children are now diabetic . According to the CDC , 48 % of Americans have high blood pressure . Our industrial food system is driven forward by enormous forces and is resistant to reform . Many of us can respond by changing our personal dietary choices . But there are many for whom better food choices are a luxury they cannot afford . For them , the cheapest available food option is the Standard American Diet ( known by the acronym SAD ).
The Standard American Diet is a modern dietary pattern afflicting adults and children with long-term health consequences . It consists of ultra-processed foods and added sugar , unhealthy fats , and sodium . This diet lacks fruits and vegetables , whole grains , legumes , and lean protein . According to a recent university study , 73 % of the American food supply is ultra-processed . Behind this statistic , the researchers found two key drivers : convenience and cost . Ultraprocessed foods were found to be 52 % cheaper than less processed alternatives , on average . But the current cost of medical treatment for diabetes alone is nearly a half-trillion dollars per year in the U . S . The Rockefeller study , The True Cost of Food , reports that America spends over $ 1 trillion-per-year on medical bills for food-related illnesses … and after all that expenditure , a great many Americans still suffer from poor health , shortened life spans , and food-related anxiety and depression .
Hidden Cost # 2 : Climate Change , Environment , and Biodiversity Loss Consequences
The dominant food production system in the U . S . is industrial agriculture . Animals grown for meat are raised in confined animal feeding operations and fed rations that maximize rapid weight gain . Large-scale monocultures of corn , soybeans , wheat , and sugar are grown with heavy applications of synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides . Massive acreage of a few commodity crops is planted for animal feed and biofuels , and they are the main ingredients in the processed foods of the Standard American Diet .
For a century , agricultural research , policies , and subsidies funded by the U . S . have focused on building the food system of today . Lobbyists for “ Big Ag ” push government to promote industrial agricultural practices around the world . Technological intensification has led to an extraordinary four-fold increase in crop yields per acre in less than a century . But the environmental harm is seldom counted in the cost of production :
n Research shows that the effects of human caused climate change have reduced the growth of overall global agricultural productivity by 21 %; in warmer regions , this impact increases to between 30 and 35 %. The climate threats to come loom even larger when calculating the risk of severe weather on food and water shocks . n Greenhouse gasses are emitted at every stage of growing , producing , distributing , and disposing of our food . The contribution of agriculture to greenhouse gas emissions is estimated to be 21 %. n Soil degradation and erosion due to heavy applications of chemical fertilizers and pesticides contribute to pollution of streams , rivers , estuaries , and oceans . n Toxic pesticide residues on food are monitored by the FDA . Yet the impact of pesticide use on consumers , agricultural workers , and on natural ecosystems remain serious concerns . n About 70 % of global freshwater withdrawals are caused by agriculture , depleting scarce water supplies in many areas of the U . S . and around the world . n Industrial agriculture has narrowed the genetic diversity of food crops worldwide , reducing the resilience of the global food system and the diversity in the nutrient profile of our food . n According to a recent New York Times article , “… globally , the equivalent of South America is now used to grow crops , and the equivalent of Africa is used to graze animals . Combined , this is more of the world ’ s surface than is occupied by forests and more than 10 times as much land as is occupied by all human settlement . And according to the World Resources Institute , we may need to add almost two Indias to the world ’ s existing farmland to meet food needs in the second half of this century — but adding that farmland means cutting down forests , which store carbon , in order to graze more animals , which produce carbon . Fundamental changes are necessary , given not only climate ’ s impending impact on food but food ’ s ongoing impact on climate . One estimate is that food production is directly responsible for nearly a quarter of all global carbon emissions . Add indirect emissions , agriculture is responsible for one-third of the global total of emissions .”
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