Food System Breakdown
View Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Food System
3. Industrial Agriculture
4. Hidden Costs Of Food
5. Food Corporations
6. Global Food Trade
7. Food Security/Insecurity
8. Health And Nutrition
9. Climate Change And Environmental Degradation
10. Food Waste
11. Animal Welfare
12. Labor Exploitation
13. Food Deserts
14. Environmental Racism
15. Food Justice
16. Food Soveriegnty
17. Indigenous Food Systems
18. Sustainable Agriculture
19. Urban And Civic Agriculture
20. Zero Waste
21. Circular Economy
Before we can begin thinking about how to change our food system, it’s first important to understand why it needs to change.
Our current food system is largely controlled by industrial agriculture and the related agri-businesses, giant multinational food corporations, global capitalist markets and a neoliberal, export-oriented trade system. The primary goal of this system is not to ensure everyone is getting enough fresh, nutritionally-adequate and culturally-appropriate food. The primary goals are efficiency and profit. And while it’s true that this system does produce an enormous amount of food, the world’s food insecure population of over 2 billion, most of whom are low-income, visible minorities, are testament alone that quantity does not define a healthy food system. However, the incredible level of global food insecurity, which includes over 4 million people in Canada, does not stand alone as the only problem created by our food system. Food waste, poor public health, racial injustice, climate change, environmental degradation, exploitative labor, animal welfare, poverty, Indigenous displacement and continued colonization are just a handful of the problems created by and intersecting with our current food system. Although it can be overwhelming to learn that this one system perpetuates so many of the world’s biggest problems, it also represents a brilliant opportunity to create a tremendous, positive impact on so many lands and lives. For that reason, NGM is calling for a systems change. Our intention is in building a local and sustainable food system - with those most marginalized by it at the helm - that is so robust, so accessible, that it becomes the norm. Our contribution to this effort focuses on the retail and consumer links in the food chain - how you source your food. Most important in this quest is the centering of human and environmental interdependence, justice and food sovereignty. Together, we believe we can restructure the food system, righting the problems and rewriting the narrative to one that is joyful, healthy, accessible and, most importantly, delicious!
Food System
A food system is all the people, services, processes, infrastructure and organizations that take part in producing, distributing and consuming food. Food systems are deeply interconnected with the environmental, political, economic, social and cultural systems of the spaces in which they are embedded. These intersections have a great influence on a food system’s health, resilience and efficiency. Food systems can be understood at any level, such as the local level (e.g. Toronto’s food system), the national level (e.g. Canada’s food system) or the global level (i.e. all players involved in international food production, distribution and consumption). Our current global food system is based on an industrial agriculture production model, an export-oriented distribution model and a wasteful consumption model. The decisions made in a food system at the global level often dictate, replicate or impact what a food system looks like at the other levels.
To better understand the intricacies of a food system, it can be broken down into each step on a food’s journey from farm to plate. Taking the example of canned green beans: the bean seeds will first be planted, then the beans will be grown, harvested, processed/manufactured into a canned good, transported, distributed at a retail location, bought and consumed. The food system encompasses every actor and process involved in the life of the green beans.
Industrial Agriculture
Industrial agriculture is a resource-intensive farming model designed for the goals of output and efficiency. It is the dominant model of our modern food system, heavily relying on chemical inputs, such as fertilizer, pesticides and antibiotics, and mechanized production methods. Industrial agriculture largely took off in the second half of the twentieth century, spurred by technological innovations and the globalization of food policies and networks. Under this model, small and family farms are consolidated into giant agri-businesses, with one operator controlling large amounts of land. A small diversity of crops are mass-produced in monoculture fields and animals are raised in large, concentrated groups, such as in feedlots.
