Food companies sell a “pastoral fantasy” and the image of agrarian America, but the reality is large-scale factory-style production. This is environmentally harmful because industrial systems depend on large inputs of fertilizer, fuel, and feed, and in turn generate significant waste streams. Only a few corporations control the food system by consolidating power across meatpacking, seeds, and processing.
Environmentally, consolidation leads to high-volume production that relies on intensive fertilizer and pesticide use and CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) waste, polluting waterways. A social cost is that consolidation harms the business of small (organic) farmers, which can be addressed through government subsidies in a “farm bill”. Farms overproduce commodity crops, especially corn, which ends up in processed food and animal feed. Corn-heavy agriculture uses a lot of nitrogen fertilizer, increasing the risk of runoff into rivers and ponds. Corn is fed to cows because it is cheap, despite the fact that cows are designed to eat grass by evolution. A high-corn diet in cows can result in acid-resistant E. coli, as well as feedlot and manure buildup with pathogens and contamination, with runoff spreading pollution beyond farms.
Manure and fertilizer runoff can raise ammonia and nitrates, increase turbidity, and reduce dissolved oxygen through eutrophication and decomposition. The documentary film Food, Inc critiques weak oversight and industry deception, advocating that consumers not be kept in the dark. This ties to environmental protection because stronger monitoring and government regulation are much needed to affect runoff rules and waste management.
Hearing the story about Kevin, a two-year-old boy who passed away from severe foodborne illness, set in the realities about how human’s actions are cycling back to the human itself, and to the least deserving as well. The film also made me feel unsettled because it showed how disconnected consumers are behind the real conditions of supermarket food.
As I learned about the process of raising grass and food for the cattle to raising the cattle itself, as well as how workers are treated throughout this process, the film challenged my thinking about “cheap food.” Low prices usually mean convenience for the consumer, but they do not hide the true externalities or the true costs. They show up as environmental damage, public health risks, and unfair impacts on farmers and workers.
The film shows how large-scale meat industries and CAFOs rely on fertilizers and generate large amounts of manure. When that runoff enters waterways, it can cause eutrophication followed by algae blooms and decomposition of the algae which increases biodiversity and lowers dissolved oxygen loss. This hurts aquatic organisms such as sensitive species of macroinvertebrate. In summary, this documentary illustrates the environmental consequences of modern agriculture, such as the resistant bacteria that develops in humans, nutrient pollution, and immense water quality issues.
