FOOD
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ometimes, the most familiar things are the most foreign. We have never seen the hydrogen bonds in a water molecule, we do not know the generative origin of electricity or magnetism, and most people know what soil is. Still, there are so many organisms in the ground that we will never get to know all of
them. There is a reason the root of “humility” is humble. The same mystery is at play with what we eat. When it comes to food, we do a fantastic job of fooling ourselves. Food has become what is cheap and what tastes good, rather than what nourishes and regenerates. For sure, without discernment, we are eating dangerously.
Food has become what is cheap and what tastes good, rather than what nourishes and regenerates. For sure, without discernment, we are eating dangerously
The majority of what we eat is not natural. Food science and food marketing are at the heart of this phenomenon. According to the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), “food science is the study of the physical, biological, and chemical makeup of food; and the concepts underlying food processing. Food technology is the application of food science to the selection, preservation, processing, packaging, distribution, and use of safe food.”
What this means is that there is an enormous amount of money and energy being invested in making things that are safe to eat, but are not real food. No longer can we distinguish between foods that are fake or real with our senses alone. For instance, 70% of the average American diet is processed. More than 50% of what we eat is “ultra-processed,” meaning it is highly manipulated and contains additives. To make the reality of our food system appealing, we are inundated with advertisements from all angles. Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action, often against their own will and interests. Nowhere is the power of advertising more prominent than it is with food. But the persuasion goes beyond marketing to the realm of incentive. The federal government spends more than $20 billion a year on subsidies for farm businesses. About 39% of the nation’s 2.1 million farms receive grants, with the majority of the payouts going to commodity crops such as corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, and rice, and not food crops like fruits and vegetables. In short, we are encouraging the wrong things. But it goes beyond that to the lobbyists hired by global food and agriculture corporations to manipulate the government into allowing the current posture of conventional agriculture. And round and round we go.
The result of this cronyism, lobbying, and deal-making is a sort of twilight zone where “natural” does not mean “natural,” and the billions of dollars being spent by global food and agriculture corporations in advertising is intended to confuse, not inform. The effectiveness of this type of food manipulation has allowed us to reach a terrifying crescendo of toxicity from artificial ingredients and pesticides used in conventional agriculture that has consumed the modern food system.
The toxicity is alarming. A recent FDA report tells us that traces of pesticides were found in 84% of domestic samples of fruits, and 53% of vegetables, as well as 42% of grains. And these chemicals were less prevalent in food imported from other countries. There are 72 pesticides banned in the EU still allowed for use in the US. Then there are those chemicals that we are adding to what we eat on purpose. Artificial additives allow cheap food to avoid spoilage, look pretty, taste good, and also force the savvy food shopper to inspect labels and play detective. And for a good reason. The average diet in the modern world is not nourishing us; it is making us sick. Over 45% of people in the US have at least one chronic disease. More than half of all people alive will get cancer. Autism is now being found in 1 in 38 children. All of these numbers are way up and getting worse. Our health is in a full-on crisis. The most potent tool that we have to fight this crisis is how we eat. Food is one place that you can make a direct impact, not only in our health but on the agricultural landscape itself. But, as anyone that has undertaken a diet can attest, what we eat may also be one of the most challenging places for a change. One challenge is that we have never been busier, and food options have never been more convenient. At any one time in the modern world, you can pull off the highway and choose from dozens of food establishments with food preserved for purchase, many ready to serve you a hot meal 24/7. Cheap food aims to seduce.
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