Download - Ignorance Is Bliss
health and education • 1
IGNORANCEIS BLISS
IGNORANCEIS BLISS
Corporate Control of the Food Industry
The corporate food industry is out of control and it is having a devastating impact on the health of American’s as well as the environment.
Many Americans do not want to even
think about or know how their food gets
to them. However, this was an extremely
disturbing realization. If we refuse to
understand our food and the process it
takes to get from the farm to our plate and
still be fine with eating certain products,
maybe that should tell us something.
For years corporations hid the horrors
of the food industry but recently, with
movies like Food Inc., people are starting
to realize that their is something very
wrong with the food industry. With a small
amount of research, it is easy to uncover a
significant number of problems that exist
in corporate agriculture. There are few
corporations that have complete control
over a part of our lives that is impacting
our health and the environment. While we
sit back and do nothing, the food industry
continues to fill our food with hormones,
antibiotics, high fructose corn syrup and
many other cheap unhealthy alternatives.
Until people start to demand change, there
is no reason for corporations to change
their process.
It does not take a great deal of effort to
change personal food choice but this is
what can collectively change the current
problems within the food industry. If
the consumers refuse to purchase certain
products until positive change happens
then corporations will have no choice but
to listen to the consumer.
THE PROBLEMWITH FOOD
Poor policy combined with corporate greed has put the agricultural industry in a dangerous spot for consumers. So how did we end up here?
HOW DID WE GET TO THIS POINT?
Government policy has greatly impacted
the way food is produced today. In 1973,
Earl Butz passed the Farm Bill and his
philsophy was “go big or go home”. The
Farm Bill’s policies guaranteed that
farmers would received a minimum price
for corn, regardless of how much they
produced. As a result they produced and
produced. Over time the U.S. reduced
the minimum price and farmers had to
produce more and more to reap the same
revenues. The farmers got poorer and
corn got abundant.
What has this policy done to our food?
Corn has become available for purchase
at prices even lower than the cost to
produce it. It’s so cheap we now feed it
to cattle, instead of raising them on grass.
We now sweeten our soft drinks (and
other food items) with high-fructose corn
syrup instead of sugar. We also include it,
in some hyper-processed form or another,
in a remarkable number of the processed
foods we find in our local grocery.
What’s the problem with this? Beef raised
on corn is different from beef raised on
grass: it has more saturated fat, and less
Omega-3 fatty acids, than it should. High-
fructose corn syrup has been shown to put
50% more weight on rats than sugar. This
may well make our soda, and the other
foods that contain it, much worse for us.
There are many signs that the way we’re
processing food, and putting it in places
where it doesn’t naturally exist, is having
a detrimental impact on our national
well-being. On top of our health, the high
rate of production is also having a huge
impact on crop diversity and the overall
ecosystem and health of our planet.1
health and education • 7
OBESITY RATE
1926Concern over health hazards of arsenate levels leads to first pesticide regulation
1957high fructose corn
syrup is first introducedto the American public
1958U.S. Congress passes a
Food Additives Amendment requiring manufacturers
to prove safety of new food additives; bill includes the Delaney Clause that bans
approval of any food additive shown to cause cancer in
humans or animals3
1962The United States passed a
law granting plant breeders the rights to patent seeds,
thus preventing others from selling the same variety4
1990U.S. Congress passes
Nutrition Labeling and Education Act requiring standardized listing of
ingredients and serving sizes on food products3
1990Congress passes the
Organic Food Production Act, authorizing the U.S.
Department of Agriculture to establish a nationwide
definition for organic food2
1988Scientists warn that global warming may
affect the future viability of American farming
1979Large increase
in the number of families now eating
microwave meals
1975“Animal Factories” become
the dominant production method of meat
1971Earl Butz passes
legisltation to create food for everyone
health and education • 9
1994Three packers
controlled the slaughter of over 80% of the
beef in the US4
1994The first weed and insect
resistant biotech crops (soybeans and cotton) are available commercially2
1999Significant portions of
the global food chain are under the control of three
corporate clusters
2010S510, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010, if passed would take away the public’s
right to grow, own, trade, transport, share, feed and eat each and every food that nature makes
1994FDA grants the first
approval for food produced through
biotechnology4
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HEALTH ANDEDUCATIONpage 11
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FOODETHICSpage 29
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LOSS OF BIODIVERSITYpage 49
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CORPORATECONTROLpage 63
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THEENVIRONMENTpage 81
health and education • 13
HEALTH ANDEDUCATION
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There is a serious lack of knowledge when it comes to what we are eating. Between making the right food choices and what is really healthy, how can one begin to decipher the truth behind the corporate food industry? Well, it takes a serious understanding of how our food is produced, where it comes from and the impact certain foods can have on our overall health.
UNHEALTHYAMERICA
Where do we even start when there are
such a large number of problems? How
is the food industry personally effecting
human health and how can we begin to
re-envision a solution?
There are a few problems that need to be
addressed when it comes to food and our
health. First, if the only foods available are
processed and lack nutritional value then
being able to eat cannot promote health.
If there are fresh vegetables but they are
too expensive to purchase it becomes
difficult to feed yourself well or achieve
real wellness. This is a huge problem for
many Americans who do not have the
luxury to spend a large amount of money
on organically grown food therefore relying
on cheap processed alternatives.
Another problem is that the real costs of
food are invisible. We are not paying for
the health care costs that are going to
bankrupt our health care system or the
long term effects that are going to result
from unhealthy processed food. These
costs are completely hidden from us,
and the corporations want to keep it that
way. These costs are adding up at such
an alarming rate and there needs to be
a change in policy in order to keep diet
related health risks to a minimum.
health and education • 15
Obesity rates have tripled over the past 10 years
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There is food and there is what I call edible food-like substances. These are things we invented in the last 50 years or so that, you know, smell like food, taste like food, look like food, but they’re very different than the kinds of things people ate 100 years ago.
