The Modern Food Crisis

Thirteen years have passed since this was first written, and while the dates have changed, the underlying problems have not. The pressures on food prices, energy costs, and agricultural systems that were visible then are still with us now, resurfacing again and again in slightly different forms. What once felt like a warning tied to a specific moment has proven to be part of a much longer pattern. The same structural weaknesses, dependencies, and contradictions continue to shape how food is grown, priced, and delivered, making this discussion no less relevant today than it was in 2012.

Media Warnings and a Familiar Memory

The messages from the media are clear – gas prices and the cost of food are about to increase dramatically. Just yesterday, while listening to the news this information reminded me of the ominous words I had heard from a small farmer just outside of New York City before the last large scale food shortages hit in 2007/2008 resulting in a global food crisis.

A Price Study and a Farmer’s Advice

A few years ago I completed a price study involving the cost of eating truly organic, farm direct food in New York City. One of the small farmers I had the privilege of talking with at the time suggested that I do another price study six months later. He talked of the inextricable links between fossil fuels and modern agriculture and that the price increases in oil were about to ripple their way through the agricultural system. He reminded me that this simply wasn’t the case for small, non-industrial farmers who create food naturally.

Words That Proved Prophetic

I’ll never forget his words: “Last time I checked, the soil, fertilizer (natural), grass, sunlight and rain on my farm were all free… no price increases expected.” It turned out that this farmer’s predictions were far more ominous than we could have ever imagined at the time. The global food crisis of 2008/2009 resulted in never before seen commodity food price increases and many countries experienced a food crisis of epic proportions. It’s spring of 2011 and here we go again.

The Economics of Local Farm-Direct Food

The farmer’s wisdom reminded me of the economics behind the surprisingly low cost of the local farm-direct healthy food I was pricing. These small, local farmers simply do not have the expensive inputs and outputs of the modern, industrialized food industry. As a simple example, they pay for both the feed and the transportation of the feed to the animals in their massive commercial farming operations. This is also true for their fertilizers and the unusable, toxic waste their tortured animals produce. Their animal and produce products must also be transported comparatively long distances to huge regional distribution centers.

Natural Farming and Cost Resilience

In contrast, local farmers’ animals wander around eating grass, grubs, and other free food courtesy of the sun and soil. There are no major feed or transportation costs. As such they are largely unaffected by fuel and corn price increases. This example can be applied to the entire cost chain of both types of farming operations. The same negative results for big industry and the same hyper efficiencies for small farmers reveal themselves again and again. Where local farms are concerned, this serves as a reminder of the sanity of it all. Their inputs within their natural system are largely free. This system operates in a feedback loop where outputs become inputs. In contrast, it highlights the inefficiency of our modern industrial system of agriculture.

Disadvantages of the Modern Food Industry

Summarizing, our modern food industry, or agro-industrial food complex, provides the following list of disadvantages:

Low grade, low nutrient food which makes us fat, sick, and generally unhealthy
This food is made with hormones, chemical additives, and increasingly genetically modified organisms
Their methods of production torture animals, ruin the land, create dangerous new microbes, and produce huge amounts of pollution causing extensive environmental damage
They have adulterated and come to monopolize the term “organic,” lowering the quality of food allowed to be sold under this name while charging high prices
They take money in the form of tax subsidies to support these practices
Roughly 10% of every dollar spent pays for the actual food, reducing overall value and quality
Tracing this food from origin to grocery store would require traveling thousands of miles and navigating layers of restricted access, with many industrial processes remaining hidden

Advantages of Small, Local Farmers

The small farmers I met in New York, and others like them across the country, offer a contrasting set of advantages:

Fresh, high quality, high nutrient, naturally produced food
Food produced in cooperation with natural processes, without dangerous chemical inputs or outputs
Farming practices that enrich the land, produce no pollution, and preserve agricultural landscapes
Operations that create a net tax gain by contributing more than they consume
Stewardship of the original meaning of “organic” through simple and natural farming practices
100% of every dollar spent goes directly to those growing the food, increasing value and transparency
Farming practices that are open to the public, with many farmers welcoming customers to see every stage of production

Reclaiming Responsibility for Our Food

This journey confirmed my belief that we can no longer afford to drift passively through the process of procuring our food. The realities of our modern system demand attention, and the alternatives must be strengthened while they still exist. Supporting small, local farmers is no longer optional. Over recent decades, food has come to exert increasing control over our lives. It is time to reverse that relationship and take control of our food once again.