The world behind the veil
The average American supermarket sells 47.000 products, vegetables are available all year, many products contain corn, and a burger is cheaper than a broccoli. I watched the documentary Food Inc. by Robert Kenner and I was shocked by how the American food industry works. Insane: that is the only way for me to describe it.
There is a world hidden from us: the food industry. As Robert Kenner said: ‘There is a veil between us and where our food comes from. And the industry does not want us to know the truth behind it.’
The industrial food system began with fast food drive-ins. The McDonald brothers were the first to become incredibly succesful. When they decided to cut costs and simplify their concept, they brought the factory system to the kitchen. They hired people to do one particular job over and over again. In this way the employees did not cost as much and were easy to replace.
But this caused huge consequences for the entire food industry. When McDonald’s is the largest purchaser of ground beef in the United States, and they want their hamburgers everywhere to taste exactly the same, they change how ground beef is produced. In 1970 the top five beef packers controlled 25% of the market. Today, the top four control more than 80% of it.
The food industry wants to become more and more efficient. But this efficiency leads to problems. And when these problems appear, the companies don’t look at what’s wrong with the system. They come up with technical extra’s instead to work with the flawed system. For example: a company that cleans its beef with ammonia to kill the E. Coli infection that cows get from eating corn instead of grass. This beef becomes hamburger meat filler for 70% of the burgers in America.
Because of all the different products it feels like we have plenty of choice. But there is an illusion of diversity. Many products are made with corn. Farmers are subsidised for overproducing corn so it can be used for food engineering. Yes, you read that correctly. Food is being engineered. Even products such as cheese, peanut butter, coke, diapers, batteries, meat and fast food contain corn.
The use of corn makes it possible to drive down the prices of meat. Which therefore makes it possible to eat 200 pounds of meat per person per year. That’s more than 90 kilograms. That is an insane amount. Furthermore its production has a negative effect on the environment.
Many people do not have much time and money. Candy, soda and chips are cheaper than one broccoli. Unhealthy calories are cheaper, because they are being subsidised. Think about the corn. The government blames the obesity in its country on a crisis of personal responsibility. While in fact the corn - that is within most of the cheap food - gives spikes of insulin which are wearing down the system by which our body metabolises sugar.
When you take a closer look, you will see that cheap food is extremely expensive when it comes to health costs and production costs. Everything needs to be faster, fatter, bigger and cheaper. Nobody’s thinking about the personal or ecological health. And that is because the decisionmakers, the big companies, do not have to live with the consequences of the decisions they make.
The FDA decided not to label genetically modified foods, so that people won’t know what they are eating. They think it will create unnecessary fear among consumers. The power is centralised and is being used against farmers, employees and even consumers. One bad word about any ruling company and you will end up in jail.
Consumers are way more powerful than they think. Every time a product runs across the supermarket scanner we are voting: local or not, organic or not. Individual consumers change the biggest companies on earth. Walmart for example.
Stonyfield is a company that produces organic foods. And it seemed that consumers wanted that more and more, because Walmart made the choice to go organic. They changed because of the wishes of the people. You’re not going to get there by only buying food at the farmers markets. You have to go to the supermarket and vote by buying local and organic food.
The tabacco industry is a great example of how powerful consumers are when they know a company misbehaves. You can vote three times a day. Buy from companies that treat employees, animals and the environment with respect. When you go to the supermarket, choose foods that are in season, buy organic foods and read labels. Be aware of what you buy and what is in your food.
Everyone has a right to healthy food. You can change the world with every bite. So go for it. Make that change!
