When we put the responsibility for our
food in the hands of others, we lose something very basic. We become
dependent upon those sources to supply our needs. Today a handful of giant
agribusiness companies control the food supply and the regulatory
agencies.1
As a nation, we've become lazy, choosing
speed and convenience over safe, nutritious and wholesome food. Our
"hunting and gathering" skills consist of pushing a shopping cart through
the aisles of our local mega shopping complex.
Video: The Future of
Food, http:www.thefutureoffood.com
2. 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?
3.. 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.2
4. Genetically Modified Crops and Cloned Animals
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.
In fact, the FDA has ruled that the public does not have the
right to know of its presence in the milk they buy. We are also given no
voice on the subject of 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. An FDA spokesman recently reported that
"it is theoretically possible" offspring from cloned animals are in the
food supply, although critics of this technology contend not enough is
known about clones to ensure it is safe. Why is our government forcing "franken
foods" on us? [Hint: $$$$]
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)
s 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. One federal study estimates 93% of the population
has the chemical 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.
