{"id":"5e9e24c56cee070006128b3d","slug":"food-fix-en","title":"Food Fix","audio_url":"https://hls.blinkist.io/bibs/5e9e24c56cee070006128b3d/5e9e24fb6cee07000654df9d-T1587423478.m4a?Expires=1652693135&Signature=F6D7bObeSfAPkpkk7OypRRYG4S4l99SHwvVdrmIMdib7XxJbrmYn3z8vdRpV9t04gxiec3v6yrWQLsrhPlNo2VoBjkqIlJkNYvf2PsIpHisYZ-VNVAh2W2ssUPqd6LGiO~ip511T6~hzebiYCk5s6nBtH8owN3vZtTIcYtB6hWgHLHqUM9RNx9~QEHyZVVxp~M6PSBVPddnLpKqatoRDrMHM0Co17GXDlX58CdwQD1DKT9TdB1IsRo4iKrtrOIYMKGMKbtXraN8yKisIb~YnfXdiae18QXufv39s~lZCmD6MpJJBqRL16Z75VCiwF5tHU6zMHPPv-VpWrNWyfa18pg__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJXJM6BB7FFZXUB4A","chapters":[{"id":"5e9e24fb6cee07000654df9d","title":"The gravest problems we face as a species can be linked to one thing: our food.","text":"

Sometimes it feels like the world is coming to an end. Scroll through any news feed, and you’ll be confronted with emerging crises, rising death rates, and new conflicts. There’s a new famine. Cancer deaths are increasing. The polar ice caps are melting. Bees are dying out.

If you were asked why there seems to be so much alarming news, “food” probably wouldn’t be the first thing that comes to mind. And yet, food is at the heart of it all.

The key message here is: The gravest problems we face as a species can be linked to one thing: our food.

Let’s consider some of the most severe crises facing us and the planet.

First, our health. Shockingly, our diet is the main cause of death, disability, and suffering in the world. Over the last 40 years, our eating habits have changed beyond recognition. We eat more and more ultra-processed and sugary foods, and these have contributed to a rapid increase in heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. These diseases now kill nearly 50 million people a year. They are more than twice as deadly as infections. This health crisis was entirely preventable, but it has already cost us trillions of dollars.

Second: inequality. Children raised on ultra-processed and sugary foods suffer from malnutrition. This stunts their intellectual development, and thus they may grow up underachieving, driven into poverty, homelessness, and crime. Bad food makes the whole cycle of inequality exponentially worse.

Third, let’s look at communities in the developing world. They suffer disruption from big agribusinesses and from corporations that the author labels Big Food. These behemoths drive people from their land and destroy their homes and traditions, all the while encouraging harmful dietary and farming habits.

Last but not least, the way we produce food is endangering the planet. Big agribusiness is the single biggest contributor to climate change. It clears precious CO2-absorbing habitat and destroys healthy soils. It does more damage to the climate than all of our fossil fuel companies combined. Intensive farming methods also soak the earth in dangerous fertilizers and pesticides, killing vast amounts of our wildlife and creating huge “dead zones” in the oceans.

Traditionally, we have considered these problems separately, putting “bad diet” in one box and “climate change” in another. But they all have one focal point: food. So to solve them, we need to take a broad, holistic approach. Before we define it, let’s consider these problems in more detail.

"},{"id":"5e9e25116cee07000654df9e","title":"The economic cost of bad food is terrifying.","text":"

Most of us already know that eating a lot of ultra-processed and sugary food causes serious health problems. Everywhere we look, we see new healthy-eating fads and “red alert” warnings about junk food.

But what might be shocking is just how much ill health costs us all.

The key message here is: The economic cost of bad food is terrifying.

For an example, let’s look at the US.

In 2018, scientists in America published two major reports called “The Cost of Chronic Diseases in the US” and “America’s Obesity Crisis: The Health and Economic Costs of Excess Weight”. These reports found that, in 2016, direct costs of caring for people who have chronic health conditions exceeded $1 trillion. What causes these conditions? More often than not, the answer is bad food.

