Chapter 12. Consumerism: From Farm to Table Pearson Education, Inc.

Transcription

1 Chapter 12 Consumerism: From Farm to Table

2 What Does It Mean to Be a Food Consumer The fact that we buy food, whether at the dining hall, mini mart, grocery store, or restaurant, makes us all food consumers You may think you re in the driver s seat when choosing the foods you eat, but this isn t entirely the case

3 How Do Advertising and Marketing Influence Your Food Choices? Food companies spend more than $10 billion annually to promote their products College-aged/young adults are increasingly targets for advertisers Advertising for fruits and vegetables is almost nonexistent

4 Where Does Your Food Come From? Much of your food comes from small, family-run American farms In the United States, a farm is considered an establishment that produces and sells at least $1,000 of agricultural products annually There are just over 2 million farms in the United States, mostly concentrated in the Midwest, Great Plains, and California. In 1935 there were more than 6.5 million farms feeding 127 million Americans. Less than one percent of the U.S. population produces enough food to feed the country s 300 million people

5 From Farm to Consumer Figure 12.1

6 Where Does Your Food Come From? Challenges of farming include: High costs A demand for low food prices Competition Dependence on the cooperation of Mother Nature Some farmers use computers and the Internet to farm more efficiently = precision agriculture. More than 75% of American farms generate gross revenues of less than $50,000 a year.

7 Where Does Your Food Come From? The consumer is squeezing the bottom line, as there is a limit to what people are willing to spend for food. In the 1930s, Americans spent 25% of their disposable income on food. Today, Americans allocate 10% of their earnings to what they eat.

8 Where Does Your Food Come From? To try to offset their rising costs, many farmers take advantage of government sponsored financial subsidies that are available to raise commodity crops, such as corn and soybeans. To get this financial support, these crops must also be grown in accordance with conservation plans that protect the environment.

9 Where Does Your Food Come From? The role of agribusiness Agribusiness is the blending of agricultural and business entities that affect how food, as well as the clothes in your closet and the furnishings in your home, are developed, processed, distributed, and purchased in the United States. The agriculture sector employs just over 1/6 of the U.S. population

10 Where Does Your Food Come From? What crops are grown for food? The top three agricultural food crops grown in the United States are corn, soybeans, and wheat The United States is the largest producer of corn in the world. Most of the corn is NOT consumed as cornflakes, cornmeal or other human products. 80% ends up as feed for livestock, etc. 50 percent of the world s soybean production occurs on about 350,000 U.S. farms The United States produces about 13 percent of the world s wheat

11 Where Does Your Food Come From? What animals are raised for food? The most dominant food animals in the United States are cows, pigs, and chicken. Beef farms are concentrated in Texas, Nebraska, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, California, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Unlike their ancestors most of today s hogs are raised indoors to protect them from weather, predators and the spread of disease. In addition to producing enough food to feed Americans, U.S. farmers help feed the world An estimated 30 percent of the income from a U.S. farm is derived from trading with other countries Globesity, or the rapidly growing incidence of obesity worldwide, is becoming a global threat

12 Where Does Your Food Come From? Food production outside the United States Most fish and shellfish eaten in the United States is now imported About 32 percent of the fruit and nuts we buy originate outside the United States The United States currently imports close to $1 billion worth of bananas annually Vegetable imports have doubled, and importation of fruits, juices, and nuts has increased by 20 percent from decades ago The majority of our coffee comes from Colombia and Brazil Approximately 13 percent of your food comes from outside the United States

13 Where Does Your Food Come From? Importing Foods: The Good News There are two primary reasons for U.S. food imports Demand for a diverse array of products year round Demand for cheap food Importing Foods: The Bad News There are environmental costs for shipping foods long distance to the United States There is potential for contamination of imported foods. There have been reports of imported foods containing excessive amounts of pesticides and foodborne pathogens compared with similar domestic products. This increased risk places an increased burden on the FDA.

14 Percent of Selected Foods and Beverages Consumed in the United States That Are Imported, By Volume Figure 12.5

15 How Does Food Production Impact the Environment? Food production requires the use of internal (land and water) and external resources (fossil fuels to grow- formed from decayed plants and animals that have been converted to crude oil, coal, natural gas, or heavy oils by exposure to heat and pressure in the earth's crust over hundreds of millions of years.) Natural resources are used internally to produce foods and externally to move these food products from the farm to the consumer Locally grown food requires fewer natural resources A locavore is a person who attempts to eat locally grown food whenever possible. Some people wrongfully assume that locally grown food is the same as sustainably grown food. A sustainable diet contains foods that meet your nutrient and health needs but can be sustained for a long time without negatively affecting the environment.

16 Table 12.3

17 Sustainable Food Systems More than 99% of the food you eat is produced on land, compared to less than 1% from the sea. Problems arise when topsoil can t be regenerated and/or is less fertile. The natural process of regenerating one inch of nutrient-rich topsoil takes more than 500 years.

18 How Does Food Production Impact the Environment? Hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides can improve food production but may have environmental consequences Growth hormone is a protein-based hormone that stimulates cell growth and reproduction in humans and animals Recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbst) is a synthetically made hormone identical to a cow s natural growth hormone, somatotropin, that stimulates milk production Antibiotics are used to treat sick animals, to preventatively treat animals at risk of becoming sick, and to promote growth by keeping the gut and intestines healthy. Antibiotics will kill or slow the growth of bacteria.

19 How Does Food Production Impact the Environment? Pesticides are substances that kill or repel pests such as insects, weeds, microorganisms, rodents, or fungi Herbicides are substances that are used to kill and control weeds Antimicrobials are substances that control the spread of bacteria and viruses on non-living surfaces or objects Fungicides are chemicals used to kill mold Biopesticides are substances derived from natural materials to control pests Sex pheromones are naturally occurring chemicals used to control pests by interfering with their mating

20 Reducing Pesticides in Food Figure 12.7

21 How Does Food Production Impact the Environment? Biotechnology can help produce heartier crops but is not embraced by everyone Biotechnology is the application of biological techniques to living cells, which alters their genetic makeup Plant breeding is a type of biotechnology in which two plants are crossbred to produce offspring with desired traits from both Genetically modified cells have had their genetic makeup altered

22 How Does Food Production Impact the Environment? Genetic engineering (GE) is a biological technique that isolates and manipulates the genes of organisms to produce a targeted, modified product Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are organisms that have been genetically engineered to contain both original and foreign genes Farmers in the U.S. and around the world routinely use selectively bred, genetically modified plants to create bigger and better produce and diseaseresistant crops, and to increase crop yields.

23 Plant Breeding versus Genetic Engineering Figure 12.8

24 Table 12.6

25 How Can You Be an Informed Food Consumer? Know the label terms that indicate how animal foods are produced These include certified, fresh poultry, free range, kosher, natural, no hormones (pork or poultry as well as beef), no antibiotics Understand the meaning of the term organic, which is being free of chemical-based pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, irradiation, and bioengineering Contrary to popular belief, organic foods are not necessarily free of all pesticides.

26 The USDA Organic Seal Figure 12.9

27 Table 12.7