food for thought
Understanding the True Cost of Food
Community FarmShare helps with new initiative
by jennifer freeman
The out-of-pocket cost of healthy food is a concern for many residents who have to make difficult choices between healthy food choices , addressing medical needs , childcare , or paying rent .
In 2023 , about 27 % of the residents of Montgomery County reported facing food insecurity . The Montgomery County Strategic Plan to End Childhood Hunger ( 2023 ) reports that 34,000 children in the County are food insecure . In Montgomery County Public Schools , 70,000 students — 43 % of student enrollment — qualify for free and reduced price meals .
As stark as this information is , food insecurity is the tip of the iceberg when understanding our broken food system — where the true cost of food should be the base of food policy decisions .
Beyond food insecurity , there is a crisis in our national and global food system . The nutritional value of the food people consume is declining , and a rising epidemic of chronic disease is a hidden cost of changes in the food system . In addition , the new ways our food is grown , processed , and transported are creating large-scale environmental harm as water , air , and soil become dumping grounds for pollutants . Producers are exporting the byproducts of production – and the environmental harm – onto the society at large , adding further to the hidden cost of our food system . The Rockefeller Foundation has studied these issues : in the True Cost of Food Report , published in 2021 , they found that Americans spend $ 1 trillion on food , but the true cost is over $ 3 trillion when considering the harm done by our food system on our environment , biodiversity loss , climate change , and our health .
Hidden Cost # 1 : Health Consequences and Healthcare Costs
Our food system has created abundant food calories at the lowest cost-per-calorie in history , mainly by not paying the externalities that our modern agriculture foists on to the environment and vulnerable communities — soil erosion , loss of soil organic matter , nutrient run-off , unfair wages , environmental costs and animal abuse from confined animal feeding operations , air and water pollution , etc . Agricultural innovations and industrial-scale processing , packing , and distribution efficiencies have created an international foodscape that would be unrecognizable to previous generations . But this transformation has come at a high price . Rising rates of obesity , hypertension , and diabetes – the so-called “ diseases of civilization ” --are causing a rapid rise in medical costs for individuals and for society . A long list of rising ailments , from osteoporosis and allergies , to Alzheimer ’ s disease , cancer , and Parkinson ’ s can be traced to changes in our food system and related dietary impacts .
Today , it is estimated that over 70 % of Americans are overweight or obese . Fifteen percent of adult Americans have diabetes , and an additional 39 % have elevated blood-sugar levels characteristic of prediabetes . Hundreds of thousands of American
38 plenty I autumn harvest 2024