Can Local/Sustainable Food Systems Feed the World Equitably?

Take it to Go:

- The American diet is unsuited for a local/sustainable food system

- As it stands, the local/sustainable food system cannot feed the world equitably

- Solution: A system that focuses on accessibility and distribution at low-cost

Introduction: The Global Food System:

Food. It’s something that is eaten to sustain growth, provide sustenance, used to celebrate, indicate well-being, is a life good, and overall is something that we cannot live without. While it is something that is so integral to everyone’s wellbeing, the current global food system allows 800 million people to go hungry, with an increasing number of people growing obese. This system is engrained in systemic racism and capitalist values that denies social justice, overlooks food insecurity, degrades the planet, and presents social challenges that destroy local economies. Thus, it is critical that one explicates the relationship between the food system and the issues surrounding it, and one should work to change the current food system that is more equitable for all.

Background on the Topic: Rise of Food Systems and the National Food System

The global food system has been changing since the dawn of civilization. Through the rise of city states, empires, and the middle ages, there was an increased focus on delivering foods to large populations through an emerging global food system that focused on trade. One of the major drivers in developing our current food system, is science and technology through the Industrial Age which brought a shift from manual labor to machinery. This drastically increased efficiency, where machines could complete previously repetitive and time-consuming jobs. It focused on transforming the farm into a factory, that used a set of inputs (seed, feed, fertilizer, irrigation) which led to sowing seeds, harvesting crops and produce, milking cows, and feeding animals, and creating a set of outputs, good and bad (produce and waste). Just within the 20th century, the amount of the US workforce that was involved in agriculture dropped from 41% to 2%. This shift demonstrates that even since the 20th century, there have been many changes that have slowly shaped the current food system into a large scale, corporate system, focusing on greater use machine labor that significantly increases efficiency and productivity to produce the greatest yield possible at the lowest cost.

Next, the Green Revolution post WW2, in the 1960s and 1970s, brought about applications of fertilizers, pesticides, and improved irrigation that led to thriving, high-yields of product. Furthermore, the 20th century saw a transition from supply-driven economies to demand-driven economies. At first, it was about making sure there was adequate domestic supplies to feed everyone, but it changed to prioritizing food self-sufficiency, and if there was excess in food production, it was exported which further boosted economies.2 The changes presented throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly during the Industrial and Green Revolution, have helped in shaping the current food system into a Globalized Corporate Food System.

Part of this system is useful in that it creates an efficient way to produce food. Because of the globalized food system, food prices are low and people all over the world have access to all kinds of food that would otherwise not be available. For example, individuals who live in northern countries are able to buy tropical fruits such as pineapples, oranges, and mangoes because of the expansive system in place. Moreover, this system emphasizes producing high yield at low cost, which allows for large scale plant and meat production (through animal domestication). However, while there is the great produce yield that the global food system provides, which is sufficient to provide everyone with adequate amount of food, there are distribution and access failures that cause inequity in the food system.

There are several reasons for the failures in distribution and access to healthy food, and several of these factors are intertwined with one another: racism, food access, and diet-related diseases. Many low-income areas that are mainly populated with Black and Hispanic communities suffer from the presence of food deserts and food swamps, all over the United States. A food desert is an area that is more than 2 miles or 15 minutes away from a grocery store, and a food swamp is a food desert that also has a high concentration of restaurants and stores that solely offer calorie dense, fast food and junk food options instead of heathy food options. Thus, certain groups of people face difficulty in obtaining healthy food resources, and it is they who are among groups that consistently face hunger and higher rates of diet-related diseases such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Minority groups are suppressed of an equitable distribution of a basic human need, where Black and Hispanic households remain disproportionately affected by food insecurity, with rates as high as 21.2% and 16.2%, respectively, while the rest of the national average was 11.1%.

Additionally, Black adults, according to the CDC, have the highest rate of obesity at 49.6%, and Hispanic adults have the second highest rate of obesity at 44.8%, while white adults’ rate of obesity is 42.2%. From these numbers, it is obvious that there are certain groups that face greater disparities, on the basis of a difficulty in food access and other similar resources.