Then there are indirect costs. In 2016, lost income, reduced productivity, and impact on caregivers cost America $2.6 trillion.

And in the longer term, over 35 years, the estimated costs of ill health in the United States alone amount to $95 trillion. This enormous sum is mostly due to the cumulative effects of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, mental illness, and other chronic conditions. Conditions which are – to a large extent – caused by bad food.

Another terrifying finding from this data is that today, 60 percent of Americans have one chronic disease and 40 percent have two or more.

Now that you know all these numbers, you can, perhaps, begin to understand the scale of the problem facing just one country.

And what about the wider world? We can estimate the global impact of bad food if we scale up the findings from these reports. America’s so-called “industrial diet” – burgers, corn snacks, candy, and soda – has spread across the world. The global cost could be in the quadrillions of dollars.

You might think, that’s a lot of zeros, but it means little to me. Well, according to the World Bank, if we used this money differently, we could completely transform our planet.

We could provide free education and health care for all; we could eradicate poverty, end food insecurity and hunger; remove disparities in social justice, income, and health; end unemployment; rebuild infrastructure and transportation systems; shift to renewable energy; transform our industrial agricultural system into a completely sustainable one.

Certainly worth a thought, right?

"},{"id":"5e9e25286cee07000654df9f","title":"Big agribusiness is storing up an environmental disaster.","text":"

When you grab your drive-thru burger or gas-station snack, you probably don’t consider what it took for the food to reach your mouth. If you did, you’d probably want to reverse right out of that drive-thru or gas station.

Why? Because big agribusinesses, the very people who farmed that burger or made the ingredients in your snack, are rapidly killing the planet.

The key message here is: Big agribusiness is storing up an environmental disaster.

Let’s start with soil – one of the most crucial components of our planet’s ecosystem. Soil is a sensitive, living environment. It is full of microorganisms, fungi, and worms. Together, they extract nutrients from dead matter and feed the plants. Without healthy soil, we can’t farm crops or animals.

However, intensive farming is killing this healthy, living environment by dumping harmful pesticides and fertilizers into it. As a consequence, the world may only have 60 harvests left.

Soil is also the best carbon sink we have. But as we continue to erode it by intensive farming, we release all of that stored CO2 into the atmosphere. The result? More global warming.

And as we turn our healthy, nutrient-rich soil into lifeless dirt, we add more and more nitrogen fertilizer to it. Without this supplement, this dirt can no longer grow anything. Then, to make matters worse, this fertilizer runs off the giant megafarms into rivers, lakes – and, finally, into the ocean.

When it reaches the water, it spurs a growth of algae, which suffocates aquatic life and poisons drinking water. Lake Erie in Cleveland was a recent victim of fertilizer run-off. The resulting algae bloom created a massive dead zone and poisoned drinking water in Toledo, Ohio.

And in the ocean, these dead zones can be up to 8,000 square miles wide – the size of New Jersey – with many tons of dead fish and sea life.

But there’s more. Intensive agriculture needs more than just fertilizer – it also requires lots of pesticides to sustain large harvests. These chemicals cause cancer and damage fertility in humans. But they also disrupt natural ecosystems and kill off entire species.

Especially hard-hit are the pollinators, like honey bees and butterflies. Without pollinators, we’d simply have no crops. No crops means no food, and ultimately no humans.

All pretty bleak, right? But we do have a choice if we act now. The choice is simple: we either move rapidly to more sustainable farming methods and dietary habits – or we perish.

"},{"id":"5e9e25426cee07000654dfa0","title":"The systems that once helped us overcome mass hunger are now failing.","text":"

In the mid-20th century, the great hope was that new farming technologies and agricultural chemicals would produce an abundance of crops. World hunger would become a thing of the past. This became known as the Green Revolution.

