The Grand Food Bargain And the Mindless Drive for More

"Of consuming interest...The 'grand food bargain' in the title is meant ironically: Our abundance of food in the West comes at a high cost to our environment and the Earth—and that's no bargain. Walker begins and ends his impassioned book on the

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Kevin D. Walker

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The Grand Food Bargain

The Grand Food Bargain And the Mindless Drive for More

Kevin D. Walker

Washington | Covelo | London

Copyright © 2019 Kevin D. Walker All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher: Island Press, 2000 M Street, NW, Suite 650, Washington, DC 20036 Island Press is a trademark of The Center for Resource Economics. Library of Congress Control Number: 2018959604 All Island Press books are printed on environmentally responsible materials. Manufactured in the United States of America 10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1

Keywords: acute illness, antibiotic resistance, CAFOs, chronic diseases, consumerism, empty calories, environmental resilience, farm bill, finite resources, food assistance, foodborne outbreaks, food safety, food waste, free markets, global markets, global warming, GMOs, individual choices, industrial food production, international trade, laws of nature, malnutrition, market society, monoculture, monopoly power, natural selection, obesity, fertilizer and pesticide runoff, pseudoscience, political influence, processed foods, regulatory capture, resource depletion, SNAP, social norms, societal benefits, stewardship, supermarkets, sustainability, taxpayer subsidies, vulnerable populations/ communities, unexpected consequences

To those from the past, present, and future who remind us that food is about more than what we decide to eat.



We must think about things as they are, not as they are said to be. — George Bernard Shaw



The mind of this country, taught to aim at low objects, eats upon itself. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Contents

xiii

Acronyms Part I: Taking Stock Chapter 1.

The Third Relationship

Chapter 2.

My Food, My Way

3 19

Part II: Forces Driving More Chapter 3.

More Is Never Enough

41

Chapter 4.

An Infinite Supply of Finite Resources

61

Chapter 5.

Expecting More, Committing Less

83

Chapter 6. Science à la Carte

101

Chapter 7.

123

Becoming a Market Society

Part III: Unexpected Consequences Chapter 8.

The World’s Safest Food

145

Chapter 9.

The Perfect Formula

167

Chapter 10.

Controlling Nature

187

Part IV: Decisions You’ll Make Chapter 11. Live and Learn

211

Chapter 12.

To Lead or Be Led?

231





Acknowledgments

247

Notes

251

Index

317

Acronyms

CDC EPA ERS FDA FSIS GAO IICA MSU NAL NASS NIFA NOAA OECD OIG OMB PLoS USDA WHO

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention United States Environmental Protection Agency Economic Research Service Food and Drug Administration USDA Food Safety Inspection Service Government Accountability Office Internati