Should I care where I buy my food?

Where you order your Super Bowl hot wings or purchase homemade chili ingredients affects much more than you realize.?The food industry has an enormous impact on our society and future?as a massive employer, our main nourisher, and a complex ecosystem of small and large businesses, from farmers to grocery stores and restaurants.

?How big is the food industry?

The US food industry is?bigger than Mexico’s entire economy.?It takes millions of people to get food from the farm or the field to our forks.?The two most significant segments of the?food industry?are food processing (e.g., grocery stores) and food services (e.g., restaurants).

We spend a lot of money on food.?It accounts for?nearly a third?of our annual spending for most of us. Of this, we spend about?40% of our money at restaurants?and the other 60% at grocery stores. The sheer amount of money we spend on food means?any pricing changes can have a multiplier effect on our financial well-being.?Our average food costs have climbed by more than?10% in the past year.

?How much does it affect our health??

The food industry provides us with the nutrients we need.?Changes in how our restaurants and grocery stores source, process, and prepare our foods can substantially impact our health.?Nine out of ten?Americans are not getting enough nutrients from their food. They are deficient in at least one critical nutritional category needed to support immune systems, bone and muscle growth, and overall health, like Iron, Vitamin D, and Vitamin C5. Few of us have the money, time, or natural resources to grow our food if we want to, so we need to be aware of the decisions made on our behalf. Rising industry consolidation means the decisions of?a small collection of boardrooms determine the fate of our well-being.

We depend heavily on a shrinking number of grocery stores.?Only seven companies control?50% of US food retail sales, and two of the top four are actively pursuing a merger. Walmart alone is responsible for nearly a quarter of all grocery sales. Growing industry powerhouses have eliminated many local grocery options. This phenomenon creates food deserts, where grocery stores are either too far away or too expensive to access. Nearly?23.5 million Americans?are living in food deserts.?Limited access to healthy whole foods and groceries can drive the food insecure to?fast food?or?dollar-store packaged food, worsening health conditions.

?Should I be worried about industrial farming?

Innovations in industrial farming have supported our population growth, but?we are approaching the limitations of our natural resources.?We need to be aware of our farming decisions because?we depend heavily on a small number of food producers to manage our water, soil, produce, and animals for us.?Sixty percent?of the world’s food production occurs in just five countries. In the United States, just?five states account for 61% of corn production. Moreover, only?two companies control nearly 78% of the market for corn?seed. That means two companies - two CEOs - decide how much corn we grow and what kind we eat.

Food producers control our water supply.?Agriculture consumes roughly 70% of the global water supply and?wastes about 60% of that. The amount of water required to produce one pound of?corn is equivalent to eight months?of drinking water for one person. As we’ve discussed,?water scarcity?is a worsening problem?already affecting Americans, and the United Nations expects drought to displace?700 million people by 2030.

Industrial farming affects our soil health and biodiversity.?More than?95% of our food comes from the soil, but United Nations officials believe that we only have?60 years of farmable earth left?on the planet, given the current rates of soil degradation. When large companies are responsible for producing enough food to feed vast portions of the population, they need to rely on fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotics, and genetic modification of food products. These?synthetic solutions?help us produce food at scale but?can result in?diminished nutritional value, toxic health effects, and new?antibiotic-resistant diseases.

?How much does it impact our incomes?

The food industry employs 1 in 10 working Americans.?Twenty-one million people?rely on companies like Kroger, Mcdonald's, and Chipotle for wages, healthcare, and retirement savings. Their wage decisions affect the incomes and livelihoods of millions of Americans.

The food service industry has the?highest number of people?earning less than the minimum wage of any sector. More than 1 in 10 workers in food preparation and serving-related occupations earn the federal minimum wage or lower. While many of those jobs also might make tips, that's less than $7.25 per hour. That doesn't cover any state's most?basic living expenses?for any family size.

?What can we do?

Pay attention to where you shop and the decisions corporations make on our behalf.?When we understand their influence, we can use our voices more effectively.

For starters, we can?choose the producers, suppliers, and restaurants we want to get our food from?– as many of them are aware of these critical issues and are actively working to help solve them. Some restaurants have firm commitments to source from local farmers and growers, helping to ensure your money is put to work helping local communities, and limiting industrial farming. Chipotle is one example of this, as they have had a long-standing commitment to hiring?locally-sourced produce?suppliers. Costco is aware of its footprint on antimicrobial resistance and is committed to?reducing the number of antibiotics?used in its meats. Kellogg has committed to using?responsibly sourced corn?in their products.

The food industry is a complex one, and since we are inextricably tied to the food industry, it is an excellent opportunity for us to?learn more about the holistic impact that grocery stores, restaurants, and the entire food industry have?– so that we can make smarter, more well-informed choices when we pick up a take-out menu, head to the grocery store, and reach for our next snack.