While this agricultural model has been celebrated for its ability to efficiently produce abundant amounts of food, after years of industrial production, it has had dire consequences on our environmental, health and social systems. Industrial agriculture is responsible for environmental problems, including land and soil degradation, biodiversity loss, significant greenhouse gas emissions, and water scarcity. Greatly reduced diversity in our food options has led to less nutritious diets containing high fat and animal products, which has become a critical healthcare burden for many countries as diet-related diseases increase. Further, farmer and community displacement, and the exploitation of many human and non-human actors, are just two examples of the negative social implications of the industrial agriculture model.
Hidden Costs of Food
The true cost of food is not always represented in its value at the checkout. When food is priced cheaply, it is often because it is produced in a way that does not account for all of the impacts or externalities it has caused during its production. Although food that is branded as more local or sustainable tends to be more pricey, we end up paying for the costs of cheap food as well, but in other areas of our life. Taxes that support a healthcare system burdened by diet-related diseases or funds donated for environmental clean up and protection initiatives are examples of the ways society ends up paying for the costs of a system that does not account for the true costs of food. Even worse, these costs are often transferred to future generations or those most vulnerable in our communities.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations found the following figures in their most recent report on global food security, The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020: “If current food consumption patterns continue, diet-related health costs linked to non-communicable diseases and their mortality are projected to exceed USD 1.3 trillion per year by 2030.” and “The diet-related social cost of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with current dietary patterns is projected to exceed USD 1.7 trillion per year by 2030.”
Food Corporations
Commercial grocery store chains have become the norm in Canada’s food retail landscape. These grocery chains are stocked with huge amounts of packaged and branded foods, sold to them by giant, multinational food corporations. Power has been consolidated into the hands of very few companies in both the supply and retail sectors, giving them immense control over the pricing, brands, quantities and quality of the goods that get stocked. Monopolizing these sectors gives food corporations the ability to manipulate market trends and prices, which outcompetes smaller-scale, local suppliers and retailers. With no competition, food corporations have little accountability for the environmental and social harm connected with their business practices. Alternatives are forced to exit the market, leaving fewer options overall for what kind of food is available and where we can buy it.
With great power, comes great influence. And food corporations do not hesitate to take advantage of their power to influence policy and legislation that supports the business practices perpetuating the distribution of unsustainable and unjust food. Although they are providing food at cheap costs, food corporations are not forced to account for the negative externalities produced by this food, meaning prices are kept artificially low. While the food corporations walk away with enormous profit from controlling the majority of the supply and retail markets, social and environmental costs get passed on to consumers in other areas of society (see Hidden Costs of Food section for greater detail). Similar problems abound in the agri-business sector (ever heard of Monsanto?).
Global Food Trade
If we look a little ways back in history, much of our food was grown and sold in the same region. As the world becomes more globalized, agriculture products find markets increasingly further away from the fields in which they are grown. Some of us may be thankful for the globalization of the food trade - without it, we could never eat bananas in Canada! But, it has developed into an export-oriented trade system. A region no longer produces food to feed its residents, but to profit from sales on an international marketplace. For many regions in the “global north” this does not feel like a problem - using efficient, industrial farming techniques, they often produce surplus food and can sell it on global markets for cheap prices. Local farmers and those in the “global south” cannot always compete on these markets because of their smaller scales of production or more sustainable practices.
This scenario is exacerbated by the neo-liberal policies that structure the food trade (as well as many other sectors). The “global north” supports their agriculture industries through enormous subsidies and tax incentives, giving their products a competitive advantage on the supposed free market. While international governing and policy bodies uphold the narrative of open markets, the reality is that they, along with the nations of the “global north” and giant food corporations with industry monopolies, are imposing the rules of trade. Agriculture trade is controlled and dominated by these players, who leverage power imbalances to decide what is exported and where. Instead of competing in a free market based on comparative or natural advantage, local producers and the “global south” end up competing as disadvantaged players in a greatly unequal game of trade. The result is an exploitative global food market that is structured around the needs of the “global north’s” diet and that directly challenges food sovereignty.
Food Insecurity/Security
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, food security is defined as “a situation that exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.” In contrast, food insecurity is defined as “a situation that exists when people lack secure access to sufficient amounts of safe and nutritious food for normal growth and development and an active, healthy life.”
