Stacy Mitchell
@stacyfmitchell.bsky.social
Working to change public policy, rollback corporate power, rebuild local communities. Co-Executive Director at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Portland, Maine.
Pinned
The Mystery of Food Deserts
They didn’t materialize around the country for no reason. Something happened.
www.theatlantic.com
1. The conventional explanation for food deserts—that these places are too poor or too rural to generate enough spending on groceries, or too Black to overcome racist corporate redlining — fail to grapple with a key fact: food deserts didn’t used to exist. My new piece in The Atlantic.
Reposted by Stacy Mitchell
4. As the Walton family — which owns 50% of Walmart stock — cheers its obscene wealth of over $500 billion, remember that all that loot was stolen from small businesses, workers, and you. You are paying for this monopoly in inflated grocery prices, lower wages, food deserts, and dead main streets.
Beacon Press: Big-Box Swindle
An expert's in-depth exploration of the enormous impact of mega-retailers-and what communities and independent businesses can do A Book Sense Pick and Annual Highlight
www.beacon.org
February 4, 2026 at 1:15 PM
4. As the Walton family — which owns 50% of Walmart stock — cheers its obscene wealth of over $500 billion, remember that all that loot was stolen from small businesses, workers, and you. You are paying for this monopoly in inflated grocery prices, lower wages, food deserts, and dead main streets.
1. A reminder: Walmart's $1 trillion valuation is the product of decades of unchecked anticompetitive behavior. It's no coincidence that Walmart began its insane growth spurt after the 1980s decision to stop enforcing key antitrust laws. More than others, Walmart recognized what this meant.
Walmart’s Monopolization of Local Grocery Markets | Independent Business
In 203 markets, Walmart controls 50% or more of the grocery market. No other corporation has ever amassed this much control over the food system.
ilsr.org
February 4, 2026 at 1:15 PM
1. A reminder: Walmart's $1 trillion valuation is the product of decades of unchecked anticompetitive behavior. It's no coincidence that Walmart began its insane growth spurt after the 1980s decision to stop enforcing key antitrust laws. More than others, Walmart recognized what this meant.
Big news out of California. After years of study, the CA Law Revision Commission recommended a major rewrite of state antitrust law — explicitly instructing judges to break with weak federal standards & restore meaningful limits on monopoly power. The legislature often follows the CLRC's guidance.
California Poised to Introduce Nation's Strongest Antimonopoly Law
With support from ILSR and other allies, California is now one step closer to enacting the strongest antimonopoly law in the country.
ilsr.org
February 3, 2026 at 1:23 PM
Big news out of California. After years of study, the CA Law Revision Commission recommended a major rewrite of state antitrust law — explicitly instructing judges to break with weak federal standards & restore meaningful limits on monopoly power. The legislature often follows the CLRC's guidance.
Localized, community-rooted, small-scale economic power matters. For decades, we've pretended like it doesn't — and even used policy to aggressively eradicate it.
February 2, 2026 at 1:49 PM
Localized, community-rooted, small-scale economic power matters. For decades, we've pretended like it doesn't — and even used policy to aggressively eradicate it.
1. We have a new tool for exploring how corporate concentration has hollowed out grocery access in your region: an interactive map that shows food deserts along with the location of every grocery store in the US by type — independent, small chain, large chain, or megachain like Walmart or Kroger.
Mapping Food Deserts and Grocery Consolidation
To help users explore how corporate concentration has reshaped food access across the United States, ILSR created an interactive map that shows food deserts alongside the location of different types…
ilsr.org
January 29, 2026 at 1:15 PM
1. We have a new tool for exploring how corporate concentration has hollowed out grocery access in your region: an interactive map that shows food deserts along with the location of every grocery store in the US by type — independent, small chain, large chain, or megachain like Walmart or Kroger.
1. Cities and states should outlaw Amazon’s latest assault on small businesses — an AI tool that scrapes their websites and creates listings of their products within the Amazon app without their consent. It’s causing huge, costly problems. This can and should be banned.
