The baby formula crisis: crony capitalism. >The formula shortage stemmed from a product recall by an Abbott Nutrition facility in Michigan, where unsanitary conditions and contaminated products led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to temporarily shut down the facility. Abbott re-opened the facility in early June, under strict FDA oversight, but was forced to close the plant again on June 15 due to torrential rain and flooding in the area.5 The Abbott closure was the catalyst to a crisis that has been years in the making: Policies and legislation that have permitted market consolidation of formula production by just a few companies, ongoing supply chain issues due to the pandemic, and corporate profiteering made this national shortage possible.6 >The Biden administration and Congress are taking steps to address the current crisis and ensure that infant and specialty formula are fully stocked on grocery store shelves.9 However, once the immediate crisis abates, many of the challenges that created it in the first place will remain—including market consolidation, supply chain issues, and a lack of policies that prioritize the needs of infants, working parents, and people with disabilities or other illnesses. What has been made abundantly clear during the national formula shortage is that there is a dearth of long-term solutions to create a more equitable, sustainable food system so that everyone across the nation has access to safe nutritious foods in their community. We went from multiple manufacturers to a limited number of manufacturers. So if even one major one got shut down, we were f*cked. And that's exactly what happened. When critics of capitalism come along and use these as examples of why capitalism failed, let them know it was not capitalism that failed, but meddlesome authoritarian idiots who keep interfering with the market.