Industrial Food Complex

Upon my re-arrival into the US, after two years of living and working in Senegal, West Africa, people have often asked me, “Is it weird being back?” Initially I’m not really sure how to answer that but after some time and a lot of thought I’ve come up with the weirdest/most distressing thing about being back; what we eat and the manner in which it happens.

Almost all the food I see publicly displayed (fast food burgers, grocery store snacks, gas station tuna sandwiches, etc.) are missing an element of disclosure. As if the food appeared on the shelf with no effort or biological process, we are able to buy most of it for little money and consume it with little conscience. Don’t misunderstand my observation, I’m hugely grateful for how we are able to eat in the US, but we’ve gotten out of control.

This is evidenced by rampant obesity (food unconsciousness), environmental fall-outs near industrial animal feed lots, and food corporations’ misconduct.

Here are some of the striking statistics and why they’re important.

World Meat Supply:

1961 - 71m tons

2007 - 284m tons

Per capita consumption has doubled globally while in developing worlds it’s double THAT. So…as a nation develops, it eats more meat. Anyone could have guessed this. The problem is we are eating what we want, not what we need. 75 of our 110 daily grams of protein come from animals while the Fed’s recommended daily intake is just 30 total (all of which can come from plants). (Source)

All this while simultaneously producing far beyond what is healthy for the earth’s environment and ours. We consume 5% of that ‘world total’ yet produce 15% of it.

As a result three quarters of all water-quality issues in our rivers and streams are caused by meat production (growing grain, processing meat, manure, etc.) Additionally its causing more greenhouse gases than transportation which is among the largest concerns of the world climate negotiations. (Source) When talking about its “carbon footprint” a quarter pound of beef, which statistically is eaten in a cheeseburger 3 times a week by the average American, produces 6.5 pounds of carbon emissions. (Source)

Of course we don’t pay for that at the cash register, its solely at cost to our environment.

To touch on food corporations’ misconduct one doesn’t need to look further than agricultural lobbying. Corn and soy are now the most abundantly subsidized and grown crops in America. A huge pull for this demand is to feed beef and manufacture those impersonal foods I touched on earlier. ‘Nuff said.

Im not asking for people to stop eating meat or even reduce their consumption. That would be an attempt to treat a symptom within a much larger disease. Im calling on consumers to consume everything with a conscious. In a capitalistic economic system, industries will almost only respond to a consumer initiative. And since we have an unhealthy obsession with cheeseburgers we have unsettling meat production.

In this sense, the demand for intentional supply chains and overall sustainable practices will have to come from us. As the most developed nation we need to lead a charge and usher in a new era of business practice where each enterprise is doing not only what’s best for their shareholders but realizing their role as a shareholder of earth.

If you’re wondering what this looks like, there are actually some pretty good examples out there.

Patagonia for example has links below every one of their products to show customers where it was produced. This is an endeavor to hold themselves responsible for the well-being of the environments and people who produce their goods. Patagonia is part of a larger entity that seeks to run their businesses in a conscious way. They’re called B Corporations and the basic tenant is to be “Purpose-driven and to create benefits for all stakeholders, not just shareholders.” Find more here.

Among local (New England) companies incorporated as B-Corps are Cabot, Stonyfield, Preserve, and Ben & Jerry’s.

The very best we can do as consumers is to shop at these places, learn their missions, and share their values.

I’m calling for more disclosure, I’m calling for more consciousness, and I’m calling for us to start caring beyond out guts and wallets.