A common misconception of food insecurity is that we do not have enough food to feed the entire global population. However, this is incorrect. Currently, we do produce enough food to adequately feed the entire global population, meaning food insecurity is not a problem of quantity, but rather, of unequal distribution. Globally, the main driver of food insecurity is poverty. As of 2019, around 750 million people - that’s one in ten people throughout the world - are struggling at a severe level of food insecurity. When considering marginal or moderate levels as well, that number rises to around 2 billion people that do not have regular safe and sufficient access to healthy food.
In Canada, the main driver of food insecurity is income, meaning low income households are at a much higher risk of experiencing severe food insecurity. Over 4.4 million Canadians are food insecure - that’s one in eight households. People that identify as Black or Indigenous also face the highest rates of food insecurity in Canada. Although numbers are still being confirmed, there are strong indications that both Canadian and global food insecurity levels have risen due to Covid-19.
Health and Nutrition
Our food has become increasingly processed over the last century with higher levels of fat, sodium, sugar and additives, and consequently, lower nutritional value. Along with animal products, which are becoming more and more accessible, these processed foods now make up a large portion of our diets. This has resulted in dramatic escalations of diet-related health problems, burdening healthcare systems at such significant rates that they are often categorized among the leading causes of death for a nation. Diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure and cancers are strongly linked to our poor diets.
Overconsumption of poor quality foods can lead to diet-related health problems, but, on the other side, consuming too little food can also lead to a number of health problems. Children experiencing food insecurity can be affected by developmental delays and face increased health risks when entering early adulthood. Adults experiencing food insecurity are at a much higher risk for chronic and mental health conditions. Individuals experiencing some level of food insecurity are often the same individuals that are eating higher proportions of nutritionally-poor foods, because they tend to be more accessible than fresh, healthy alternatives. This is the double burden: diet-related diseases and undernutrition very often coexist.
Climate Change and Environmental Degradation
The food system has been estimated to account for between one quarter to one third of global greenhouse gas emissions, making the food system one of the most significant contributors to climate change. The problem begins on the farm. Soil and land management, as well as livestock rearing, account for a large portion of these emissions. For example, forested areas that act as carbon sinks are being cleared for agricultural land, turning the land into a carbon source. As soil is prepared for new harvests or left bare between harvests, carbon is released into the atmosphere. Methane is also released into the atmosphere through the manure left by livestock. Rather than growing food for communities to eat, much of this agricultural land is devoted to growing feed for livestock, biofuels or industrial ingredients for processed food. The result is that increasing amounts of fertile land are being used for energy-intensive and emissions-generating operations, which often don’t even end up on our plate.
Emissions are also released during every phase of a food’s journey from farm to plate, including through multiple, long transportation routes, energy-intensive storage and plastic-heavy packaging. If the food ends up as food waste, not only is the value of the inputs wasted, but it becomes a source of emissions itself as it is incinerated or decomposed in landfills.
Besides its contribution to climate change, the food system also plays a harmful role in environmental degradation - again, significantly at the farm level. Poor land management, soil erosion, pollution from chemical inputs, such as fertilizers and pesticides, depletion or contamination of water sources and impacts from mechanized production, are a handful of the problems that lead to ecosystem destruction around farmland. With unsustainable agricultural practices, the ecosystem loses resilience, resulting in decreased biodiversity and increasing soil infertility. In short, our current food system intakes a huge amount of resources, outputs greenhouse gas emissions and destroys the environment - all of which endangers our future ability to produce quality food.
Food Waste
Food waste and loss represents one of the greatest economic and environmental failures of our food system. Huge amounts of energy and resources are consumed in the production and distribution of food. When food is wasted, it becomes a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, as most food waste is sent to landfills instead of to natural or cyclical breakdown systems, such as a composting model. Financial and environmental strain occurs at both sides of the food system then (through producing and wasting it), and since a large portion of food is unnecessarily wasted, the system becomes wholly inefficient and harmful. Globally, it is estimated that around a third - or 1.3 billion tons - of edible food is wasted. In Canada, it is estimated that just under 60% of all food produced is lost or wasted, a third of which is avoidable, edible food.
