Taylor Farms has quietly become one of the most powerful companies in America’s food supply. The company now produces more than 265 million servings of fresh food every week, much of it sold without the Taylor Farms name attached. Its products reach grocery stores, restaurants, schools, hospitals, hotels, and cafeterias across the country. It produces 40% of the salad kits sold in America and has grown into a $7 billion company with operations spanning multiple countries. That enormous reach means when something goes wrong, the consequences can spread nationwide. The 2026 Cyclospora outbreak put that risk on full display, sickening thousands of Americans and resulting in at least two deaths. But Taylor Farms’ power extends beyond the produce aisle. Farmers face fewer buyers, smaller suppliers struggle to compete, and the company has the resources to spend millions on political contributions and lobbying. Farm Action’s new report investigates how Taylor Farms became this powerful and what its rise reveals about consolidation across our food system. The answer goes far beyond one company or one outbreak. America needs a food system with more competition, stronger oversight, greater transparency, and more opportunities for family farmers to reach consumers: 🧵

Taylor Farms isn’t just supplying the lettuce at your local grocery store. Its reach extends to fast-food restaurants, schools, hospitals, universities, hotels, corporate cafeterias, and independent restaurants across America. Most consumers would never know that these completely different places can share the same supplier. That’s what makes consolidation in our food system so difficult to see until something goes wrong. The Cyclospora outbreak has pulled back the curtain on just how interconnected our food supply has become. A truly resilient food system should have many farmers and suppliers feeding our communities, not countless menus depending on the same few companies.

BREAKING: The Senate Ag Committee just took three landmark votes on pivotal issues for independent farmers. Pesticide immunity. Mandatory Country-of-Origin Labeling for beef. Corporate monopolization. Here’s what happened: First, they took one step toward delivering a huge win for farmers. A bill to restore Mandatory Country-of-Origin Labeling is now officially included in the Farm Bill. MCOOL empowers consumers with information on where their beef comes from, so you can support U.S. ranchers at the grocery store, and it strengthens U.S. cattle producers’ ability to compete with foreign corporations. Second, the Ag Committee delivered a devastating blow to the MAHA agenda. Senator Cory Booker’s amendment to reverse the Supreme Court’s pesticide liability shield unfortunately failed on a party-line vote. Third, Senator Chuck Grassley’s amendment to codify Biden-era Packers and Stockyards Act rules also fell short. And finally, the Ag Committee did not vote on the Save Our Bacon Act, a proposal we have strongly opposed. Why? It would overturn state rules like California’s Prop 12, which banned the sale of pork raised in cruel gestation crates. Prop 12 gives independent farmers a rare market advantage over corporate producers who have not met these requirements. The Farm Bill failed to advance, however, it leaves the ultimate question up in the air: Will the final bill meaningfully address corporate concentration, strengthen competition, and expand market power for independent farmers? @SenBooker

Most Americans assume the beef they buy is labeled with where it came from. It often isn’t. Congress now has the opportunity to restore Mandatory Country-of-Origin Labeling by including the American Beef Labeling Act in the Farm Bill. You would think an organization called the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association would be leading that fight. Instead, NCBA is lobbying against it. That position makes a lot more sense when you realize NCBA’s corporate members include some of the world’s largest meatpackers—companies that benefit when imported beef can be sold without country-of-origin labels. The Farm Bill should give consumers the right to know where their beef comes from and give American ranchers the opportunity to distinguish their beef from imported products.