The Secret Ingredients of our Industrial Food Menu

Cheryl Tevis, Farm Issues Editor / Agriculture Online Mid-Mar01

Americans are obsessed by convenience, saving time and buying cheap. The pursuit of these goals is apparent as we derive our daily menus from drive-up windows, carryout meals and vacuum-sealed products.

Behind this appetizing facade are the less palatable ingredients of our American food system: unskilled teen food service workers, immigrant meatcutters victimized by lacerations and low wages, rising rates of food-borne illness, polluted air and water, and farmers on the precipice of losing their place at the table.

National Agriculture Week, March 18-24, is a good time to open a dialogue with consumers about whether this food system will sustain the earth and its resources. Will it maintain the foundation of our political and economic democracy?

A new book, Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser, argues that fast and cheap food has helped transform our diet, landscape, economy, workforce and pop culture.

Half of all of the money used to buy food in the U.S. is spent in restaurants, mainly on fast food that is delivered frozen, canned, dehydrated, or freeze-dried. Much of its flavor and aroma is courtesy of better living through chemistry (i.e., "natural" flavor).

Schlosser says the fast-food industry's purchasing power has helped fuel ultimatums by meatpackers and processors for volume and uniformity. Idaho's potato tonnage has doubled since 1980, and average yield per acre is up by about 30%. "Out of every $1.50 spent on a large order of fries at a fast-food restaurant, perhaps 2¢ goes to a farmer who grew them," he writes.

Supermarkets gain upper hand

But the fast-food industry isn't the only driver of change. A new report, "Consolidation in Food Retailing and Dairy, Implications for Farmers and Consumers in a Global Food System," illustrates that the retail sector increasingly calls the shots. Compiled for the National Farmers Union by University of Missouri researchers, it reveals that:

• Kroger, Albertson's, Wal-Mart, Safeway, and Ahold USA account for 42% of retail food sales in the U.S. In 1997, the top five retailers had only 24% of that market.
• Vertical integration links retailers to production and processing. Wal-Mart has contracts for case-ready meat from IBP, Inc., Farmland, and Smithfield.
• Current trends suggest six or fewer global food retailers will evolve over the next few years. Only one, Wal-Mart, is a U.S. firm. The rest are European.

What does this mean for consumers, in terms of price? In Chicago, two large firms control about 67% of the retail market. Last year, a lawsuit charged that milk in these stores was about $1 per gallon more than elsewhere in the U.S.

Health and safety also are vital measures of a food system. Meals away from home contain more calories and fat and less fiber. One third of Americans are obese, up from one quarter a decade ago. Obesity is a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer.

A rise in food-borne illness, including E. coli 0157:H7 and Salmonella, is linked to our food production, processing, and handling. One outbreak can result in hundreds of thousands of illnesses. Concern is growing that antibiotics used as growth promotants in animals threaten human use.

Now there's Mad Cow Disease. The promotion slogan, "Where's the beef?" is being superceded by the consumer question, "Where's the beef from?" In our global economy, it's increasingly difficult to reply with absolute certainty.

The Water Keeper Alliance, an environmental group, has announced plans to file lawsuits against large livestock polluters.

Production regardless of costs

Our current food system is not preordained; it's the culmination of social and cultural trends, short-term market forces and corporate lobbying for favorable policies and tax credits. The time is ripe to question the status quo.

Consumer purchasing power is a strong tool; look at the companies accepting only non-GMO corn. In Germany, the aftershocks of Mad Cow Disease produced a new farm minister from the Green coalition to head a new Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture.

Government has a role, too. U.S. supermarket acquisitions have been blocked by the Federal Trade Commission, and price-fixing cases have been filed. The impact on the consumer is easier to prove than in the ag antitrust arena.

As I bought a copy of Fast Food Nation, the store clerk asked, "Did you know that one hamburger has meat from dozens of cattle? Horrifying, isn't it?"

A potential customer? Of course! Family farmers need to be prepared to offer him and others an alternative food system menu of Community Supported Agriculture groups, farmer's markets, pick-your-owns, and direct sales.

E-mail Cheryl your thoughts at: ctevis@mdp.com

source: http://www.agriculture.com/sfonline/sf/2001/mid-march/0105family.html 18aug01