chapter 12websites.rcc.edu/bonzoumet/files/2016/09/ch_12_ppt_lecture.pdf · nutrition and you, 2e...

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 12

Consumerism: From

Farm to Table

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Nutrition and You, 2e

What Does It Mean to Be a Food

Consumer

The fact that we buy food, whether at the dining

hall, mini mart, grocery store, or restaurant,

makes us all food consumers

You may think you’re in the “driver’s seat” when

choosing the foods you eat, but this isn’t entirely

the case


How Do Advertising and Marketing

Influence Your Food Choices?

Food companies spend more than $10 billion

annually to promote their products

College-aged/young adults are increasingly

targets for advertisers

Advertising for fruits and vegetables is almost

nonexistent


Where Does Your Food Come From?

Much of your food comes from small, family-run

American farms

In the United States, a farm is considered an

establishment that produces and sells at least $1,000

of agricultural products annually

There are just over 2 million farms in the United

States, mostly concentrated in the Midwest, Great

Plains, and California. In 1935 there were more than

6.5 million farms feeding 127 million Americans.

Less than one percent of the U.S. population

produces enough food to feed the country’s

300 million people


From Farm to Consumer

Figure 12.1



Challenges of farming include:

High costs

A demand for low food prices

Competition

Dependence on the cooperation of Mother

Nature

Some farmers use computers and the Internet to

farm more efficiently = precision agriculture.

More than 75% of American farms generate gross

revenues of less than $50,000 a year.



The consumer is squeezing the bottom line, as

there is a limit to what people are willing to spend

for food.

In the 1930s, Americans spent 25% of their

disposable income on food.

Today, Americans allocate 10% of their earnings

to what they eat.



To try to offset their rising costs, many farmers

take advantage of government sponsored

financial subsidies that are available to raise

commodity crops, such as corn and soybeans.

To get this financial support, these crops must

also be grown in accordance with conservation

plans that protect the environment.



The role of agribusiness

Agribusiness is the blending of agricultural and

business entities that affect how food, as well as the

clothes in your closet and the furnishings in your

home, are developed, processed, distributed, and

purchased in the United States.

The agriculture sector employs just over 1/6 of the

U.S. population



What crops are grown for food?

The top three agricultural food crops grown in the

United States are corn, soybeans, and wheat

The United States is the largest producer of corn in

the world. Most of the corn is NOT consumed as

cornflakes, cornmeal or other human products. 80%

ends up as feed for livestock, etc.

50 percent of the world’s soybean production occurs

on about 350,000 U.S. farms

The United States produces about 13 percent of the

world’s wheat



What animals are raised for food?

The most dominant food animals in the United States are cows,

pigs, and chicken.

Beef farms are concentrated in Texas, Nebraska, Colorado,

Iowa, Kansas, California, Missouri, and Oklahoma.

Unlike their ancestors most of today’s hogs are raised indoors

to protect them from weather, predators and the spread of

disease.

In addition to producing enough food to feed Americans, U.S. farmers help feed the world

An estimated 30 percent of the income from a U.S. farm is

derived from trading with other countries

Globesity, or the rapidly growing incidence of obesity

worldwide, is becoming a global threat



Food production outside the United States

Most fish and shellfish eaten in the United States is now

imported

About 32 percent of the fruit and nuts we buy originate

outside the United States

The United States currently imports close to $1 billion

worth of bananas annually

Vegetable imports have doubled, and importation of

fruits, juices, and nuts has increased by 20 percent from

decades ago

The majority of our coffee comes from Colombia and Brazil

Approximately 13 percent of your food comes from outside

the United States



Importing Foods: The Good News

There are two primary reasons for U.S. food imports

Demand for a diverse array of products year round

Demand for cheap food

Importing Foods: The Bad News

There are environmental costs for shipping foods long distance to the United States

There is potential for contamination of imported foods. There have been reports of imported foods containing excessive amounts of pesticides and foodborne pathogens compared with similar domestic products. This increased risk places an increased burden on the FDA.


Percent of Selected Foods and Beverages

Consumed in the United States That Are

Imported, By Volume

Figure 12.5


How Does Food Production Impact the

Environment? Food production requires the use of internal (land and water) and external resources (fossil fuels to grow- formed from decayed plants and animals that have been converted to crude oil, coal, natural gas, or heavy oils by exposure to heat and pressure in the earth's crust over hundreds of millions of years.)

Natural resources are used “internally” to produce foods and “externally’ to move these food products from the farm to the consumer

Locally grown food requires fewer natural resources

A locavore is a person who attempts to eat locally grown food whenever possible.

Some people wrongfully assume that locally grown food is the same as sustainably grown food. A sustainable diet contains foods that meet your nutrient and health needs but can be sustained for a long time without negatively affecting the environment.


Table 12.3


Sustainable Food Systems

More than 99% of the food you eat is produced

on land, compared to less than 1% from the sea.

Problems arise when topsoil can’t be

regenerated and/or is less fertile.

The natural process of regenerating one inch of

nutrient-rich topsoil takes more than 500 years.



Environment?

Hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides can improve

food production but may have environmental

consequences

Growth hormone is a protein-based hormone that stimulates

cell growth and reproduction in humans and animals

Recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST) is a synthetically

made hormone identical to a cow’s natural growth hormone,

somatotropin, that stimulates milk production

Antibiotics are used to treat sick animals, to preventatively

treat animals at risk of becoming sick, and to promote growth by

keeping the gut and intestines healthy. Antibiotics will kill or

slow the growth of bacteria.



Environment?

Pesticides are substances that kill or repel pests such as insects, weeds, microorganisms, rodents, or fungi

Herbicides are substances that are used to kill and control weeds

Antimicrobials are substances that control the spread of bacteria and viruses on non-living surfaces or objects

Fungicides are chemicals used to kill mold

Biopesticides are substances derived from natural materials to control pests

Sex pheromones are naturally occurring chemicals used to control pests by interfering with their mating


Reducing Pesticides in Food

Figure 12.7



Environment?

Biotechnology can help produce heartier crops but

is not embraced by everyone

Biotechnology is the application of biological

techniques to living cells, which alters their genetic

makeup

Plant breeding is a type of biotechnology in which

two plants are crossbred to produce offspring with

desired traits from both

Genetically modified cells have had their genetic

makeup altered



Environment?

Genetic engineering (GE) is a biological

technique that isolates and manipulates the genes

of organisms to produce a targeted, modified

product

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are

organisms that have been genetically engineered to

contain both original and foreign genes

Farmers in the U.S. and around the world routinely

use selectively bred, genetically modified plants to

create bigger and better produce and disease-

resistant crops, and to increase crop yields.


Plant Breeding versus Genetic

Engineering

Figure 12.8


Table 12.6


How Can You Be an Informed Food

Consumer?

Know the label terms that indicate how animal

foods are produced

These include certified, fresh poultry, free range,

kosher, natural, no hormones (pork or poultry as well

as beef), no antibiotics

Understand the meaning of the term organic,

which is being free of chemical-based pesticides,

synthetic fertilizers, irradiation, and bioengineering

Contrary to popular belief, organic foods are not

necessarily free of all pesticides.


The USDA Organic Seal

Figure 12.9


Table 12.7

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