: "For our shareholders and employees, this is the right step to make ConAgra more competitive, more secure, more profitable."
After ConAgra agreed in 1983 to buy Armour Foods Co. from Greyhound, it said it would retain Armour's 2,250 union workers only if they agreed to concessions. The workers refused an hourly pay cut to $8 from $10.69, so Greyhound dismissed them and shut down the plants shortly before ConAgra assumed possession. When ConAgra reopened the plants, including one in Mason City, Iowa, a few days later, they announced they had hired new workers at "competitive compensation" -- an average base wage of $6 an hour.
Later, ConAgra officials, after being accused of discriminatory hiring practices, but without admitting any wrongdoing, agreed to a $6.6 million settlement. In addition to back pay plus interest, the settlement called for job offers, retroactive seniority and preferential hiring rights for the union workers.
ConAgra, Latin for "in partnership with the land," is the second largest food manufacturing company (behind Philip Morris) in the U.S. with 1996 sales of $24.82 billion and with earnings of $545.2 million, as compared with the previous year's earnings of $495.6 million. It is estimated that six cents of every dollar Americans spend for food goes to ConAgra.
In 1996 ConAgra's return on common equity (profitability) was 24.3 percent. It's 1992-96 yearly average was 23.4 percent. Had a person invested $30,000 in ConAgra stock in 1974 and sold it in May 1992 it would have been worth $5 million....
ConAgra's principal business in terms of growth has been its prepared foods segment (including its over $1 billion flagship brand) "Healthy Choice", which has accounted for more than three-quarters of its total sales. The corporation typically has 80-100 "acquisition candidates" in screening at all times. ConAgra has described itself as "a mutual fund of the food chain" with "about 70" operating units "across the food chain."...
Currently ConAgra's board of directors, which reads like a who's who of American business, is comprised of members who also serve as board members of the following corporations:
RJR Nabisco, Valmont Industries, Norwest Corp., Peter Kiewit Sons, E.I. Dupont de Neimours & Co., Wells Fargo Bank (ConAgra's second largest stockholder), Columbia\HCA Healthcare Corp., Ford Motor Co., Pacific Gas & Electric Co., Newhall Management Corp., SunAmerica Inc., The Economist Newspaper Group, W.H. Smith PLC, Public Radio International, The Atlantic Council, KRA Inc., Opus Corp., North Star Ventures, MFS Communications, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Burlington Resources Inc., California Energy Corp. FirstTier Financial Inc., Sears Roebuck & Co., Wales Group Int., American Software Inc., Apple South Inc., Bell South Inc., Georgia Power Co., National Life Insurance Co., Global Connections, Inc., Asian Fine Arts, Fidelity Group Mutual Funds, McKesson Corp., Cornerstone Properties and C-Tec Corp.
Clayton C. Yeutter, past president and CEO of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, domestic affairs advisor to President George Bush and U.S. trade representative, was named to ConAgra's board of directors in December 1992. He also serves on the boards of Texas Instruments, FMC Corp., Oppenheimer Funds, B.A.T. Industries, and Farmers Insurance Co.
As the University of Missouri rural sociologist Bill Heffernan points out, "We no longer have a competitive agriculture sector in the U.S. The food system resembles an hourglass with many producers and millions of consumers, but the few firms that control the processing are in a position to control the food industry."
"There is a general assumption," Heffernan said, "that when four firms control 40 percent or more of the market, the market no longer behaves as a competitive market. The conclusion to be drawn is that for poultry meat, cattle, pork, sheep, wheat, soybeans and corn processing, United States farmers no longer sell in a competitive market."
Also, says Heffernan, "a few firms -- names like ConAgra, Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge and IBP -- now appear on the list of several commodities." And "a few of these firms control the food system from 'seed to shelf.' "
He cited ConAgra which operates elevators and owns railroad cars and barges. It's one of the four top firms in processing of poultry, beef, pork, sheep and wheat.
"With this type of an integrated food system, one can ask: Where do farmers fit into the overall production process, and how do the farm family and the rural community benefit?" Heffernan asks. He believes control by a relative few companies allows them to "receive a disproportionate share of the economic benefits from the food system."
Since early August, the Alliance for Democracy has been engaged in its fall harvest Food Action Campaign throughout the nation, making ConAgra Inc. the campaign's focal point. The campaign consists of two stages, while also seeking the ideas and participation of local and national farm, worker, environmental and consumer groups.
The AfD prepared "The People's Report" on ConAgra, which includes an 18-page "Corporate Profile" and an eight-page "Bill of Particulars." These reports are being circulated to the AfD's approximately 50 local alliances across the US. They can be obtained by sending a 10 x 13 stamped ($1.47) self-addressed envelope to AfD's Food Action Campaign, P.O. Box 2201, Everett, Wash. 98203-0201. . .
A. V. Krebs is director the Corporate Agribusiness Research Project. Contact him at P.O. Box 2201, Everett, Washington 98203-0201; phone 206-258-5345; or e-mail: avkrebs@earthlink.
For more, GO TO > > > www.purefood.org
ConAgra is Ruining
Our Favorite Foods
The ConAgra con job is counterproductive.
Opinion page by Duane Alan Hahn
Every product my family used to like that is owned by ConAgra tastes terrible now. It has become obvious to anyone with a sufficient number of taste buds that ConAgra has been lowering the quality of their foods in recent years.
We started to notice a major change in the first few years of the new millennium. It's as if ConAgra is trying to ruin every food they can get their hands on. From now on, before we buy anything, we make sure that the ConAgra name isn't on it.