Animal Welfare
Animals are not seen as living beings under the dominant industrial agriculture model. Instead, they are a unit of production, an output, a representation of profit. It is unlikely that raising animals will cease, since appetites for animal products are steadily growing. More importantly, animal products are extremely valuable components of many diets for cultural reasons, and it is almost always inappropriate to dictate the cultural food needs of a community outside of your own. In most cases, local communities are also the best stewards of both the plants and animals they hold as valuable, and their dependence on these beings creates an incentive for respect and protection. So, while animal production may never be fully eliminated, the welfare of animals can certainly be improved, and often, that starts with returning agency to communities in imagining their local food systems.
Farming models that respect the dignity of an animal treat them as whole beings with complex needs. Animals deserve to live safe, healthy and stimulating lives, even if they are raised for our eventual consumption. A farmer that truly takes animal welfare seriously, will incorporate love and care for all the creatures of their farm, not just those they are raising for profit. For example, this could look like extending welfare practices to humane pest control, limiting toxic inputs and regenerating natural landscapes for increased biodiversity around fields. Improving the ecosystem often means improving animal welfare, and vice-versa. When we value animals for the sacrifice of their lives, we end up valuing other agricultural elements as well.
Labour Exploitation
Despite the increasing mechanization of the agriculture sector, human labour is still a significant component of producing food. From the farm, to transportation, distribution and processing, immigrants and undocumented workers represent a large portion of the food production jobs in North America. Although they contribute so much labour to our food systems, these workers have historically faced exploitative labour structures and laws, as well as dangerous job sites. Intense physical work, heavy machinery operation, limited breaks, harsh climates, frequent chemical exposure, unsupportive regulations and improper training contribute to unsafe, unsustainable working conditions, and even injury or death. Unfair pay and the suppression of labour organizing exacerbate these problems, stripping food workers of a voice in creating the safe and equitable working conditions they deserve. If we expect high quality, safe food, we should enforce high quality, safe working conditions for everyone involved in its production.
Exploitation of labourers in the food system is not limited to North America. Since such large portions of our food are imported, it is imperative that we are considering how food workers are treated on a global scale. Inequality in our global food system creates unfair markets that perpetuate cycles of poverty and an inability to compete, meaning workers in disadvantaged regions are forced into unsustainable resource management and unsafe working conditions in order to generate minimum profits. Consumer demand for low-priced food reinforces this unequal system, ensuring workers will not have the resources to properly care for the environment and can fall into situations of labour exploitation. Slavery still exists, and it can be found in the food systems both at home and abroad. Acknowledging the connection between the exploitation of labour and the land is one of the first steps in understanding this problem.
Food Deserts
Food deserts are areas where residents have limited or no access to food retail services with diverse, nutritious and affordable food options. They are disproportionately found in urban settings, and especially in economically and socially disadvantaged communities. Fully stocked, low-cost grocery stores are missing from these spaces, so residents must choose between traveling far distances or gathering the majority of their food from the convenience stores, fast food outlets and smaller retailers located in their immediate neighbourhood. While these latter options do provide a source of food and can be locally owned (and sometimes they can offer even more culturally diverse options than a commercial grocery chain), they are not always as well stocked in the variety, freshness and price range that is necessary to properly service a community’s food needs.
If a community does have access to food retail outlets serving healthy food, but also features an overabundance of fast/junk food outlets and convenience/liquor stores, they might better fit the label of a food swamp. If a community has many healthy food retail options, but they are unaffordable for a large number of the residents (essentially acting as a food desert since they will have to travel to find alternatives), it might be labelled a food mirage. All of these terms - food desert, swamp and mirage - point to problems of food accessibility, which are especially acute for low income and communities of color.