In many ways, it succeeded. Large-scale agriculture certainly did decrease hunger in many parts of the world. However, this utopian dream has now run into serious trouble.

The key message here is: The systems that once helped us overcome mass hunger are now failing.

The Green Revolution may have been well-intended. But it left us with many problems.

In the previous blink, we discussed the damage it has caused to soils, water, biodiversity, and the climate. But the farming revolution also created a surplus of processed food – food that is high in calories but low in nutrition.

And sadly, the Green Revolution has failed in its central aim. It did not end world hunger. In theory, we produce enough food to feed the world today. But 800 million people still go to bed hungry every night. This is because so much of what is farmed is used as animal feed in the lucrative beef industry, turned into biofuel, or wasted. The world’s hungry simply don’t get access to all this food.

Another consequence of the Green Revolution is the development of genetically modified, or GMO, foods. While many scientists say that they are entirely safe, there has never been a final, universal agreement on this. And there is one thing about GMO foods that is certainly bad. This is their over-reliance on pesticides and herbicides, which has caused the development of ‘superbugs’ and ‘superweeds’ – organisms resistant to such chemicals.

Another failing of the Green Revolution involves the farmers themselves. They were promised secure livelihoods, but the revolution never delivered. Even the father of India's Green Revolution, Dr. M. S. Swaminathan, has admitted to this failing in his scientific articles.

Why did this happen? Quite simply: big agribusiness and greed. Many farmers have become indebted because of the high cost of fertilizers, seeds, and pesticides – goods which they buy from the big corporations.

In India, this situation has become especially bad. Tragically, since the 1990s, there has been a wave of suicides amongst indebted farmers. In a tragic twist that emphasizes the terrible human consequences of big agribusiness, many killed themselves by drinking pesticide.

So that’s the bad news.

What can we do to change things? We’ll look for answers in the following blinks.

"},{"id":"5e9e25596cee07000654dfa1","title":"Food that’s good for you is also good for the planet.","text":"

As consumers, we can speak with our forks. If we decide to eat certain food types and avoid others, it puts pressure on the big agribusinesses and food corporations to change their behavior.

And the good news is that it’s possible to choose a diet which is both nutritious and environmentally friendly.

The key message here is: Food that’s good for you is also good for the planet.

Firstly, you should eat lots of vegetables and whole foods that have been sustainably farmed. Make sure that the carrots you eat haven't been doused in glyphosate herbicide and dangerous pesticides. Make sure that your grains were farmed in a way that treats the soil well and doesn’t abuse our fresh water resources.

But what about meat, fish, and dairy? Let’s look at them in more detail.

We’ll start with meat. Lots of dieticians recommend avoiding it. And, in general, cutting down on meat is very good advice. Meat should always be the side dish, with vegetables covering more than half of your plate. However, it’s not as simple as saying, “Eat less meat to save the planet”. In fact, meat raised in the right way may actually be part of the solution to climate change. For instance, if you combine grazing with organic vegetable farming, results can be spectacular. The manure of grazing animals enriches the soil organically, making fertilizer unnecessary. Eating meat raised in this way, then, can play a part in building a more sustainable agricultural system – so long, of course, as it’s only a small part of your diet.

Secondly, fish. You should go for fish which are sustainably-caught, high in omega-3 and low in mercury. Avoid large, unsustainable species that have a high mercury content, like tuna, swordfish, and halibut. Instead, you should eat more anchovies, mackerel, and wild-caught salmon.

Lastly, dairy. In general, it’s best avoided. But if you must have dairy, make sure that it’s 100 percent grass-fed and organic. And if you can, try to eat and drink sheep and goat-derived products, rather than those that come from cattle. This is because, by and large, the way we raise cattle is bad for cows, bad for the environment, and bad for humans.

These are general rules. But we’re all different. Each one of us has specific needs and requirements. While seeking out food grown sustainably, we should also listen to our bodies. If we can strike the right balance there, we can eat well for ourselves and for the planet.

