Food Not Freight!

You can tell a lot about a person or organization by what they choose to focus on optimizing.

Take a company like Amazon: what launched them into the stratosphere was their relentless optimization of online retail. Faster delivery, larger selection, and more accurate recommendations. At the opposite end of the retail spectrum from this behemoth, what are small, boutique, physical stores optimizing for? A comfortable, welcoming environment, staffed by friendly and knowledgeable salespeople, and a tasteful (but small) selection of items.

Making no judgments about which approach is morally/ethically/practically superior, a stark contrast is evident. On the surface both Amazon and your local boutique store have some similarities: both do retail, both make money by purchasing inventory and reselling it at a markup, and at the end of the day the goal of both is to sell you stuff. Why the huge discrepancy in strategy then? Some of the difference can be attributed to company culture, but that isn’t what drives two businesses down such divergent paths. It’s the Customer.

We demanded a larger selection on Amazon, they gave it to us, and we rewarded them. We demanded faster delivery, they developed a logistical network that rivals most countries’ national postal services, we subscribed to Prime and rewarded them. So why doesn’t your local boutique pack up their storefront and open an online store? Because they would get crushed — and not by Amazon alone. The customer they serve is seeking a specific experience, they want try things on before purchasing, or get an expert opinion from a knowledgeable salesperson. Maybe they just want an excuse to get out of the house on a Saturday. If the boutique takes their business online they will not be bringing the majority of their customer base online with them. The customer dictates the path these companies walk.

What does any of this have to do with food?

Let’s take a look at how our food system is optimized.

#1 Cost:

The first thing that jumps out about our food system is the low cost of our food. The average American household spends 6% of its income on food each year. As a percentage of income, this is less than than any other country in the world. So, for a business selling food to the average American, it is a huge priority that their products be cheap.

#2 Uniformity:

Walk through the produce section of most supermarkets in the United States and you will be greeted by a cornucopia of fruits and veggies that look exactly the same. Every tomato is the same plump, red, beefsteak. Not a spot or bruise to be found. The same goes for bananas, apples, berries — all of them perfect little copies of each other. The reason for this is that US supermarkets serve consumers who have an extremely low tolerance for “ugly” food.

#3 Everything all the Time:

In the US, an incredible variety of fresh food is available during all seasons. To facilitate this, producers have adapted to grow varieties that have long shelf lives and can withstand damage in long distance shipping. Humans used to shift their diet over the course of the year depending on what was in season and available. Now, we take it for granted that if we want something we can find it easily at the local supermarket regardless of season.

When consumers demand that their food be cheap, uniform, and available at all times, what does that lead producers to optimize for? Food that is more at home in a shipping container than in your stomach! Food that is grown far from its final destination. Food that is grown with a focus on presentation and profit over sustenance has become the standard.

To Summarize:

Through our patterns of consumption, we have taught producers of food that it’s more important that our apples don’t have spots than that they are actually nutritious — they grow and breed varieties optimized for longer shelf life, and we reward them for it.

Today you would have to eat eight beautiful supermarket oranges to derive the same amount of Vitamin A as your grandparents would have gotten from one single orange. The general trend in agriculture has shifted towards growing what is advantageous logistically instead of growing what will actually nourish our bodies.

Now of course there are hold-outs. Farmers markets, restaurants who source locally, individuals who subscribe to CSAs — all of these are wonderful alternatives to the industrial food system. If we want our food to come from 50 miles away rather than 1500, and we have the means to choose we have to vote with our wallets. When we throw our weight behind our values rather than what is convenient, the businesses and individuals who produce food will absolutely shift to meet our demands. This is the awesome (and terrible) thing about capitalism! Producers have no real attachment to their methods. Producers operate the way they do because it’s the path of least resistance to generating the most income. If we open another door to profitability by shifting consumer demand they will sprint through it!

This is the hard part.

We have to make the first move if we want anything to happen. As consumers, the power — and responsibility — to change the food system resides with us. So let’s do it! It might seem daunting and somewhat silly to try and change a multi-billion dollar business solo but as individuals we each have agency. Every time you buy a head of lettuce instead of a bag of chips you are sending a message.

Tips on Voting with your Wallet in the Food Industry:

1. Buy food when it is in season locally.
2. Shop at your local farmer’s market.
3. Become familiar with your local food ecosystem.
4. Join a CSA.
5. Buy local.
6. Buy heirloom.
7. Buy organic.
8. Get to know your farmers.

If we all take these steps together, we can change the way the world grows.