Explain Problems Associated With A Global Food System

The problem with food production in America is the mistreatment of livestock, the overproduction of corn in America, and the amount of corn feeded to the animals ; these issues affect consumers’ health because of the amount of diabetes has been increasing over years. Michael Pollan in "When a Crop Becomes King” he explains that the government pays for corn to be grown a lot more then it should be ,David Barboza in the article “If You Pitch it , They will Eat It” the way companies just want to get into kids mind by tricking them into telling their parents to buy them unhealthy food just for the toy it comes with, In “Pleasures of Eating,” Wendell Berry most of the people just rather be eating out then making food. There is uncertainty about the way food is produce because we cannot control people on what they

(Parker-Pope, 2007) “If you have three dollars to feed yourself, your choices gravitate toward foods which give you the most calories per dollar.” said Dr. Drewnowski, Professor of the Department of Epidemiology and Medicine at the University of Washington. He further stated, “Not only are the empty calories cheaper, but the healthy foods are becoming more and more expensive. Vegetables and fruits are rapidly becoming luxury goods.” (Parker-Pope, 2007) Much of these cost are due to our Governments Farm Policy. Farm policy encourages the production of commodities for processed foods instead of healthy foods. Whether by intention or not, because of the low cost of commodities like corn and soybeans, sugars and fats like fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated vegetable oils, current farm policy has directed food industry investment into funding ways of using these cheap food additives in processed foods, thus causing consumers to eat more added sweeteners and oils than is healthy. Because these highly processed foods can be produced at a very low cost, they give significant profit for the food industry which creates an industry incentive to market “junk” foods instead of healthier foods. (Food without Thought:How US Farm Policy Contributes to Obesity)

However, agriculture is the central issue. While pesticides are being used to keep crops alive, a benefit to farmers, the natural ecosystem is not exactly experiencing the same effect; the ecosystem is being destroyed. An effective way agriculturists can improve on decreasing the amount of pesticides is to use continuous production, where it is reusing the fields, without wasting and hurting them.

Consumers have become increasingly detached from their food as America’s food system grows larger and continues to ruin the environment. The main problem is that most consumers do not know how their consumption habits affect the ecosystem around them. Nor do they know about how their food was produced. Information about how and where the food is being produced and wasted is essential, so people can shop responsibly. Short of legislation, Americans make choices at the grocery store. It is essential for all Americans to cast in a vote with their dollars to change the way that food is produced in the United States resulting in more sustainable food being more accessible in the aisles of the grocery store for all Americans.

Although the United States is seen as a top tier nation among the countries of the world, we still have problems such as the growing rate of food deserts. As Americans, we need to put an end to this and do everything within our power to help reduce food deserts. Some policy relevant issues that need to be addressed include the concern of low-income neighborhoods across the country having little to no access to supermarkets that provide affordable, healthy, fresh foods. These neighborhoods consist of impoverished areas where diseases such as obesity and diabetes are on the rise and general health is on a downwards

Due to the mass production of cheap corn and soy in America, other food industries that produce healthier fruits and vegetables decrease in number. Importing healthy fruits and vegetables from other countries is unnecessarily expensive and that raises the prices of healthy foods in the market, which discourages many lower class families from eating the recommended daily fruit and

It is true that we are in a battle of feeding our people while trying to care for our soil and environment. While trying to produce enough food to feed the masses, we are still and will always be damaging the environment in some way. The use of chemicals and pesticides on crops is wonderful for yield, but is toxic and destructive to the soil. It is also a fact that not all farmers can afford to do better practices

In the United States, millions of Americans are left hungry due to limited access to nutritional food on a regular basis. There is a vast disparity in those with access to food based on a number of factors, such as race, access to private transportation, and income. These factors all stem from one overarching idea, geography. Those without access to nutritional food originate from low-income areas that are miles away from a supermarket and they must depend on local convenience stores. The issue of food deserts therefore arise as particular areas in the US grow hungrier due to an inability to attain the high-quality food that many Americans are accustomed to.