Environmental Racism
Environmental racism is a form of systemic racism that is found in environmental policies, regulations and legislation. It also manifests through the outcome of decisions on environmental issues that disproportionately affect communities of color, the exclusion of communities of color from controlling resources and environmental movements, and the historical legacy of racism that ensures communities of color are more vulnerable to natural disasters and climate change. In short, environmental racism is found at the intersection between environmental issues and race-based oppression or discrimination.
In the context of our food systems, environmental racism impacts communities of color by excluding their members from leadership positions that provide power for influencing their community’s food choices. They disproportionately face many of the problems in our food system, such as food deserts, higher rates of diet-related health problems, labor exploitation and lower paying food jobs, exclusion from sustainability movements, impacts from agricultural pollution and ecosystem destruction, limited cultural food options and higher rates of food insecurity. These communities persevere with incredible resilience despite the environmental racism (and all other forms of racism) they face in the effort to engage in their basic right to food.
Food Justice
Although sustainable, local food spaces and initiatives have been increasing in popularity in recent years, they often exclude certain segments of the population. While moving towards a local food level and prioritizing sustainability are certainly important goals, ignoring how the food system intersects with social factors risks reproducing the dominant food system in a different vision. The result? An unequal, status quo food system that is slightly better for the environment.
History reminds us of the oppression and inequality baked into all of our systems, creating power dynamics and opportunity restrictions that seep even into what and how people eat. To create a true systems change it is imperative that we include the voices and needs of groups that are marginalized in our current food system. Even better, they should be leading the way. Low income communities, newcomers to a community and communities of color are often among these vulnerable groups, meaning social problems such as environmental and institutional racism, and economic inequality, must be fully recognized and included when reimagining the system. These problems are closely intertwined and addressing them in silos will not lead to success. Racial justice is climate justice is food justice. They are all critical in our fight for a better food system.
Food Sovereignty
Food sovereignty is a concept introduced by La Via Campesina, an international organization representing peasant voices, at the 1996 World Food Summit. They say it best: “Food is a basic human right. This right can only be realized in a system where food sovereignty is guaranteed. Food sovereignty is the right of each nation to maintain and develop its own capacity to produce its basic foods respecting cultural and productive diversity. We have the right to produce our own food in our own territory. Food sovereignty is a precondition to genuine food security.”
Indigenous Food Systems
There are three groups of Indigenous peoples in the settler colonial state of Canada: First Nations, Inuit and Metis, composing a population of over 1.67 million people. There are over 630 First Nations communities representing over 50 Nations and 50 languages. Each of these groups and communities are unique, with different cultures, beliefs, languages and histories. What the Indigenous people of so called Canada do share in common, is that they were colonized by European settlers that stole their land and forced assimilation into their proclaimed country. This legacy is one that continues today, legislated through the governments that claim authority, and resulting in the enduring genocide of the Indigenous people of this land.
Colonization has grave consequences for Indigenous food systems - namely, the unrestrained destruction of the ecosystems that they rely on for food, as well as the systematic disconnection of Indigenous people from the land hosting their food systems. Unable to access land, forbidden from engaging in ceremonies and traditional food practices, and driven into socio-economic disadvantage over centuries of oppression, Indigenous communities have survived incredible horrors while retaining strength, dignity and critical food knowledge. Many Indigenous people are now being called on as leaders, to help the settler population respond and adapt to the climate crisis and food problems they have caused (and which Indigenous communities disproportionately suffer from). Indigenous communities are innovating their own resilient food systems, revitalizing traditional hunting, gathering and cultivating practices.
Across the world, colonization and displacement (often for the gain of agricultural land) has left insurmountable damage on our food environments and those best skilled at protecting them - the Indigenous populations in all regions of the globe. Despite these immense challenges, Indigenous people continue to protect around 80% of the world’s biodiversity and offer timeless teachings on caring for the earth and its many food sources.
