A 2012 Audacious Idea
January 06, 2012
Grow Less Corn and More Apples. A simple change that could help end obesity and dramatically improve our country’s health.
Possible Time Frame: 2020.
Degree of Difficulty: Herculean.
Barrier to Change: Big Agriculture
This audacious idea is the brainchild of Ellen Gustafson, the young and passionate founder and executive director of the 30 Project, an effort to address the world’s hunger and obesity problems as a holistic global food issue. Ellen cofounded FEED Projects and the FEED Foundation and formerly worked for the UN World Food Program.
She suggests in her article in this month’s Harvard Business Review in a section called AUDACIOUS IDEAS for solving the world's problems that we are stuck with an overabundance of the wrong foods, which is responsible for twin global epidemics: hunger in areas where food is scarce, and obesity in areas where the affordable food is highly processed and lacking adequate nutritional value.
What can we do about this?
Ellen suggests that a start would be to eliminate subsidies that favor the overproduction of corn, soy, wheat and cotton, and replace them with incentives that encourage more diverse, healthful agriculture. She points out that less than 10% of supermarket purchases in the U.S. are fruits and vegetables.
One more time, this data shoots more big holes in the theory that our country is getting all the nutrients they need from the foods they eat. We need to think about who benefits from this misinformation.
Who controls our food supply?
Most of the food supply is controlled by a few agricultural giants. 82% of U.S. Corn exports are grown by 3 companies; 81% of beef packing in the U.S. is controlled by 4 companies, and important to me, but not everyone, 90% of the world coffee exports are controlled by 3 companies.
If the food supply is regionalized, local food producers can join forces to compete at a regional level, while multi-nationals must pull regional and local sourcing into their supply chains.
Changing what we eat will make us healthier and save money on health care. Regionalization will provide better food security and lower the carbon cost of shipping food. This does not seem to be important to some folks, but restructuring the food system would spur economic development at the local and regional levels everywhere. Surely, improving local and regional economy is important to the majority of people.
Ellen Gustafson’s brilliant last comment, “Our diet is tied to what we produce, and so is our economy. If we change our dinners, we can change the world.”
Ellen Troyer, MT MA
Biosyntrx CEO / Chief Research Officer
