Health, Wealth and the Game of Profits
If you can afford to eat healthy in the United States of America then you probably make significantly more money than the minimum wage. Corporations have dictated the flow of nutrients to the masses depending on the price tag they can afford through the guise of convenience, lobbying campaigns, control of farming, and the food supply chain. It is striking that in the modern age obesity is linked to poverty, but this is due to food deserts where the cheap food is calorically dense and nutrient poor. The cost of marginal savings on food for the poor has become their health. The Guardian has been referring to the issues of undernutrition and obesity as "the Twin scourge." A Guardian article released recently addressed how large American food firms are moving basically as slow as they possibly can, this article was based off the recent release of the Global Access to Nutrition Index for 2015.
The twin scourge have been plaguing the poor since the mid 90s-present. Lucky Peach published an article last year called, "What does Hunger look like," where they interviewed UC-Berkeley Professor Raj Patel to address the modern conundrum of increased hunger and increased obesity worldwide. Raj Patel who works alongside Michael Pollan, uses the interview to shine light onto our broken global food network, and consider what it might take to change it. First he established the facts on hunger in the modern age - who is hungry, where they live, their background, etc. His quote "Hunger looks like the hands that grow and pick and serve your food, and wash up afterward. Hunger looks gendered, and it’s certainly race-related,” is strong and cuts straight to the point. Workers in the food industry are some of the lowest paid workers in the American labor market. Beyond the demographics on hunger, he also cuts straight to the point of food distribution being the number one causal factor for modern poverty and famine. Problem number one is distribution. Due to capitalist greed, there is more food hoarding going on by food supply companies in order to manipulate the market and create shortages so they may gain more profits from more desperate clientele. This is ideal for the suppliers because willingness-to-pay skyrockets on the consumer end. He says, “The story of hunger has always been the story of the desire of powerful people to be able to manage hunger, rather than sharing our abundance more fairly... It’s always been about a failure of entitlement—people not being able to get the food, and being excluded from the political system they relied on to keep hunger at bay. That’s why people take to the streets”
From there he switches the focus back to the American political system that has encouraged and enabled these giant corporations by focusing on getting commodity crops to the poor rather than focusing on supplying the poor with nutrient-rich foods they need but can’t afford. I really love his quote about ethanol production where he says “There is something morally wrong about using the fruits of the soil not to eat, but to set on fire.” HIs passion is clear and immediately that sentence struck a deep chord with me. Beyond the political system which needs to change its focus and definitions, the capitalist market we rely on has monopolized over time and instead of having a free exchange of goods and service, the monopolies have concentrated their power and their supply networks. This looks like only five or six corporations controlling global markets and instead of focusing on efficiency and equity, the focus is clearly just profits.
“So what does hunger look like in America? It’s profitable, widespread, and a national shame.”
Where are the solutions?
Raise Wages so “the craft of growing, the crafts of cooking and preparing, are all rewarded as they deserve to be”
Higher Taxes on the all but especially the rich which he breaks down to meaning everyone is treated with more dignity no matter their job
Small Farm Production - better for climate and better for more diverse and nutritionally dense foods. Higher yields, higher crop diversity, higher quality products. He calls this an inverse relationship where the larger a farm is, the lower its yield per hectare. Small farms produce more on the same patch of land than bigger farms, because big farms don’t bother about creating a dense, rich ecosystem of crops. In the case of the small farm, they are actually worked by farmers—skilled workers who put footprints, not tire tracks, between the crops, and tend them better. “The extra care that comes from extra labor grows extra crops on the same amount of land. If you’re interested in producing more food in the future, then you probably want more small farms. And if you’re interested in climate-change-ready farming, then you probably want farms growing a portfolio of crops, not a monoculture.”
political organizing, restructuring, redefining health on a national platform. This is the fun part! “It’s going to take both some creation and some destruction.” It’s hard to build a good food movement against the marketing power of large corporations. Curtailing their ability to market to kids, to fund our schools and sporting events is a reasonable way to start!
In his final suggestions he mentions how we have moved beyond voting with our forks. More active action is required to reroute our food systems. I would like to add my voice on this by saying that this does not mean stop voting with your dollars, but don’t just silently vote with your dollars. Start to take a stand on what good food and health means to you, and shopping at your local farmers market is an excellent place to start. Investing in a CSA share is another great solution if your work on the weekends like me and can’t make it to the farmers markets.
In my daily life I encounter street dancers on the BART. At the end of their performances they always say the best nation is a donation. While this is silly and makes very little sense to me, it always gets me thinking on how I define the best nation. One major component of my best nation is having healthy and nutritious food equally available to all and considered just as important of a priority issue as affordable healthcare or voting access.