We live in an age in which we have come to expect everything to be instantaneously at our fingertips. We live in an age of instant coffee, instant tea, and even instant mashed potatoes. We can walk down the street at 5 in the morning and get a gallon of milk or even a weeks worth of groceries at our discretion. Even though it is great that food is now readily available at all times, this convenience comes at a price, for both the producer and the consumer. Farmers are cheated out of money and are slaves to big business, workers and animals are mistreated. And, because food now comes at a low cost, it has become cheaper quality and therefore potentially dangerous to the consumer’s health. These problems surrounding the ethics and the

Millions of people deal with hunger daily while the United States, as well as other developed countries, waste enough edible food to feed every hungry person on the planet. “Forty percent of the food in the United States

In 1997 a study was conducted by Kantor el al. on food loss in the U.S that resulted in 96 billion pounds of food lost “or 27% of the 356 billion pounds of food available for human consumption” (Buzby). That lost and wasted food could make a magnificent change in the amount of starving families that are in the U.S. but still food waste continued to grow. In 2008 food loss and waste went up to 29% at retail and consumer levels. That food could have been used for other purposes if the correct procedures would have been done. All of this food is sent to landfills and processed with other forms of garbage and waste. In 2005 and 2006 11.4% of fresh fruit, 9.7% of fresh vegetables and 4.5% of fresh meat was either lost, wasted or spoiled at retail

In America, we are constantly surrounded by abundance. Food is a prevalent waste item in the United States. Most people do not think about the resources it took to produce, transport, and prepare the food they throw away. Our food waste is not actually just trash; it is the key to human survival. Ordinary consumers can change the future with one small action: to stop wasting food. Actions at the individual level can decrease food waste and feed those in need. Twenty five percent of purchased food is thrown away. (TED) Often this is because food has spoiled, but it can be for other reasons such as oversupply, misread labels, or individual consumer shopping and eating habits. http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3347e/i3347e.pdf

Agriculture expansion has increased quicker than the environment can keep up within the last 50 years (Laurance, et al. 2014). Agriculture affects the ecosystem in many ways such as the loss of landscape, the increase in size of farms and field and an increase in the amount of fertilizer and pesticides being used (Geiger, et al. 2010). Agriculture increases the level of carbon dioxide, ultimately becoming a top source of carbon dioxide emissions. Therefore when land is used for agriculture, it destroys plant life in return leading to the circulation of more carbon dioxide within the air (Rodriguez, et al. 2004). This process is known as deforestation, which is the clearing of forest which causes the rate at which organic carbon is released from the soil. Breeding animals is also causing a ripple effect within the ecosystem. These animals droppings contain different pathogens that once become integrated within the soil and water systems can cause damage to land that cannot be reversed nor treated to reduce the affects it has on each element (Rodriguez, et al. 2004). Not only does agriculture affects the soil and air within the environment, it also takes a huge toll on the water system. In the practice of agriculture, fertilizers causes many of the same complications. Fertilizers are composed of a group of nitrogen and phosphates, which are factors in the contamination of air and water quality and its major uses catalyze

Food is the foundation of human live and people cannot survive without it. Food security is a vital issue facing the governments around the world. However, food shortage is becoming increasingly severe in this day and age. There are several reasons which led to the universal food shortage and they are interconnected to each other. Increasing world population, extreme weather and the wide spread use of biofuels are the main causes of worldwide shortage of food. These factors lead to food price rises rapidly.

In our society one of the most prevalent problems facing the human race is the future of food, how we plan to sustain the bodies of our future generation. Many corporations have already started to genetically modify food so that they can be able to return more of a profit or grow bigger, better crops. They also commonly use pesticides and other chemicals in the process of growing their crops to better benefit their business plan. However, since these corporations have been so focused on gaining the upper hand in the industry many of them have thrown old methods of farming out the door there has been much debate over whether or not these crops are truly better for the human body. Another major concern over new farming methods and the advances in agricultural technology is if these corporations can destroy the many ecosystems of our earth just to be able to one up the competition. This is a pressing matter due to the fact that as stated by Usman Chohan, who is involved in finding sustainable agriculture methods for the future and was invited to Pakistan Agricultural Research Council site at Fatehjang to analyze their sustainability initiative “sustainable solutions are at the heart of our efforts to satiate our developmental needs whilst minimizing our ecological footprint in the years to come.” (Chohan, 2014). My question that I will be investigating is, how can agricultural processes of today be altered to be more environmentally sustainable yet still