Food industry: Difference between revisions

It is challenging to find an inclusive way to cover all aspects of food production and sale. The UK [[Food Standards Agency]] describes it as "the whole food industry – from [[farming]] and [[food production]], packaging and distribution, to retail and catering".<ref>{{cite web|title=Industry|url=http://www.food.gov.uk/foodindustry/|website=Food Standards Agency (UK)|access-date=2010-12-09|archive-date=2012-06-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120605160537/http://www.food.gov.uk/foodindustry/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Economic Research Service]] of the [[USDA]] uses the term ''food system'' to describe the same thing, stating: "The U.S. food system is a complex network of farmers and the industries that link to them. Those links include makers of farm equipment and chemicals as well as firms that provide services to agribusinesses, such as providers of transportation and financial services. The system also includes the food marketing industries that link farms to consumers, and which include food and fiber processors, wholesalers, retailers, and foodservice establishments."<ref>{{cite web|title=Food market structures: Overview|url=http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-markets-prices.aspx|website=Economic Research Service (USDA)}}</ref> The food industry includes:

Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, fibre, and [[land reclamation]]. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of [[plant genetics]], [[plant physiology]], [[meteorology]], and [[soil science]]. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences. Agronomists today are involved with many issues including producing food, creating healthier food, managing the [[environmental impact of agriculture]], and extracting energy from plants.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ImAnAgronomistimanagronomist.net/ |title=I'm An Agronomist! |publisher=Imanagronomist.net |access-date=2 May 2013 |archive-date=16 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116212751/http://www.imanagronomist.net/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[Bretton Woods system|Bretton Woods Institutions]] - The World Bank and [[International Monetary Fund]] - play a large role in how the food industry functions today.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Hickel |first=Jason |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/984907212 |title=The divide : a brief guide to global inequality and its solutions |date=2017 |isbn=978-1-78515-112-5 |location=London |oclc=984907212}}</ref> These global funds were born after World War II, to help rebuild Europe and prevent another Great Depression. Overall, their main purpose was to stabilize economies.<ref name=":1" /> The IMF provided short term loans while the World Bank was focused on larger projects that would bring electricity back to cities, roads, and other "essential" needs.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Goldman |first=Michael |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.12987/9780300132090/html |title=Imperial Nature |date=2008-10-01 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-13209-0 |language=en |doi=10.12987/9780300132090|s2cid=264519062 }}</ref> The World Banks mission and purpose, however, transformed as its President Robert McNamara issued a system of loans known as [[Structural adjustment|Structural Adjustment]]. In accepting loans from the World Bank, countries - especially the Global South - became economically, politically, and socially tied to the West.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Steinmetz-Jenkins |first=Daniel |date=2022-06-15 |title=The Rotten Roots of the IMF and the World Bank |language=en-US |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/the-rotten-roots-of-global-economic-governance/ |access-date=2022-12-08 |issn=0027-8378}}</ref> Many countries struggled to pay back their loans, beginning the process of global debt, privatization, and the downfall of local economies.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Escobar |first=Arturo |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/757736395 |title=Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World |date=2012 |isbn=978-1-4008-3992-6 |edition= |location=Princeton, N.J. |pages=3 |language=en |oclc=757736395}}</ref> As a result of Western intervention, many small scale farmers have been displaced, as US corporations have bought out land in other countries and continued to monopolize on food.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clapp |first=Jennifer |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1013824989 |title=Speculative harvests : financialization, food, and agriculture |date=2018 |others=S. Ryan Isakson |isbn=978-1-77363-023-6 |location=Black Point, Nova Scotia |oclc=1013824989}}</ref> Today, several multinational corporations have pushed agricultural technologies on developing countries including improved seeds, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides, crop production.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Aktar |first1=Wasim |last2=Sengupta |first2=Dwaipayan |last3=Chowdhury |first3=Ashim |date=2009-03-01 |title=Impact of pesticides use in agriculture: their benefits and hazards |journal=Interdisciplinary Toxicology |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=1–12 |doi=10.2478/v10102-009-0001-7 |issn=1337-9569 |pmc=2984095 |pmid=21217838}}</ref>

In 2020 scientists reported that reducing emissions from the global [[food system]] is essential to achieving the [[Paris Agreement]]'s [[climate change mitigation|climate goals]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Reducing global food system emissions key to meeting climate goals |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-11-global-food-emissions-key-climate.html |access-date=8 December 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Clark |first1=Michael A. |last2=Domingo |first2=Nina G. G. |last3=Colgan |first3=Kimberly |last4=Thakrar |first4=Sumil K. |last5=Tilman |first5=David |last6=Lynch |first6=John |last7=Azevedo |first7=Inês L. |last8=Hill |first8=Jason D. |title=Global food system emissions could preclude achieving the 1.5° and 2°C climate change targets |journal=Science |date=6 November 2020 |volume=370 |issue=6517 |pages=705–708 |doi=10.1126/science.aba7357 |pmid=33154139 |bibcode=2020Sci...370..705C |s2cid=226254942 |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aba7357 |access-date=8 December 2020 |language=en |issn=0036-8075}}</ref> In 2020, an evidence review for the [[European Union]]'s [[Scientific Advice Mechanism]] found that, without significant change, emissions would increase by 30–40% by 2050 due to population growth and changing consumption patterns, and concluded that "the combined environmental cost of food production is estimated to amount to some $12 trillion per year, increasing to $16 trillion by 2050".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.sapea.info/wp-content/uploads/sustainable-food-system-report.pdf|title=A sustainable food system for the European Union|publisher=SAPEA - Science Advice for Policy by European Academies|year=2020|isbn=978-3-9820301-7-3|location=Berlin|pages=39|doi=10.26356/sustainablefood |author1=SAPEA |access-date=2020-12-28|archive-date=2020-04-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418105107/https://www.sapea.info/wp-content/uploads/sustainable-food-system-report.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[IPCC]]'s and the [[EU]]'s reports concluded that adapting the food system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions impacts and food security concerns, while shifting towards a [[sustainable diet]], is feasible.<ref name=":0"/>

