New Interactive Map and Brief Reveal Root Cause of America’s Grocery Crisis

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For media inquiries, please contact: Reggie Rucker, ILSR Communications Director

Analysis shows how the failure to enforce the Robinson-Patman Act fueled grocery-sector consolidation, leading to food deserts and rising prices.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 28, 2026) — The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) released a comprehensive interactive map and policy brief exposing how a critical federal policy failure triggered widespread consolidation in the grocery industry, leading directly to the proliferation of food deserts and persistently high food prices across the United States.

The brief, How Corporate Consolidation Broke America’s Grocery System, reveals how the lack of Robinson-Patman Act enforcement since the early 1980s unleashed a wave of consolidation and triggered the rapid decline of independent grocers that reshaped the American grocery landscape. Today, the top four grocery retailers capture nearly 60 percent of grocery spending, with Walmart alone accounting for about one-quarter.

ILSR’s interactive map allows users to explore food deserts alongside grocery store locations by congressional district, with stores color-coded by type: independent, small chain, large chain, or megachain. The visualization reveals stark patterns of corporate dominance and underserved communities across urban and rural America alike.

ILSR’s map and issue brief are released in conjunction with the U.S. House of Representatives Monopoly Buster Caucus’s first public hearing on the ways consolidation impacts consumers, workers, small businesses, and local economies. This hearing, hosted by Monopoly Buster Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), will dive into the ways that consolidation in our food system — from farm to table — is making groceries expensive. It will feature farmers, independent grocers, workers, small business owners, and antitrust experts.   

“I’ve said it before that something is wrong in this country when families go to the grocery store and can’t afford milk or eggs or cereal,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Co-Chair of the Monopoly Busters Caucus. “ILSR’s new map paints a stark picture, revealing corporate monopolies have taken over our food system. As people struggle under the weight of an affordability crisis, corporate profits are higher than ever. When we take on corporate power, we can make a meaningful difference in the everyday lives of working people across the country — and we must, the American people are counting on us.”

“This new interactive map makes visible what corporate consolidation has done to our communities,” said Stacy Mitchell, co-author of the report and co-executive director of ILSR. “For decades, we’ve been told that poor neighborhoods and rural towns can’t sustain grocery stores, but that’s simply not true. These same communities had thriving local grocers before the 1980s. What changed wasn’t demand. It was that we allowed Walmart and other giants to rig the market by extracting preferential prices that independent grocers could never access. This is a policy failure. The solution is enforcing the Robinson-Patman Act to restore fair competition.”

“Independent grocers deliver outsized economic benefits to their communities, but they’re trying to compete with one hand tied behind their backs,” said Katy Milani, associate director at ILSR, who co-created the map with Christine Parker and co-authored the report. “With fair supplier pricing, these stores could eliminate food deserts and create real competition that holds prices down for everyone.”

The interactive map and full policy brief are available at ILSR.org.