Watching What

We Eat
Brian Halweil and Danielle Nierenberg

State of the World 2004

 Watching What We Eat
Overview:

1. A Revolution in Every Bite

2. From Farm to Factory – and Back
3. Food Without Pollution
4. Eat Here
5. The Rise of Food Democracy
6. Policy Priorities
 Watching What We Eat

The rise in international food

trade and the proliferation of
heavily processed and
packaged foods has
distanced most people from
what they eat, both
geographically and
psychologically
 Watching What We Eat

• Artificially low prices for food do not

reflect true costs
Ex.: - Farmers often unable to make a
decent living
- Need to clean up environmental
problems caused by destructive
forms of agriculture
 Watching What We Eat
• Many people in wealthier nations are not aware of
how food items reach their tables
For example...
Fishing Trawlers
- Industrial fleets have fished out 90%
of all large ocean predators in just the
past 50 years
- Many species in sharp decline
Luxury Foods
- From pâté-de-foie-gras to shark fin soup
to caviar, many luxury foods are produced
under brutal and ecologically disastrous
conditions
 A Revolution in Every Bite

• Consumers are becoming increasingly

concerned and involved
- Making a political statement with
their food choices
- Refusing to support destructive
forms of agriculture

• Growing demand for fair foods

Ex.: - certified organic fruits and vegetables
- pasture-raised beef
- sustainably caught fish
- bird-friendly coffee and cocoa
 A Revolution in Every Bite

• 25% of planet’s surface devoted to

food production (more than the
world’s forested area)

• Impossible to separate agricultural

practices from the health of rivers,
wetlands, forests, and the living
environment

• Our food choices rival transportation

as the human activity with the
greatest impact on the
environment
 A Revolution in Every Bite

Most profound changes eaters can make:

1) re-evaluating their consumption of meat

2) selecting food produced without agrichemicals

3) buying locally grown food

 A Growing Appetite for Meat

• Global meat production has increased more

than fivefold since 1950

World Meat Production, 1950-2002

300
250
Million Tons

200
150
100

50
0
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Year
Source: FAO
 A Growing Appetite for Meat

If the trend continues…

Projected Meat Consumption in 2020

100
100
80
Kg per 60 equivalent
person 1 side of beef
to:
per year 40
39
20 1 pig
0
1
Developing 2
Industrial 50 chickens
countries countries
Source: Delgado et al., 1998
 From Farm to Factory –
and Back

Industrialized animal production is the

most ecologically destructive sector of
global farming
 Inputs to Industrial Meat
Feed - 1 calorie of beef, pork, or poultry
needs 11-17 calories of feed
- 95% of soybean harvest eaten by
animals, not people
- Feed containing meat and bone
meal can cause mad cow disease
Water

- Producing 8 ounces of beef

requires 25,000 liters of water
 Inputs to Industrial Meat
Additives

- Cows, pigs, and chickens get

70% of all antimicrobial drugs
in the US

Fossil Fuels

- 1 calorie of beef takes 33% more

fossil fuel energy to produce than
a calorie of energy from potatoes
would
 Outputs of Industrial Meat
Manure

- Manure from intensive pig

operations stored in lagoons can
leak into groundwater or pollute
nearby surface water

Methane

- Belching, flatulent livestock emit

16% of the world’s annual
production of methane, a powerful
greenhouse gas
 Outputs of Industrial Meat
Disease - Eating animal products high in
saturated fat and cholesterol is
linked to cancer, heart disease,
and other chronic illnesses
- Factory farm conditions can spread
E. coli, Salmoella, and other food-
borne pathogens
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the
human variant of mad cow disease,
has killed at least 100 people
- Outbreaks of avian flu in densely
populated chicken farms can
spread to humans
 From Farm to Factory –
and Back
• Growing movement of farmers who choose to
raise their animals outside
• Increasing consumer demand for pasture-fed
or free-range meat
 From Farm to Factory –
and Back
Advantages of raising animals outside:
• Nutritionists say that grass-fed meat is healthier
(no antibiotics, no hormones, higher in Omega 3
fatty acids that lower cholesterol, etc.)
• Animals raised on pasture require little, if any,
grain, resulting in less pressure on farmland to
raise monocultures of corn and soybeans to feed
livestock
• Farmers enjoy lower costs: no antibiotics, no
growth promotants, no pricey feed, no huge sheds
to maintain
 Problems with Chemical-
Intensive Agriculture

