Carcinogenic pesticides, chemicals in food and
packaging
Food borne illness and disease
Antibiotic misuse
Questionable additives
The end of cheap oil
Our abundant food supply and centralized system relies on cheap
energy. Around 80% of the energy used in the U.S. food system goes to
processing, packaging, transporting, storing and preparing food. And
on average,
food travels 1500-2000 miles across country to get to the
supermarket. Petroleum-powered equipment and petroleum-based
fertilizers make possible the large volumes of food we've come to
enjoy. What happens to food supply and price as fuel costs continue
upward?
What is the future of our food?
What are the consequences of our food choices on our
future? Genetically engineered foods, patenting and the
corporatization of food present complex legal, ethical and
environmental issues. This documentary outlines the troubling changes
happening in the food system today.
Video: The Future of
Food, http:www.thefutureoffood.com
Declining food quality
The quality of our food supply is in decline.
Researchers compared U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrient
content data published in 1950 and 1999 for 13 nutrients and water in
43 garden crops. The findings? Plant breeders' use of yield potential
as a dominant selection criteria has resulted in greater yields—at the
expense of nutrient value.1
Genetically modified crops (GMO)
The International Journal of Biological
Sciences analyzed the effects of genetically modified foods on
mammalian health. Researchers found that agricultural giant Monsanto's
GM corn is linked to organ damage in rats.
Both the USDA and the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) take the
position that GMO foods are no different than their conventional
counterparts, thus there is no requirement to label foods as such.
This also applies to synthetic recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH),
used to increase milk production in commercial dairy herds.
Cloned animals
Cloning animals involves taking the nuclei of cells from adults and
fusing them into egg cells that are implanted into a surrogate mother.
Critics of this technology contend not enough is known about clones to
ensure it is safe. Yet in 2008, FDA spokeswoman Siobhan DeLancey said, "It is
theoretically possible" offspring from clones are in the food supply."2
And after a scandal about unlabeled clone products in Europe broke in
August 2010, Canadian agricultural leaders asked American Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack if "cloned cows or their offspring have made it
into the North American food supply," he said, "I can't say today
that I can answer your question in an affirmative or negative way. I
don’t know."
In any event, we should have the right to know what
we're purchasing. But that is not the case. Cloned meat IS in the
mainstream food supply and you will not be able to distinguish it from
uncloned meat. The best defense is to know your farmer.
Hidden costs of industrialized food
When compared to other industrialized
nations, Americans have typically spent on average a smaller
percentage of their incomes on food. But the hidden costs of
industrialized food must be accounted for— loss of topsoil,
over-tilled, chemicalized soil, polluted groundwater runoff from giant
foodlots, excessive use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, overuse of
antibiotics resulting in loss of efficacy, and
dead zones in the world's oceans caused by fertilizer runoff.
Chemicals in food packaging present yet
another hazard. Bisphenol A (BPA) is used in plastic food containers,
bottles, tableware and plastic linings of canned foods. Researchers at
the Yale School of Medicine have linked BPA to problems with brain
function and mood disorders in monkeys. Additionally, federal
toxicologists report that there is "some concern" with BPA
causing developmental problems in the brain and hormonal systems of
infants and children. A study conducted by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that nearly 93
percent of Americans over the age of 6 had detectable amounts of BPA
in their urine.
Melamine made the headlines when it
first turned up in pet food in 2007, and more recently, in infant
formula and powdered milk products, including candy, crackers and
other packaged foods. But melamine is also added to fertilizer, where
it builds up as salt crystals in the ground, sucked up as nutrients by
food plants, and thus ends up on our dinner plates. And it is added to
wheat gluten. According to the New York Times story linked below, the
FDA reported last year that millions of Americans had eaten chicken
fattened on feed with melamine-tainted gluten imported from China.
Around the same time, Tyson Foods slaughtered and processed hogs that
had eaten melamine-contaminated feed. The government decided not to
recall the meat.
An estimated 76 million cases of
foodborne disease occur each year in the United States -- salmonella,
E. coli, Norwalk, staphylococcus aureus, bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (Mad Cow Disease) have all appeared in news headlines
over the last few years. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) estimates that there are 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000
deaths related to foodborne diseases each year.4
The overuse of antibiotics in cattle
feedlots, hog and chicken factories leaves us vulnerable to superbugs
doctors may be unable to cure. Meat producers rely on antibiotics to
promote growth and counteract highly stressful factory farm
conditions. Animals reach slaughter weight on less feed, which means
higher company profits. The European Union banned the feeding of
antibiotics to livestock for growth promotion purposes in Europe, but
many U.S. factory farms continue the practice. Long-term feeding of
antibiotics to animals creates ideal conditions for
antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which can be transferred to consumers
in improperly cooked meat. We can also be exposed to
antibiotic-resistant bacteria in our environment, due to the practice
of spraying farm fields with animal manure.
