Reconstruct the American Food System @ReconstructThe

So much to learn from this!

Our World in Data @OurWorldInData

7 years ago

What people die from, what they Google, and what the media covers. Our latest post: ourworldindata.org/does-the-news-…

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@GOP @DNC @SpeakerPelosi @POTUS @marinmommies @BayAreaParent @Parents4Planet @BayAreaParent check this farm out @MarinSunFarms

@GOP @DNC @SpeakerPelosi @POTUS @marinmommies @BayAreaParent @Parents4Planet Change the food system in order to improve the food your children eat and to save the planet your kids will grow up on. What are you doing to push for systematic change?

A successful social movement requires coalitions across differences! @GOP @DNC @SpeakerPelosi @POTUS Our polarized political climate is no excuse for ignoring the health and environmental catastrophe our food system has set up for the next generations.

The price of meat will rise because the American people will be paying for the real cost of meat. In turn, less meat will be consumed, which is a necessary cultural shift we need to improve current unhealthy diet norms AND to reduce our emissions #savetheplanetsaveyourchildren

U.S. government subsidies make factory farms practical by subsidizing grain. Thus, we must de-subsidizing grain. If farmers have to pay the real price for grain, soon factory farming will actually be inefficient.

Did you know, A bushel of grain takes around a half gallon of oil to produce!! However, grass can be grown with mostly sunlight. Grazing animals on grass fertilized by their own waste greatly reduces their environmental impact.

The current food system only aims to sustain the current generation, future generations will have to deal with intense health complications and weather patterns as a result of today’s fossil fuels in our food. @SpeakerPelosi @BayAreaParent

In the transition to factory farms in the last century, corporatized, industrialized agriculture has largely wiped out America’s independent family farms.

In 1950, in the U.S. alone, there were 5.6 million farms and 100 million farm animals. In 2012, 2.1 million American farms were raising 9.2 billion farm animals.

Often located in rural, disenfranchised communities, resulting in disproportional impacts on people of color. #environmentalinjustice #demandreparations

Neighbors of factory farms, as well as the workers in them, often suffer intensely from overwhelming odors and related headaches, nausea and other long-term health effects.

Waste from large-scale confinement farms pollutes the water, land and air in neighboring communities, compromising both human health and quality of life.

These operations focus on profit and efficiency at the expense of animal welfare and human health. #thisisamerica #landofthefree

In the U.S, over 95% of farm animals are raised on factory farms, which are large, industrial operations that raise large numbers of animals for food. These facilities congregate animals, feed, manure and urine, dead animals, and production operations on a small land area.

CALL TO ACTION:To confront this public-health catastrophe, we must eliminate the fossil fuels used in today’s food system. To do this we must revert back to having animals and crop diversity fertilize the land, eliminating both fossil fuels AND factory farms from our food system.

Also according to Pollan, as spending on health care rose 10%, spending on food fell from 18 percent of household income to less than 10 percent. So while the cheap calories the U.S. food system now produces has lowered food prices, it has come at a steep cost to public health.

Four of the top 10 killers in America today are chronic diseases linked to diet: heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes and cancer. Therefore, one of the biggest reasons health care has became more expensive is the cost to the system of these preventable chronic diseases.

Now, let's talk health. According to Pollan, spending on health care has risen from 5 percent of national income in 1960 to 16 percent today, putting a significant drag on the economy (@mustafahzahid feel free to comment).

So, are there consequences of fossil fuels in every part of our food system? Yes, the most obvious being that the use of fossil fuels contributes to climate change.