• Fertilizers and pesticides pollute

surrounding environment
– reducing biodiversity
– contaminating groundwater and drinking
water supplies

• Health risks associated with exposure to

pesticides that are known or suspected
carcinogens

• Vicious cycle: pests develop resistance to

pesticides, requiring heavier doses and more
potent chemicals
 Organic Farms Yield More
Than Just Crops
Plants
- 5 times as many wild plants, and
many more species

Birds
- 2 times as many birds

Soil Life
- 2 to 5 times as many arthropods
(including butterflies and spiders)
and soil life, like earthworms
 Food Without Pollution
• Other benefits of organic farming:

– No cost to public for removing

chemical fertilizers and pesticides
from drinking water supplies

– Emphasis on cover crops, compost,

and manure increases organic
matter in soils, reduces erosion,
and increases productivity

– Organic produce is more nutritious,

containing higher concentrations of
antioxidants and other health-
promoting compounds
 Food Without Pollution
• Growing demand for organic foods

Global Sales of Organic Foods, circa 2002

Canada
Canada ($850 mill.)
United Japan
States Japan ($350 mill.)
Rest of World
($11 bill.) Rest of world ($825 mill.)
Germany
United Kingdom
Total = $23 billion Germany ($2.8 bill.)
Italy
France
United Kingdom ($1.6 bill.)
Other Europe
Italy ($1.2 bill.)
United States
France ($1.2 bill.)
Other Europe ($3.2 bill.)
Source: IFOAM
 Eat Here
• Today, the average food item in
the U.S. travels 2,500–4,000 km
(25% farther than in 1980)

• However, eating local foods

- preserves regional cuisines
- keeps money within the community
- saves energy (less hauling, packaging,
processing, and brokering required)
- reduces greenhouse gas emissions (less
transport)
 Eat Here
A meal made from imported vs local ingredients in Britain
generates 650 times more transport-related carbon emissions
Strawberries All these food items can be
8,772 km grown in a British climate
CALIFORNIA
Potatoes
Broccoli
2,447 km
8,780 km ITALY
GUATEMALA
All British
Blueberries 48 km Runner beans
18,835 km 9,532 km
NEW ZEALAND THAILAND

Beef joint Carrots

21,462 km 9,620 km
AUSTRALIA SOUTH AFRICA

Source: Jones
 Eat Here
Local foods are fresher, healthier, and less expensive
 Food Democracy

• More farmers, consumers, chefs, and food

businesses are resisting the temptation to eat
blindly, and are instead eating deliberately

• They are part of a growing movement to re-

establish our lost connection to food and the
people who produce it

• Consumers seeking better food

choices are the driving
force behind change
 Policy Priorities
Government Action

• Shift the more than $300 billion spent

on agricultural subsidies each year into
support for ecological farming

• Consider taxing pesticides, synthetic

fertilizers, factory farms, and other
polluting inputs or farming practices
 Policy Priorities
Government Action

• Work with farming organizations to

increase the share of their land under
organic production to 10% over the
next 10 years by:
– improving organic certification programs

– boosting organic know-how at agricultural

universities, research centers, and
extension agencies

– providing subsidies or tax credits to

farmers in the first few years of
conversion
 Policy Priorities
Government Action

• Reform international trade agreements to

eliminate export subsidies, food dumping,
and other unfair trade practices that
restrict the ability of nations to protect
and build domestic farm economies

• From the national to the local level, use

food procurement for schools, hospitals,
government offices, etc. to support
ecologically raised crops from local
farmers
 About the Authors

Brian Halweil is a Senior Researcher

at the Worldwatch Institute

Danielle Nierenberg is a Research

Associate at the Institute
 More information on
State of the World 2004
at www.worldwatch.org