January 22, 2026 at 1:23 PM
1. Cities and states should outlaw Amazon’s latest assault on small businesses — an AI tool that scrapes their websites and creates listings of their products within the Amazon app without their consent. It’s causing huge, costly problems. This can and should be banned.
Join us for a great, practical workshop! Learn how to find out whether your city or school district is buying from Amazon — and how to shift that spending to local suppliers instead. You’ll get step-by-step tools and hear inspiring stories from cities that have made the change.
Virtual Event: How to Help Your Local Government Stop Buying from Amazon | Independent Business
ILSR hosts a virtual briefing on Amazon’s growing capture of your local public dollars — and what you can do about it.
ilsr.org
January 20, 2026 at 1:49 PM
Join us for a great, practical workshop! Learn how to find out whether your city or school district is buying from Amazon — and how to shift that spending to local suppliers instead. You’ll get step-by-step tools and hear inspiring stories from cities that have made the change.
Thinking of all my friends and colleagues in Minnesota as thousands gather in Minneapolis. This is a state that has a long and deep history of organizing for justice.
January 8, 2026 at 1:43 PM
Thinking of all my friends and colleagues in Minnesota as thousands gather in Minneapolis. This is a state that has a long and deep history of organizing for justice.
Important study. Essentially it finds a straight line between the pro-corporate concentration policies of Reagan/Clinton/Thatcher/Blair and the decline of democracy. Interestingly, the mechanism is not income inequality but the raw power the biggest corps wield over government.
How Rising Corporate Market Power Undermines Democracy - ProMarket
In new research, Seda Basihos investigates the relationship between a decline in market competition and global democratic backsliding. She finds that market concentration leads to increasing…
www.promarket.org
January 8, 2026 at 1:23 PM
Important study. Essentially it finds a straight line between the pro-corporate concentration policies of Reagan/Clinton/Thatcher/Blair and the decline of democracy. Interestingly, the mechanism is not income inequality but the raw power the biggest corps wield over government.
Reposted by Stacy Mitchell
The question isn’t "why does Signal use AWS?" It’s to look at the infrastructural requirements of any global, real-time, mass comms platform and ask how it is that we got to a place where there’s no realistic alternative to AWS and the other hyperscalers. 3/
October 27, 2025 at 10:38 AM
The question isn’t "why does Signal use AWS?" It’s to look at the infrastructural requirements of any global, real-time, mass comms platform and ask how it is that we got to a place where there’s no realistic alternative to AWS and the other hyperscalers. 3/
In 1952, there were 104 grocery stores in Dubuque (!). Today there are 12. Walmart & Hy-Vee split the market. The Telegraph Herald has an in-depth look at the state of local grocery stores across Iowa & how the demise of Robinson-Patman enforcement fueled consolidation & food deserts.
Independent grocers create oases in local food deserts
Randy Bender walks the aisles of his small-town grocery in Bellevue, Iowa, only to get stopped around every corner by inquiring customers. “Where do you keep the Sunbeam bread?” an
www.telegraphherald.com
January 7, 2026 at 1:36 PM
In 1952, there were 104 grocery stores in Dubuque (!). Today there are 12. Walmart & Hy-Vee split the market. The Telegraph Herald has an in-depth look at the state of local grocery stores across Iowa & how the demise of Robinson-Patman enforcement fueled consolidation & food deserts.
There’s a debate about whether to focus on lowering prices or saving democracy. But both crises flow from the extreme concentration of economic power. The solution is to shift that power back into people’s hands — through strong public institutions, worker rights, and thriving small businesses.
New York’s affordability crisis flows from a deeper problem: essential systems — groceries, energy, Internet, banking, healthcare — have consolidated in the hands of distant corporations. Today, ILSR sent the Mamdani team a memo laying out policies to reclaim local control. ilsr.org/articles/mem...
January 6, 2026 at 1:47 PM
There’s a debate about whether to focus on lowering prices or saving democracy. But both crises flow from the extreme concentration of economic power. The solution is to shift that power back into people’s hands — through strong public institutions, worker rights, and thriving small businesses.
Reposted by Stacy Mitchell
There’s a lot to consider here for all American cities.