In addition to unequal distribution and access of food among certain racial groups, there are many other issues associated with the current food system in the United States. For example, the United States supports a food system that is responsible for 80% of water use, 51% of land use, and 16% of energy use. Industrialized agriculture and fishing have been the major contributors to the serious environmental degradation. Agriculture uses mechanization that is heavily reliant on large quantities of petroleum, usage of large, sophisticated equipment, utilization of heavy water consumption through irrigation, planting in monoculture (meaning large plantings of a single type of crop), and high quantities of pesticides and fertilizers that results in high yield at a low cost. Not only do these farming practices result in immediate loss of biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, and soil erosion, but they also contribute to an overarching problem of global warming. While it might not seem like it, the effects of climate change are already underway and will make it increasingly more difficult to grow produce equitably for many years to come.

Aside from environmental degradation, the current national food system is responsible for 1.139 trillion US dollars in consumer spending, which is 9.8% of total personal income. While 9.8% may not seem high for a middle-income household, it becomes difficult for low-income families, majority of which are Black and Hispanic, thus impairing their ability to have equal access to food. Furthermore, the current national food system presents social challenges stemming from high corporate concentration, which results in loss of rural communities and challenges for small farmers and workers in the food system.

All in all, it is quite clear that the food system has a negative impact on the environment and the spending pockets of many Americans, while also having serious failures in distribution and access. Many have looked towards ways to change this system, particularly through adopting a different food system — one that is local and sustainable, that also works to feed the world equitably. This thought leads to the question: “Can the local/sustainable food system feed the world equitably?”

What is a Local and Sustainable Food System, and Can it be Implemented in the United States?

A local and sustainable food system is one that is both local to the point of consumption, on the basis of distance and is able to deliver food to society in a way that is economically, socially, and environmentally friendly to all. Economically, it is considered friendly when the system generates benefits for all of the stakeholders: wages for workers, profits for enterprises, and improvements to the food supply for those consuming the food. Socially, it is sustainable when there is equity in the distribution of nutritious and healthy food, and vulnerable groups are also taken into account. Lastly, on the environmental dimension, a food system is considered sustainable when its impacts on the natural environment are neutral or positive, and it takes into account other environmental aspects such as biodiversity, use of water, soil, and animal/plant health. Overall, it aims to solve several of the problems that are caused by large global food systems that rely heavily on monopolized corporations that are damaging to society.

Even though the current global food system provides food for over 7.5 billion people, poor diet quality is the biggest reason for poor health, opposite of what a sustainable food system should be. While many cultures each have their own diet, the one in the United States is characterized by low quality diets that cause micronutrient deficiencies and are related to the rise of obesity and other diet-related diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Furthermore, the American diet is predominantly meat-based, where more than 9 billion livestock have to be maintained to supply the amount of protein consumed by Americans every year. With the amount that is distributed, there is enough supply for 77 g of animal protein and 35 g of available plant protein, making it a total of 112g of protein per capita in the United States every day, when the recommended daily allowance (RDA) is only 56 g of protein. This emphasizes the idea that the United States’ food system is very well capable of producing double the amount of protein that an individual needs per day, but still manages to allow thousands of families to go hungry and suffer from diet related problems, highlighting the excessive inequity.

Moreover, similar to the way that the current food system fails to distribute food equitably, the current American diet is also inequitable to marginalized groups, resulting in many diet-related disparities. There are clear differences in dietary intakes, behaviors, and patterns, particularly in the Black and Hispanic communities and overall low socioeconomic families, meaning they have poorer quality diets, worse health outcomes, and overall inferior quality of life relative to whites. These differences include diets that are higher in fat (saturated fat), low in fruit and vegetable consumption, low in whole grain consumption, and high in salt. These disparities can be because of socioeconomic, psychosocial, cultural and environmental factors, focusing on access through the populous amount of food deserts and food swamps in predominantly low resource-communities.

All in all, a sustainable food system is one that works to provide food for a population in a socially, economically, and environmentally friendly manner. However, the United States does not currently follow a diet that would be able to be produced in a sustainable manner. Unless the United States is able to adopt a new diet that could be available to everyone equally, a local/sustainable food system would not be able to feed everyone equitably.

Is the Potential Solution the Plant-based Diet and the Mediterranean Diet?

