Big agribusiness has taken over our dinner table.

The aisles of most American grocery stores give an overwhelming illusion of choice when it comes to our food. A closer look, however, quickly reveals that most of the meat, grain, milk — and even the grocery stores themselves — are all owned and controlled by just a few corporations. Just four companies control 84% of the nation’s beef and 70% of our pork. Just one company controls 40% of our milk supply, and another holds patents on 80% of corn seed.

Today, this handful of giant corporations have grown so powerful that they not only dictate how our food is grown, but what farmers are paid and how much consumers are charged as well.

It’s time to change the equation.

This year, the Department of Justice and the Department of Agriculture are conducting an unprecedented investigation into how big business controls food and farming. They are holding listening sessions across the country to hear how corporate agribusiness’s manipulation of our food system is affecting Americans from seed to supermarket. This could be an opportunity for the government to finally enforce existing laws against corporate concentration and restore fairness to the marketplace.

But this is a particularly critical moment for all of us — farmers, consumers, workers, advocates, and eaters — to stay informed and take action. You can be sure that agribusiness will put up a fight to maintain the status quo, and so we all must be prepared to make our voices heard in favor of a fair and democratic food system!

The next hearing will be in Normal, Alabama on May 21st 2010, and will focus on the poultry industry, followed by a hearing on the notoriously concentrated dairy industry in Madison, Wisconsin on June 7th . For a full schedule and to find out how to you can help bust the trust go to What Can You Do.