In 2020, researchers published projections and models of potential impacts of [[policy]]-dependent mechanisms of modulation, or lack thereof, of [[food system|how, where, and what food is produced]]. They analyzed policy-effects for specific regions or nations such as reduction of [[environmental impact of meat|meat production and consumption]], reductions in [[food waste]] and loss, [[Agricultural productivity#Sustainable agriculture|increases in crop yields]] and international [[land-use planning]]. Their conclusions include that raising agricultural yields is highly beneficial for biodiversity-conservation in sub-Saharan Africa while measures leading to shifts of diets are highly beneficial in North America and that global coordination and rapid action are necessary.<ref>{{cite news |title=Global food industry on course to drive rapid habitat loss – research |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/21/global-food-industry-to-drive-rapid-habitat-loss-research |access-date=17 January 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=21 December 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Current food production systems could mean far-reaching habitat loss |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-12-current-food-production-far-reaching-habitat.html |access-date=17 January 2021 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Williams|first1=David R.|last2=Clark|first2=Michael|last3=Buchanan|first3=Graeme M.|last4=Ficetola|first4=G. Francesco|last5=Rondinini|first5=Carlo|last6=Tilman|first6=David|date=21 December 2020|title=Proactive conservation to prevent habitat losses to agricultural expansion|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-00656-5|journal=Nature Sustainability|language=en|volume=4|issue=4|pages=314–322|doi=10.1038/s41893-020-00656-5|bibcode=2020NatSu...4..314W |issn=2398-9629|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125142655/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-00656-5|archive-date=25 January 2021|access-date=17 January 2021|s2cid=229346085|url-status=live|hdl=2434/857211|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

# [[Nanotechnology in agriculture|Nanotechnology]]: Nanotechnology is being used to develop new packaging materials that can extend the shelf life of food and reduce [[Food loss and waste|food waste]]. These materials can also be designed to be [[biodegradable]], reducing the environmental impact of packaging.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nanotechnology in Agriculture and Food Systems |url=http://www.nifa.usda.gov/about-nifa/impacts/nanotechnology-agriculture-food-systems |access-date=2023-05-05 |website=National Institute of Food and Agriculture |date=24 May 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

As consumers grow increasingly removed from food production, the role of product creation, [[advertising]], and publicity become the primary vehicles for information about food. With processed food as the dominant category, marketers have almost infinite possibilities in product creation. Of the food advertised to [[Advertising to children|children]] on [[TV ad|television]], 73% is [[fast food|fast]] or [[convenience foods]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kunkel|first=Dale|year=2009|title=The Impact of Industry Self-Regulation on the Nutritional Quality of Foods Advertised to Children on Television|url=http://lahealthaction.org/library/adstudy09_report.pdf|journal=Children Now|access-date=2018-09-19|archive-date=2018-09-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919132253/http://lahealthaction.org/library/adstudy09_report.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Until the last 100 years, agriculture was [[labor-intensive]]. Farming was a common occupation and millions of people were involved in food production. Farmers, largely trained from generation to generation, carried on the family business. That situation has changed dramatically today. In America in 1870, 70–80% of the US population was employed in agriculture.<ref>[http://www.farmersedge.ca/blog/2013/07/04/neat-facts-about-united-states-agriculture Neat Facts About United States Agriculture] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140314005120/http://www.farmersedge.ca/blog/2013/07/04/neat-facts-about-united-states-agriculture |date=14 March 2014 }}, Retrieved 19 November 2013</ref> {{As of|2021}}, less than 2% of the population is directly employed in agriculture,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_201.htm |title=Employment by major industry sector |publisher=Bls.gov |date=19 December 2013 |access-date=1 April 2014}}{{deadlink |archive-date=October11 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180511092038/https://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_201.htm |url-status=dead 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.csrees.usda.gov/qlinks/extension.html |title=Extension |publisher=Csrees.usda.gov |date=28 March 2014 |access-date=1 April 2014}}{{deadlink |archive-date=October28 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328233541/http://www.csrees.usda.gov/qlinks/extension.html |url-status=dead 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag-and-food-statistics-charting-the-essentials/ag-and-food-sectors-and-the-economy |title=Agriculture and Food Sectors and the Economy |author=<!--Not stated--> |access-date=18 May 2023}}</ref> and about 83% of the population lives in cities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://css.umich.edu/publications/factsheets/built-environment/us-cities-factsheet |title= U.S Cities Factsheet |access-date=18 May 2023}}</ref>