Organic Alert: Global Malnutrition is a Bigger Problem than Global Starvation

In no way am I making light of the seriousness of starvation, with reportedly somewhere in the range of one billion people not having enough food to eat on a daily basis. It is neither possible or appropriate to try and express the “cost” associated with starving humans. But estimates of the global annual cost of malnutrition reach as high as $3.5 trillion* and malnutrition kills more people than starvation every year. (*Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition.)

Malnutrition—or bad nutrition—results from the choices we make and the choices we have. If you have the opportunity to make food choices, you are more fortunate than many. People in developing countries, territories in conflict and “food deserts” globally don’t have that luxury. People in poverty, rural seniors and young children don’t either. Those are the obvious populations who have few choices.

A less discussed aspect of food choice is the unseen quality of food, especially nutritional density. Unbeknownst to most people are the relatively poor choices that we all have. This is a relatively modern phenomenon, resulting from depleted soils, monoculture agronomy and increased atmospheric carbon. On that last point, ALL foodstuffs are gaining in carbohydrate content  (think calories) at the expense of other nutrients due to higher atmospheric carbon in the environment being synthesized by plants during the growing season.

Chemical and pharmaceutical contamination in foods adds insult to injury. While acute toxicity is rare, we are learning more every day about the dangers of continuous low-dosage exposure to chemicals and drugs in our food and water supply. Whether it is glyphosate attacking our intestinal microbiome or antibiotics compromising our immunity, these are choices that we don’t get to make unless we have access to options and clearly understand what those options really mean.

All of this is to say that cheap food is really expensive. The consumer pays some of those costs directly through diminished health outcomes. The environment, and society more broadly, bears the balance of the costs.

The chemical and pharmaceutical industries are deeply vested in the current system of conventional food production. They spend a lot of money and time throwing stones at organic production because they can’t make any money in a market that could also pose an existential threat as we continue to scale the effort. While nobody will claim that organic farming is perfect, it is much better on all scores than conventional farming. 

Over time, regenerative organic farming practices create resiliency in the face of rapidly changing climate conditions that are spawning weather volatility. Healthy soils manage water better, both in times of flood and drought, and reduce pressures from pests, weeds and disease. Health soils equals healthy foods in the form of nutrient density. Organic production reduces risk of chemical and pharmaceutical contamination for humans >95%. Again, organic isn’t perfect, but it’s the best solution we have today in our attempts to reduce malnutrition from all sources.