The hidden cost of seemingly cheap food production is
damaging the planet, driving human disease and jeopardizing food workers
exposed to toxins every day. Experts who gathered at the True Cost of American Food conference
in San Francisco this past weekend said for every dollar American
consumers pay for food, the country is spending up to two dollars to
fight diseases linked to poor food production, worker abuse and environmental
harms.
"The bill consumers pay at the grocery checkout does
not reflect the true cost Americans are actually paying for food," said Patrick
Holden, chief executive of the Sustainable Food Trust. "We have to
recognize this before we can do a better job growing our food, educating
society to make informed decisions and incentivizing farmers and sustainable
practices – and thereby save both lives and money."
One promising solution is a new cost assessment model that
monetizes the environmental and social costs and benefits of a farming system,
announced Harpinder Sandhu, environmental scientist at Flinders
University, Australia and an expert at the United Nations
Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Sandhu
measures each farming system's inputs and outputs, including the environmental
and social impacts of the system. He tracks this natural capital's effect on
the balance sheet using a valuation framework developed in collaboration with
the UN-led Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture
project. After he quantifies and prices these impacts, he can add or subtract
them from the prices in standard accounting, which normally only reflects food
sales. His approach produces a more accurate picture of the financial impact of
a different farming system.
"Information we learned from farms in this study made
it possible not only to avoid damage to the environment, but deliver positive
benefits, including more on-farm employment, greater biodiversity and increased
soil carbon – all of which have monetary value," Sandhu said. "When
these benefits are included, farm products present better value to society as a
whole than the so-called cheap beef and milk from feedlot systems, which isn't
really cheap at all."
Experts at the conference called for more studies that
further establish true-cost accounting practices and policies to inform
consumers on the true cost of food and establish better farming policies and
incentives.
Conference experts also identified concrete changes that
would lead to more sustainable food production. The short video, A Tale of Two Chickens,
highlights six ways we can change our current food systems to ensure the hidden
costs of cheap food are addressed and eliminated, including the following.
1.
Buy
sustainably raised food to reward food producers that benefit the environment
and improve public health.
2.
Create
policies that link farm bill subsidies, crop insurance and food stamps to
encourage more sustainable farming and food products, which can increase access
to good food for all.
3.
Tax
fertilizers and pesticides to encourage farmers to reduce their use and adopt
more carbon-friendly soil practices.
4.
Incentivize
health insurance customers who follow healthier diets.
5.
Encourage
investment in community-based sustainable businesses.
6.
Pay
farm and food workers a living wage and give them safer working conditions.
The conference concluded with a clear call to action to
better understand the cost of industrialized food production and to apply the
six practices identified in the video now.
SOURCE Sustainable Food Trust
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