1. New York’s affordability crisis flows from a deeper problem: essential systems — groceries, energy, Internet, banking, healthcare — have consolidated in the hands of distant corporations. Today, ILSR sent the Mamdani team a memo laying out policies to reclaim local control.
A Local Self-Reliance Agenda for New York City: ILSR's Memo to Mamdani |
The Mamdani administration has a crucial opportunity to reverse New York City's affordability crisis; this ILSR policy memo suggests strategies to do so.
ilsr.org
December 27, 2025 at 4:44 AM
There’s a lot to consider here for all American cities.
Wishing everyone peace and joy. See you in 2026.
December 20, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Wishing everyone peace and joy. See you in 2026.
New York’s affordability crisis flows from a deeper problem: essential systems — groceries, energy, Internet, banking, healthcare — have consolidated in the hands of distant corporations. Today, ILSR sent the Mamdani team a memo laying out policies to reclaim local control. ilsr.org/articles/mem...
December 18, 2025 at 1:49 PM
New York’s affordability crisis flows from a deeper problem: essential systems — groceries, energy, Internet, banking, healthcare — have consolidated in the hands of distant corporations. Today, ILSR sent the Mamdani team a memo laying out policies to reclaim local control. ilsr.org/articles/mem...
Amazon is hoodwinking public schools to grab their cash. I love this piece from @naomibethune.bsky.social, which shows how cash-strapped districts are sold on the “ease” of buying from Amazon — only to deepen their financial squeeze. Appreciate the deep dive into our new report!
Amazon sold a case of Kleenex to Denver Schools for $36.91, while Pittsburgh Schools paid $57.99. @naomibethune.bsky.social reports on the ways that Amazon gouges prices and cons schools: trib.al/3lIkIbI
Amazon Has Been Conning School Districts out of Millions - The American Prospect
Amazon Business is billed as a convenient one-stop shop for schools. Reality is more expensive.
trib.al
December 18, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Amazon is hoodwinking public schools to grab their cash. I love this piece from @naomibethune.bsky.social, which shows how cash-strapped districts are sold on the “ease” of buying from Amazon — only to deepen their financial squeeze. Appreciate the deep dive into our new report!
Reposted by Stacy Mitchell
Thinking about which good-gov't orgs to support financially is a little overwhelming rn. Environmental, human rights, arts, democracy itself are all under siege.
But the corporate takeover of our economy seems like the hub to this wheel, which is why the work of @ilsr.bsky.social is so vital.
But the corporate takeover of our economy seems like the hub to this wheel, which is why the work of @ilsr.bsky.social is so vital.
1. For at least 10 years, Pepsi has conspired with Walmart to force up grocery prices. That’s the shocking evidence made public today in an unsealed FTC lawsuit. The suit was abandoned in May by the Trump FTC just before it was to be un-redacted. We went to court to get it unsealed & won.
December 17, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Thinking about which good-gov't orgs to support financially is a little overwhelming rn. Environmental, human rights, arts, democracy itself are all under siege.
But the corporate takeover of our economy seems like the hub to this wheel, which is why the work of @ilsr.bsky.social is so vital.
But the corporate takeover of our economy seems like the hub to this wheel, which is why the work of @ilsr.bsky.social is so vital.
1. New York’s affordability crisis flows from a deeper problem: essential systems — groceries, energy, Internet, banking, healthcare — have consolidated in the hands of distant corporations. Today, ILSR sent the Mamdani team a memo laying out policies to reclaim local control.
A Local Self-Reliance Agenda for New York City: ILSR's Memo to Mamdani |
The Mamdani administration has a crucial opportunity to reverse New York City's affordability crisis; this ILSR policy memo suggests strategies to do so.
ilsr.org
December 17, 2025 at 1:23 PM
1. New York’s affordability crisis flows from a deeper problem: essential systems — groceries, energy, Internet, banking, healthcare — have consolidated in the hands of distant corporations. Today, ILSR sent the Mamdani team a memo laying out policies to reclaim local control.
Here's a great, quick explainer on how Pepsi schemed with Walmart to raise grocery prices, from @ronmknox.bsky.social and @dannycaine.com
www.tiktok.com/@ilsr_org/vi...
www.tiktok.com/@ilsr_org/vi...
