Food and faith issues in focus
Fatal Harvest: the Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture, edited by Andrew Kimbrell looks at our current ecologically destructive agricultural system and offers a compelling vision for a safer way of producing the food we eat. Industrial food system
To address food system issues which get to the core of hunger in the United States and abroad, we must examine the industrial food system. The 20th century saw revolutionary changes in agriculture that lead to an ongoing family farm crisis. This crisis, along with concerns about the environment, food safety, GMOs, seeds/inputs supply, as well as economic justice, compels PHP to do more.
Is the U.S. and global agribusiness and food distribution system sustainable, healthy or fair?
What are the actual human, societal and environmental costs of the dominant, industrial food system?
- In the United States, there are more people in prison than people in farming. (2 million vs. 1.9 million). Over 10 years, more farmers will lose their jobs than any other profession. (The projected decrease 1998-2008 is 13%.)
- Many economists agree that when the top four firms control 40 percent or more of an industry, fair competition becomes impossible. (Four corporations control 62 percent of U.S. flour milling. Four pork packers control a 62 percent share. Four have 53% control of U.S. poultry. Only four control 81 percent of the beef market. Europe has experienced similar corporate consolidation.)
- States with anti-corporate farming laws saw lower unemployment, fewer impoverished families, and more farms realizing cash gains than counties in states without such legislation. See “Agricultural industrialization, anti-corporate farming laws and rural community welfare” Environment and Planning" 2005, Lyson, T.A. and R. Welsh.
- Huge debt payments have made poorer countries around the world desperate to earn cash through agricultural exports, but farmers must compete against giant multinational agribusiness corporations from Europe and the United States Larger farms capable of producing for export receive most support from their governments here in the U.S. and internationally.
- Farmers in poorer countries are forced to switch from growing food for local hungry people, including themselves and their families, to commodities for the global market.
- Farm workers are the poorest-paid occupation in the United States; they are often exposed to toxic chemicals; they have no rights to bargain collectively and often work and live in horrible conditions.
- The nutritional value of our food has been compromised by market, profit and distribution considerations.
 Meat and dairy products, in particular, have become increasingly unhealthy due to the antibiotics and hormones fed to the cattle and as a result of ineffective food safety testing systems backed by powerful meat packer lobbies. In the United States thousands of people (especially children and elders with weaker immune systems) die each year from feces-borne pathogens, and hundreds of thousands are hospitalized. - Many low-income people have little or no affordable healthy foods, fruits and vegetables in their communities because the profit margins are considered too low by supermarket chains.
- Now giant pesticide corporations are touting genetically engineered crops and animals as the answer to world hunger, despite the fact that the world produces 1.5 times the amount needed to feed everyone.
In short, the need for education, lifestyle changes, and public policies to curb the excesses and abuses of the industrial food system is great. Equally crucial is the strengthening of alternative systems. In accord with the pro-active, hands-on approach of Enough for Everyone, community food security initiatives can offer individuals and congregations ways to align lifestyles and consumer choices with our Christian values. Learn how you can take action.
Articles about the industrial food system
The following articles dig deeper into the issues around the industrial food system in the United States.
Bad for the poor and bad for science
Genetically modified crops will not help the developing world
by Colin Tudge, The Guardian Unlimited
Environmental Hogwash
The EPA works with factory farms to delay regulation of ‘Extremely Hazardous Substances.’
In These Times
Free Trade Agreements Encourage Pesticide Use at the Expense of the People
From Red de Acción en Plaguicidas y sus Alternativas para América Latina (RAPAM) and Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA).
Read more | Ver más
Gone to Seed: Traditional Crops Contaminated
Seeds of traditional crops are contaminated with DNA from genetically engineered (GE) crops according to Gone to Seed, a new UCS report.
Laboratory testing of traditional (non-GE) seeds of corn, soybeans and canola commissioned by UCS documents the presence of DNA commonly used in commercial GE crops. These findings suggest inadequate federal standards to protect our seed supply and our food from harmful contaminants like those originating in pharmaceutical and industrial crops ("pharma" crops).
Monsanto fined $1.5 million for bribery
The United States agrochemical giant Monsanto has agreed to pay a $1.5 million (£799,000) fine for bribing an Indonesian official. BBC News
Monsanto vs. United States Farmers Report
This 2005 report documents Monsanto's lawsuits against American farmers, revealing thousands of investigations, nearly 100 lawsuits and numerous bankruptcies. [Read more]
Mountains of Corn and a Sea of Farm Subsidies
This season's bumper crop of corn is too much of a good thing, underscoring the paradox at the heart of the government farm subsidy program. Note: Free registration is required to access this article. The New York Times.
Pharm and Industrial Crops
The Next Wave of Agricultural Biotechnology
Union of Concerned Scientists
Farmers are leading a revolt against "biopharming" — growing genetically modified crops solely to produce pharmaceutical drugs — citing the risks the enhanced crops pose to food crops.
Study shows toxin in breast milk
100 percent discovery rate in Northwest samples is 'troubling.'
Survival of the biggest
Supermarket giants crush Central American farmers. The New Farm.
U.S. Meat Plants Violating Mad Cow Rules
U.S. meat plants are allowing brains and spinal cord from older cattle to enter the food supply, violating strict government regulations aimed at preventing the spread of mad cow disease. Planet Ark.
Water scarcity: A looming crisis?
As part of Planet Under Pressure, a BBC News Online series looking at some of the biggest environmental problems facing humanity, Alex Kirby explores fears of an impending global water crisis. BBC News. |
for updated figures. 