"},{"id":"5e9e256f6cee07000654dfa2","title":"Though food lobbyists are powerful, government action against harmful corporations can succeed.","text":"

One of the main obstacles to dealing with the growth of unhealthy and unsustainable food is the power of big business. Lobbyists crowd the corridors of power and bribe government officials, offering everything from gifts to campaign donations.

A lot of progressive legislation has been killed off this way. However, across the world, there has been some success in resisting corporate power.

The key message here is: Though food lobbyists are powerful, government action against harmful corporations can succeed.

One example comes from Chile. In 2006, a doctor from Santiago named Guido Girardi was elected to the country’s senate. He had witnessed the health crisis first hand and vowed to take on the food industry and its predatory marketing practices.

So what did he do? He gathered an alliance of nutrition experts and drafted a law which he called “The Food Labeling and Advertising Law.” Despite dogged opposition from powerful food corporations, Girardi’s bill was eventually passed.

This legislation introduced some striking measures.

It ordered food companies to display warning logos on products high in sugar, salt, saturated fat, or calories. Then, the use of cartoon characters to market junk food to children was outlawed. Corporations were no longer allowed to advertise junk food on TV between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., and all junk food was pulled from schools. Finally, the government ordered food companies to change their advertisements and incorporate messages about physical activity and healthy eating.

The immediate results were astonishing. Children began telling their parents not to buy junk food. And when the consumer data became available, it turned out that the bill was four times more effective than any food tax or policy before.

Another successful measure was the soda tax introduced in the USA by economist Larry Summers and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. Though the powerful drinks industry attempted to stop it, the tax was implemented in Oakland, San Francisco, and Philadelphia, among other places.

As was intended, it reduced soda consumption. But the revenue it generated also went into building public schools and recreation centers. When people saw these schools and recreation centers – actual real-world results – support for the tax increased significantly.

So, despite all the money and power of big agribusiness and Big Food, governments and lawmakers can achieve progress with well-considered, popular arguments. In the next blink, we’ll look at what farmers can do.

"},{"id":"5e9e25876cee07000654dfa3","title":"Regenerative agriculture is vital for a healthy planet and healthy people.","text":"

We’ve just seen what governments can do to transform the way we eat. But what about the people who grow our food and manage the land? If we are to avoid health crises and environmental catastrophes, farmers must rethink their methods.

This means adopting something called “regenerative agriculture”. This is farming that prioritizes environmental sustainability and focuses on cultivating healthy, organic produce.

The key message here is: Regenerative agriculture is vital for a healthy planet and healthy people.

Above all, the key to regenerative farming is soil.

Currently, we’re locked in a deadly cycle. We deplete the organic life in healthy soil. Then, to grow anything at all, we replenish it with harmful fertilizers. This is unsustainable for us and the planet.

So how do we farm without destroying the soil?

Firstly, farmers need to move to so-called “no-till” methods that don’t disturb the ground. Rather than plowing the soil and disturbing its delicate balance, they can use seed drills to minimize the damage. This will promote soil health and help rainwater retention. Healthy soils hold water so much better.

Secondly, farmers should rotate and mix their crops regularly, allowing the soil to recover. Doing this also prevents diseases and pests, which tend to thrive on steady, homogenous crops.

Then, as we’ve already seen, farmers should rethink the role of livestock. Take the example of cattle on organic farms. As cattle graze, they add manure, urine, and saliva to the soil. This naturally stimulates plant growth, helps root structures, and increases soil fertility. Just like the bison that roamed the American plains for thousands of years, cattle enter into a symbiotic relationship with the soil and the plants. The success of this method tells us that following nature’s direction is the surest way to develop healthy and sustainable farming.

Finally, one of the most destructive elements of modern farming is the overuse of fresh water. But there is a glimmer of hope. Some farmers have found that a method called “dryland farming” can solve the problem. This means growing crops without irrigation. Instead of plowing the fields after harvest, these farmers leave the stubble in the ground, then plant a new crop right into this residue. If the roots and stems are left intact, evaporation decreases, and the field will gather more precipitation and blowing snow than bare ground.

