The Food Industry and the Food Commission Report

Abstract

T HERE is no monolithic food industry which is capable of formulating a composite appraisal of the work of the National Commission on Food Marketing. The food industry is retail, wholesale, cooperative, brokers, manufacturers, producers, and I obviously don't speak for all the industry. My comments come from my perspective as an employee of one of the large food retailers and as a lawyer somewhat familiar with antitrust and trade regulation law and policies. Let me say at the outset that there is disappointment with the majority report of the National Commission on Food Marketing. We are favorably impressed by the two very strong minority reports of six Commission members. We have reason to believe that the technical papers are generally well done. The Commission staff worked hard. Progress in understanding the industry has been made. But, as the minority report says,