Industrial farming in America has created an affordable and convenient shopping experience for American consumers. When Americans go grocery shopping, there is no need to worry if the items on your list will be available, due to this leading system.
According to Heritage.org, the American food system is the global leader in productivity, resiliency, innovation, and provides an abundance of safe and affordable food to Americans and people across the globe.
While the American food system’s process of industrial farming has provided some perks for shoppers, its impact on the health of Americans and the environment cannot go unnoticed.
Firstly, the food systems impact on Americans' health. According to the CDC, 41.9% of Americans are obese, one of the main causes being their diets. Obesity has been linked to a multitude of health problems like increased risk of heart disease and strokes.
This cause can be attributed to a few things, including the price of unhealthy food versus healthy food, the FDA and USDA’s standards for what goes into American food, and convenience for the consumer, but the main reason is industrial farming.
According to FoodPrint.org, the current food system relies on crop production practices that produce cheap, unhealthy crops like corn, wheat, and soy, but one of these crops is king.
Corn is everywhere in our diet. Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, says corn can be found in more than a quarter of the items available in the supermarket.
He states, “Corn is what feeds the steer…corn feeds the chicken and the pig, the turkey and the lamb, the catfish and the tilapia…The eggs are made of corn. The milk, cheese, and yogurt…now typically made from Holsteins (a breed of cow) that spend their working lives indoors tethered to machines, eating corn.”
Pollan continues to list dozens of more items including soda, salad dressing, beer, and even batteries and matches. According to FoodPrint.org, many obesity-related diseases can be linked to the consumption of cheap, processed foods, typically made from corn. One of the many things corn is turned into is high fructose corn syrup, which as Pollan said, can be found in pretty much every drink, dressing or sauce in your local supermarket.
According to Harvard Public Health, about 678,000 Americans die from chronic food illness, that number is higher than all combat deaths in every American war combined. Chronic food illness and Americans’ diets are also big factors in why COVID hospitalizations skyrocketed in America. Harvard Public Health stated two-thirds of severe COVID hospitalizations were attributed to diet-caused diseases like obesity.
Industrial farming has clearly been linked to the increase in obesity and chronic diseases, but the environment is suffering just as much, mostly due to the chemicals used on our crops.
According to the Natural Resources Defence Council or NRDC, when nitrogen-based fertilizers are applied in high amounts in a specific area, which they often are, the excess nitrogen becomes nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to ground-level smog.
NRDC also stated many of the pesticides farmers use to combat unwanted weeds and insects have serious side effects. They stated these chemicals can cause chronic diseases, neurological disorders, and cancer. They added that children are especially vulnerable due to toxic pesticides being linked to developmental delays and learning disabilities.
Just like corn, pesticides are everywhere now. According to the NRDC, more than 90% of Americans have pesticides in their body. Pesticides are found in 88% of rivers and streams, much thanks to nutrient runoff.
Nutrient runoff, according to the NRDC, destroyed the Chesapeake Bay by killing off large quantities of fish and shellfish. Many parts of the Gulf of Mexico are called ‘dead zones’ due to the high levels of manure and fertilizer making their way in via runoff.
So between the health and environmental effects, you’d think we’d change our eating habits, not only to better ourselves but the environment as well. Yet we haven’t.
This article is only addressing the tip top of the iceberg that is America's food system. There are so many more techniques and practices that are broken within this system. Examples include the ethics and effects of CAFOs, the FDA’s Generally Recognized as Safe loophole and toxic food additives like Red 40 and BHT.
It’s tough to adapt your eating habits, especially in a time of inflation and economic issues, but I will leave you a quote from Jonathan Safran Foer from his book Eating Animals.
“Whether we change our lives or do nothing, we have responded. To do nothing is to do something.”