The newly unredacted details of the FTC’s complaint against PepsiCo show how the company systematically violated the law, giving Walmart preferential treatment at the expense of independent grocers an...
TikTok video by Building Local Power
www.tiktok.com
December 15, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Here's a great, quick explainer on how Pepsi schemed with Walmart to raise grocery prices, from @ronmknox.bsky.social and @dannycaine.com
www.tiktok.com/@ilsr_org/vi...
www.tiktok.com/@ilsr_org/vi...
You can find the full investigation — plus our guide to how to tell if your local government is being hoodwinked by Amazon, and what to do about it — here:
December 15, 2025 at 1:20 PM
You can find the full investigation — plus our guide to how to tell if your local government is being hoodwinked by Amazon, and what to do about it — here:
Reposted by Stacy Mitchell
Everybody needs to see this blatant price collusion, and how there’s been no accountability for it. I hope the other retailers bring suit.
1. For at least 10 years, Pepsi has conspired with Walmart to force up grocery prices. That’s the shocking evidence made public today in an unsealed FTC lawsuit. The suit was abandoned in May by the Trump FTC just before it was to be un-redacted. We went to court to get it unsealed & won.
December 14, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Everybody needs to see this blatant price collusion, and how there’s been no accountability for it. I hope the other retailers bring suit.
Reposted by Stacy Mitchell
Back in the late 90s I lived with a guy who worked for Nestle and he told me that WalMart routinely got huge deals by just... not paying invoices on time, and unlike their competitors Nestle wouldn't charge them late fees because they were the 900lb gorilla.
1. For at least 10 years, Pepsi has conspired with Walmart to force up grocery prices. That’s the shocking evidence made public today in an unsealed FTC lawsuit. The suit was abandoned in May by the Trump FTC just before it was to be un-redacted. We went to court to get it unsealed & won.
December 14, 2025 at 3:17 AM
Back in the late 90s I lived with a guy who worked for Nestle and he told me that WalMart routinely got huge deals by just... not paying invoices on time, and unlike their competitors Nestle wouldn't charge them late fees because they were the 900lb gorilla.
Reposted by Stacy Mitchell
Trump's FTC leaders bad-mouthed Lina Khan when they dropped this lawsuit, claiming that they were cleaning up her mess. Now that it's been unsealed, we can see that was a total lie. This was a coverup to protect Pepsi and Walmart.
1. For at least 10 years, Pepsi has conspired with Walmart to force up grocery prices. That’s the shocking evidence made public today in an unsealed FTC lawsuit. The suit was abandoned in May by the Trump FTC just before it was to be un-redacted. We went to court to get it unsealed & won.
December 12, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Trump's FTC leaders bad-mouthed Lina Khan when they dropped this lawsuit, claiming that they were cleaning up her mess. Now that it's been unsealed, we can see that was a total lie. This was a coverup to protect Pepsi and Walmart.
Reposted by Stacy Mitchell
Thread. "Inflation" is not a natural economic phenomenon, it's the product of choices--choices made for and not by consumers, choices made in back rooms and hidden meetings.
1. For at least 10 years, Pepsi has conspired with Walmart to force up grocery prices. That’s the shocking evidence made public today in an unsealed FTC lawsuit. The suit was abandoned in May by the Trump FTC just before it was to be un-redacted. We went to court to get it unsealed & won.
December 12, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Thread. "Inflation" is not a natural economic phenomenon, it's the product of choices--choices made for and not by consumers, choices made in back rooms and hidden meetings.
1. For at least 10 years, Pepsi has conspired with Walmart to force up grocery prices. That’s the shocking evidence made public today in an unsealed FTC lawsuit. The suit was abandoned in May by the Trump FTC just before it was to be un-redacted. We went to court to get it unsealed & won.
December 12, 2025 at 5:30 PM
1. For at least 10 years, Pepsi has conspired with Walmart to force up grocery prices. That’s the shocking evidence made public today in an unsealed FTC lawsuit. The suit was abandoned in May by the Trump FTC just before it was to be un-redacted. We went to court to get it unsealed & won.