OPINION: Alaska food security concerns and the Kroger/Albertsons merger

Alaskans live at the end of a very long and vulnerable food supply chain. We have all seen empty shelves in our local grocery stores after a weather event or an earthquake. Although we fill our freezers each fall with local meat, veggies or subsistence foods, we still rely on 95% of our food from Outside.

Rep. Mary Peltola and Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan have all expressed concerns about the grocery store merger and asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to consider the impacts on Alaska, protect resilient supply chains for our food supply and keep prices as low as possible. Their advocacy is essential as Alaskans confront a proposal to merge our two largest grocery chains into one.

I’ve been working on food security for most of my career, and believe it is central to the economic security, health and opportunity for Alaskans. Unfortunately, monopolizing the grocery market would reverse much of the good work so many Alaskans have done to boost local production and strengthen food supplies. While we work locally on food security, we also need our federal delegation and the Federal Trade Commission to fight for us.

Over recent decades, there have been a slew of corporate mergers designed to monopolize markets, drive up prices, and line executives’ pockets at the expense of consumers. The proposed Kroger-Albertsons merger is no different. Fortunately, President Joe Biden appointed a strong consumer advocate, Lina Khan, to lead the Federal Trade Commission, which is charged with reviewing such proposed mergers. In the past, the FTC has rarely weighed in to protect consumers, but today they are finally championing the public interest, so our congressional delegation’s advocacy has the real potential to make a difference in protecting food security for Alaskans.

Thanks again to Peltola, Murkowski and Sullivan for their work to prevent monopolies in our grocery industry. Alaskans need robust competition to keep prices low, maintain resilient supply chains, and build a strong local food system.

Danny Consenstein is the former executive director of the USDA Alaska Farm Service Agency and a founding board member of the Alaska Food Policy Council. He lives with his family in downtown Anchorage.

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