By adopting these methods on a larger scale, we can veer away from our current path, and towards a greener, healthier future – a future which is better for people, wildlife, and the planet.

"},{"id":"5e9e259e6cee07000654dfa4","title":"Innovative farming practices are springing up all over the world.","text":"

As awareness of climate change and unhealthy eating increases around the world, some farmers have taken things into their own hands. These farmers are the outriders and innovators from whom many others will learn.

The key message here is: Innovative farming practices are springing up all over the world.

At the forefront is a man called Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin, from Guatemala. He’s the founder of a special kind of poultry farm called Main Street Project.

What Main Street Project does is called agroforestry. In their case, it involves raising free-range poultry in forests of hazelnut trees. This is something that mimics the origins of chicken as jungle fowl. By working with nature, rather than against it, this system has created many supplementary benefits and by-products.

First off, the trees serve as natural protection from aerial predators, like hawks and buzzards. The foliage also shades the chickens from the sun.

Then, as natural food is abundant in the forest, farmers don’t have to spend much on outside feed sources. Legumes and grains can be grown alongside the chickens. And as the chickens eat lots of insects, they act as a form of natural pest control. This means no more pesticides. Then, the hazelnuts themselves can be sold – alongside the eggs or chickens – as supplementary income for the farmers.

And finally, the fallen nuts and the chicken droppings fertilize the soil and nourish the other crops.

Farms like this are whole living ecosystems, and they are completely sustainable. Farmers are no longer producing destructive monocultures. Instead, they focus on raising several crops at once and create a rich natural environment around them. This is something that no pesticide-soaked cornfield or intensive dairy farm could ever achieve.

The ethos of Main Street Project is also something that many farmers should learn from. Although the chicken farm is profitable, it’s not driven by a short-term desire for maximum profit. Farmers like Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin understand deeply that without sustainable farming, there will be no livable planet from which to profit in the future. So they base their methods around a manifesto: agriculture must be viable on three counts – ecologically, economically, and socially.

When the goal is to regenerate human and environmental health, rather than simply to make money, everyone wins. This approach is better for the farmers, who have a safe, pleasant, and rich work environment. It’s better for the chickens, who can live like wild birds. It’s better for the environment, which can prosper without being doused in chemicals. And, finally, it’s better for us – all of us.

"},{"id":"5e9e25b16cee07000654dfa5","title":"Final summary","text":"

The key message in these blinks:

The Western diet, with its ultra-processed food and intensive agriculture, is harming us and the planet. In fact, it’s at the center of so much of what’s wrong about the world today. Solving the great crises of our time, then, has to begin with eating and farming more sustainably. To reach this goal, governments can apply pressure on big agribusiness through progressive legislation, while farmers can adopt innovative and regenerative practices.

Actionable advice:

Support your local allotment farmers

If you live in a town or a city where there are allotments, you’ll likely be able to find local growers who'll happily supply fresh organic produce to your doorstep. Sign up! Support them! Eat their food!

Got feedback?

We’d love to hear what you think about our content! Just drop an email to remember@blinkist.com with “Food Fix” as the subject line and share your thoughts!

What to read next: Eat to Beat Disease, by William W. Li

As the previous blinks have shown, eating food that’s good for the planet is also good for you. Indeed, by eating sustainable, organic produce you can ward off heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and cancer.

But did you know just how powerful a weapon your diet can be? In Eat to Beat Disease by William W. Li, you’ll discover how your diet can help your body’s sophisticated defense systems fight disease. You’ll learn how mushrooms can ward off cancer, how cocoa bolsters the immune system, and how your gut bacteria thrive on food like sauerkraut and cheese. To get more of these life-enhancing insights, head over to the blinks to Eat to Beat Disease.

"}]}

Log in to Blinkist

Sign up for Blinkist

Learn more, live more