There are different solutions to the current problem which revolves around the current diet in the United States, and that would include changing the diet altogether to one that is healthier, thus not endangering individuals’ lives and providing food through a sustainable method. The first diet is a specific diet known as a plant-based diet, which is a basis for many other types of diets, and is characterized by eating lots of fruits and vegetables, small portions of meats, focusing on choosing good fats and whole grains, and incorporating legumes. Some of the benefits of this type of diet are the good health outcomes and positive effects on the environment. For instance, this type of diet is associated with a lower coronary heart disease incidence and a type 2 diabetes reduction. This is important to consider since the diseases listed above are few of the many diet related diseases present in the United States, meaning implementing a plant-based diet could be beneficial to all in the prevention and treatment of these diseases as well as just providing a higher quality of life. Furthermore, focusing on eating more plant-based dietary patterns would mean less dependency on grazing of animals, thus being more advantageous for the environment, which emphasizes the sustainability associated with this type of diet.

However, there are some limitations with implementing the plant-based diet, produced though sustainable practices, in the United States. One is that many of the studies that show that the plant-based diet is associated with lower risk of heart disease and a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes were carried out in Europe and not the United States. Thus, there is inequity within the studies themselves since it is not well known whether these new and improved diets can be extended to certain racial groups such as Blacks and Hispanics, who could benefit the most from this diet considering the prevalence of obesity and other diet-related disease present within their communities. Moreover, even if studies had been carried out proving that plant-based diets could be beneficial to the groups of people discussed above, it would most likely be difficult for them to obtain these resources because of the vast amount of food deserts and food swamps within their surroundings. Lastly, many ethnic diets are not plant-based, so it may be difficult to implement new diets since they may cross the line between preserving ethnic group food culture and healthy diets. All in all, while the plant-based diet seems to cure several of the health problems and environmental degradation issues associated with the American diet and the food system in the United States, there are many aspects of it that are still rooted in racial inequity that would make it near impossible to have this as a sustainable food system that could feed everyone equally.

There is another diet that could potentially work to fix some of the issues associated with the American diet and the globalized food system; The Mediterranean diet, which is characterized by eating a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, potatoes, whole grains, breads, herbs, spices, seafood, and extra virgin olive oil and rarely eating/avoiding red meat, sugar sweetened beverages, added sugars, processed meats, refined grains, refined oils, and other highly processed foods. From this extensive list of foods to eat versus foods to avoid altogether, it is quite obvious that this diet is completely opposite of the current diet in the United States. It further explains why the Mediterranean diet has frequently been used as a model to describe healthy eating and when implemented, it is associated with significant health and environmental benefits. In terms of health benefits, this diet is more compatible with attaining the recommended nutritional and micronutrient values and has had a beneficial role in alleviating and even preventing heart disease, cancer, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and degenerative diseases. Furthermore, the Mediterranean diet has a very low contribution to global warming, as it is responsible for lower greenhouse gas emissions which again highlights the sustainability associated in adopting this diet. Overall, the Mediterranean diet should be promoted as a keystone in improving public health and advocating for sustainable consumption patterns, making the world a healthier place.

Unlike the plant-based diet, the Mediterranean diet has also been researched on other ethnic and racial groups, besides whites, and it showed that the Mediterranean diet helped to improve several health problems including improved glycemic control and cardiovascular disease among Hispanic communities and with diabetes as well as weight and blood pressure, especially among Black individuals. However, the Mediterranean diet is an expensive diet, which could be a barrier for those who are lower in the socioeconomic ladder, explaining why the protective effects of the Mediterranean diets against cardiovascular disease are only sustained for people at higher economic levels. Furthermore, this diet is rooted in implementing fresh fruits and vegetables which may be difficult to obtain, especially for individuals who live in an area characterized as a food desert or food swamp. Similar to the plant-based diet, the Mediterranean diet would also be quite advantageous in addressing the problems associated with the current American diet in that it would contribute to a better quality of life as well as prevent destruction of the environment; however, this diet may be too expensive for everyone to equitably implement into daily life, and thus would continue to be just as inequitable as the current food system, further proving that even this form of sustainable food would fail to feed everyone equally.

Conclusion

While there are certain recommendations to fix the unhealthy dietary patterns associated with the current American diet and the current food system, these sustainable recommendations are currently geared to certain groups of people in the United States, predominantly those who are able to afford and have access to a diet such as the Mediterranean diet or a plant-based diet. Additionally, until there is further research on whether these diets make a positive impact on or are suitable for other ethnic populations, the local/sustainable food system cannot feed the world equitably. Thus, in order to solve the problem, there would need to be solutions geared towards creating a better system that focuses on proper accessibility and distribution through the eradication of food deserts and food swamps and implementation of sustainable and healthy food resources that are low cost and can be provided to all in a positively healthy and environmental manner.

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