Sustainable Agriculture
Sustainable agriculture is a farming model based on relatively small farms that use less chemical and off-farm inputs, integrate animal and plant production, encourage biodiversity and soil health, and mitigate environmental impacts. Sustainable farmers recognize that natural resources and economic growth are finite, and that using holistic management practices will ensure long-term production - in contrast to the short-term profit and yield goals of industrial agriculture. Sustainable agriculture is also place-specific, acknowledging and adapting to the social, cultural and environmental context in which it is situated. For example, a community that sees a lot of rainfall and has a rice-heavy diet, may have developed as such due to the ecosystem that they are located in. Growing dry-weather crops would likely require a lot of inputs due to the unfriendly climate, and therefore, may not be a sustainable farming choice. Seeing the farm as an entire ecosystem (within even larger societal systems) frames agricultural work as an opportunity to create holistic social outcomes and healthy food, while eliminating the negative externalities of an environmentally-harmful industrial approach.
There are many types of farms that fall under the sustainable agriculture model, such as regenerative agriculture, organic farming, agroecological models and conservation agriculture. While many of them overlap or share similarities, some promote higher levels of environmental stewardship than others. And while these sustainable models lend themselves to more localized, community-based production, their encompassing similarity is a commitment to improved environmental practices. Therefore, while these models acknowledge social context, justice and human components are not intrinsic. So it is important to examine sustainable agriculture models with a food justice framework to ensure community needs, not just environmental needs, are properly being met. And let’s not forget the people, communities and cultures that have been exemplifying sustainability from the start - such as the Indigenous communities of this land - those for whom sustainability is inherent in their lives, teachings and practices. We must look to them as leaders in the sustainable farming movement.
Urban and Civic Agriculture
Farming is increasingly fragmented from urban areas and devalued by society, breaking the social ties that once bonded producers and consumers - in other words, most city-dwellers no longer have direct connections to the people and places that are growing their food. Urban agriculture, defined as the cultivation of food in an urban area, is one solution that aims to bridge that disconnect. Urban agriculture initiatives may be born from the desire to connect people back to nature, learn the history of the land and its people, teach communities about growing food, build resilience in local food systems and support a community’s food needs in more local, sustainable ways.
Alongside the revaluation of farming, one of the greatest benefits presented by urban agriculture is the opportunity to build community. Growing food offers a platform for community members to join together, sharing knowledge and resources, and strengthening connections between neighbours. When agriculture initiatives weave community-building into their desired outcomes, it is called civic agriculture. Urban and civic agriculture are closely intertwined.
Urban and civic agriculture can take many forms, but they are inherently local and often small-scale. Some popular examples include community gardens, farmers’ markets, yard share programs, rooftop gardens, edible plants in public spaces, backyard bees and community supported agriculture programs (CSAs). Urban and civic agriculture grounds people with a sense of place and purpose, and encourages the revaluation of the hard work and love that goes into growing food (and the people who contribute this hard work and love - our farmers!).
Zero Waste
According to the Zero Waste International Alliance, the internationally accepted definition of zero waste is: the conservation of all resources by means of responsible production, consumption, reuse, and recovery of products, packaging, and materials without burning and with no discharges to land, water, or air that threaten the environment or human health. When put into the context of food, zero waste means that no food or materials are wasted in the process of getting food from the farm to your table.
Circular Economy
We currently live in a linear economy, meaning we extract resources and turn them into products, often creating pollution in the process, and then dispose of them as waste. In a circular economy, all products and materials stay within the system, meaning no waste or pollution is ever created. Even more than eliminating harm to nature, a circular economy strengthens and regenerates natural systems by closing the loop. If we want a prosperous future, we need to start thinking beyond the sustainability of individual products or infrastructure, and instead push for a systems change inspired by the cycles of nature.
To transition to a circular economy, we will need to rethink and redesign the entire life cycle of the many products and systems that make up our economy. Many communities and companies have already begun this work.