ConAgra no longer has the brands we trust. We used to trust many of the brands they own, but we can't anymore.
I don't have any brand loyalty. If a product no longer tastes good, I will not keep buying it, no matter how good their commercials are or how long my family has trusted that brand.
Here is a list of food that we used to eat regularly or occasionally that we cannot eat anymore because ConAgra has ruined the flavor:
ACT II Microwave Popcorn
Microwave popcorn hasn't tasted good since companies stopped using the old oil they used to, but this is ridiculous. Act II was never the greatest popcorn in the world, but we ended up eating it sometimes because it was cheap. ConAgra has managed to take something that wasn't that good to begin with and make it even worse.
Banquet Crispy Chicken (Original)
I used to eat Banquet chicken once in a while, but ConAgra is now putting so much MSG in it that I can't eat it anymore without feeling like I'm going to die. Whether it's original or skinless, it's just ruined. Not only is there too much MSG in it, but it also looks worse than it ever did. The pieces don't look like they're in the condition they used to be in.
Crunch 'n Munch
Another ruined product. Not long ago, it was one of the best of its kind out there. Now it's one of the worst.
DAVID Sunflower Seeds
I didn't think ConAgra could ruin these since it's just roasted seeds and salt, but they did. DAVID Sunflower Seeds were the best, with a great, unique salty flavor, but now, since at least late 2003, even the salt that they use tastes different. I don't know if they changed the salt or changed how the seeds are roasted or if they're using inferior seeds or all of the above, but I'll never buy them again.
Hostess Canned Ham
It never was the greatest ham in the world, but it at least tasted like ham before and had the consistency of real ham. Now it tastes like (and feels squishy like) Spam or Treet and just has a few visible pieces of real ham thrown in.
Hunt's Ketchup
This was my family's favorite ketchup for years, but some time in 2003, ConAgra changed the flavor. One more product we will never buy again. I wonder if other Hunt's products have also been ruined? I guess we'll never know since we won't buy any more Hunt's products.
Slim Jim (mild)
I think it's funny that I avoided Slim Jims for years and just when I tried the sticks and thought they were pretty good, a few months later, it seemed like ConAgra added more fat and orange goo to them so they just taste nasty now.
I could list more products that ConAgra has ruined, but that should be enough for now. I'm sick of the con job that ConAgra seems to be pulling on all of us.
ConAgra is an appropriate name. This company needs to be stopped before they ruin more of our favorite foods. ConAgra reminds me of a swarm of locusts or a hard to cure flesh-eating virus. Maybe if we all stop buying their products, they'll be forced to restore the quality of our favorite products. Until that day comes, do your best to avoid ConAgra products whenever possible if you are sick and tired of huge companies destroying the quality of our favorite foods.
If you are one of the people who can't taste the difference between a turd and a tomato (a non-taster), you may not understand this page and will wonder what the big deal is. Well, for medium-tasters and super-tasters, it is a big deal. It seems ConAgra has decided that many people are non-tasters, so why should they keep the quality high when they can add more fat or throw in more MSG in place of real ingredients or do some other equally horrible thing. I guess ConAgra figures the unwashed masses won't know the difference, so why not save money and make more profit. Our favorite brands are quickly losing their long-standing reputations. Our favorite foods are being ruined, one after the other. That is not good for any of us, including non-tasters.
Related E-mail
(April 28, 2004)
I just read the page regarding the ruination of many major food brands since they have been acquired by ConAgra.
As a regional distributor of Hebrew National deli products in the NYC metro area, I can attest to the fact that ConAgra's micromanaging of the entire production and distribution of the Hebrew National line has been an outright disaster.
Their arrogance and ignorance of a market that has successfully existed for nearly a century has kosher retailers in the region up in arms. It is nearly enough to label their actions anti-Semitic, beginning with their failure to recognize that their distribution system in the area does not consist of shipping everything to Super Walmarts.
The lifeblood of supply to the region to the hundreds of small delis, butcher shops, bagel shops and independent grocers comes from several small distributors who deliver fresh food daily to these customers.
ConAgra has steadily cut back on the days product is shipped, credit lines cut from 21 to 7 days, requires orders to be placed up to a week in advance (this is FOOD we're talking about here!) and doesn't care about keeping delivery appointments as much as they care about being paid for products that haven't been received yet.
For example, several suppliers were kept waiting recently for a daily supply shipment due in at 2AM local time. The trailer didn't arrive until 12:30PM that afternoon. While this may seem like only a minor inconvenience, the fact that it occurred on the first day of Passover and arrived too late for any of our waiting customers to receive it before closing for 8 days seems to not have registered with the rubes in Omaha as a faux pas.
This complete lack of understanding the marketplace and how it operates is typical of their apparent mantra: "if it ain’t broke, we'll fix it so it is." I am waiting to see if they can branch out into India so they can offer the Hindi their expertise on beef products.
Furthermore, when attempting to find out who in creation is responsible for the continued moronic decisions being made at the corporate level, customers are being told it is "out of our control." So apparently this is the world's only self-running enterprise, with no human input whatsoever.
One of my clients compares ConAgra to his first science lesson. He recalls being told the Brontosaurus was the largest creature on Earth, and had a brain the size of a walnut. That may be an exaggeration in ConAgra's case.
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NOW...DO YOU KNOW WHAT'S IN YOUR BIRDSEED???
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Archer-Daniels-Midlands: Rats in the Grain
Birds in the Halls: The University of Hawaii
Confessions of a Whistleblower
Dirty Money, Dirty Politics & Bishop Estate
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs
The Consuelo Zobel Alger Foundation
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Last Update July 30, 2007, by The Catbird