—Michael Pollan
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problem one
FOOD CHOICE VS. AVAILABILITY
While some people have access to healthy,
unprocessed food, there are locations such
as Detroit that are considered to be food
deserts. Food desserts are urban areas
that do not have any major grocery store
within the city limits. This means those
people have very few options when they
are purchasing food and often times end
up buying food at a corner store.
Another problem is that a large amount of
the food available at grocery stores is only
of one variety. Iceberg lettuce is available
at almost every store across the country
but provides little nutritional value. On the
other hand, more nutritious varieties such
as Red Sail and Red Majestic lettuce are
more expensive and available at a smaller
percentage of stores.
Both food choice and availability effect
what people eat. If quality products were
available more often people would be
more likely to purchase them causing a
decrease in the cost of the product.
Consolidation
When a market is consolidated the largest four companies have control over 40% of the market. This gives them the chance to raise prices to limit open competition.
How can consolidation begin to personally effect your food choices:
It’s harder and harder to find healthy, locally
produced foods in communities especially
if you live in a low-income area where there
might not be a supermarket for miles.
Prices are rising at the supermarket, but
you’ve heard that farmers are struggling
and big food companies have made record
profits this year.
You don’t have much choice about the food
you eat—maybe the selection of produce is
bad, or you don’t like that everything seems
to be made with corn products.
Local farms are going out of business
because small farmers can’t compete with
prices set by consolidated buyers.
Just one company controls the majority of
seeds in the U.S., and regularly threatens
farmers who don’t buy their seeds.
The food you can afford is bad for you;
healthy food is expensive.5
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ICEBERG LETTUCEAVAILABLE AT
98%OF GROCERY STORES
$1.19
health and education • 21
RED MAJESTIC LETTUCEAVAILABLE AT
20%OF GROCERY STORES
$1.99
The nutritional value of Red Majestic is much higher than iceburg with higher values of folate, vitamin K, beta carotene
problem two
THE REALCOST OF FOOD
While the food we are purchasing seems
inexpensive the real costs of food are
invisible. We aren’t paying for the health
care costs and we aren’t paying for the
long term effects that are going to result
from unhealthy processed food. We are
paying tax dollars for foods that make us
sick. The corn syrup we eat is filled with
sugar and this sugar is making us obese
and that is leading to diabetes.
If we start assessing the real cost and
communicate that message maybe people
would be persuaded to change. For ex-
ample, a value meal at McDonald’s may
cost $3.59 upon purchase, but when you
add in the taxes and health care costs that
are skyrocketing because of diet related
diseases, that cost could go up to $85.59.
Now is that something you really want to
be spending your money on?
In addition, soy, cotton, corn, rice and
wheat are also the most subsidized crops
in the U.S. Those five crops receive more
than 80% of all the taxpayer subsidies.
Many of the other “conventional” crops
also receive government support from
taxpayers, including milk.
Consumers make food cheap when
they pay their taxes. “Conventional” food
would be impossible without the farm
subsidies—which means that consumers
pay at least two times for almost all of the
“conventional” foods they buy. They don’t
seem so cheap anymore—and that does
not include the expenses associated with
health issues that occur as the result of
eating “conventional” food.
Unfortunately, everyone pays the second
subsidy bill, even the buyer of organic
foods, because the subsidy is a tax imposed
on all of us by the Farm Bill. The current
version was just passed in 2008, and most
of the current bill is business as usual:
billions more for the richest farmers
growing the five most subsidized crops.7
It will be argued that moving animals offfeedlots and back onto farms will raise theprice of meat, Pollan writes. It probablywill—as it should. Paying the real cost ofmeat, and therefore eating less of it, is a goodthing for our health, for the environment, for our dwindling reserves of fresh water and for the welfare of the animals.6
health and education • 23
$147Billion spent in weight related medical bills in 2008
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66%
Gallbladder Disease
The risk of gallstones is about 3 times
greater for obese patients than in non-obese
people. Indeed, the risk of sympomatic
gallstones appears to correlate with a rise in
body mass index.9
Breathing Problems
Obstructive sleep apnea is more common
in obese people. Obesity is associated with
a higher prevalence of asthma, severe
bronchitis and respiratory insufficiency.9
Heart Disease
The risk of heart attack, congestive heart
failure, sudden cardiac death, angina or
chest pain is increased in persons who are
overweight or obese. High blood pressure
is twice as common in adults who are obese
than inthose who are at a healthy weight.9
of Americans are overweight, and it is having an immense impact on our health and healthcare system.
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Type 2 Diabetes
A weight increase of 11-18 pounds raises a
person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes
to twice that of individuals who have not
gained weight. Over 80 percent of people
with diabetes are overweight or obese. This
may account for the newly invented word,
“diabesity”, which signifies the association
between obesity and diabetes.9
Fatty Liver Disease
The main cause of non alcoholic fatty liver
disease is insulin resistance, a metabolic
disorder in which cells become insensitive
to the effect of insulin. One of the most
common risk factors for insulin resistance is
obesity, especially central abdominal obesity.
Studies indicate the higher the BMI the
worse the liver disease.9
Risk of Arthritis
Osteoarthritis is much more prevalent
among obese patients, especially patients
diagnosed with severe clinical or mobid
obesity. Health studies show that obesity
is a strong predictor for symptoms of
osteoarthritis, especially in the knees.9
Meatloaf Ingredients: Beef, water, cream, onions, tomatoes, 2% or less of: soy protein concentrate (with caramel color), modified cornstarch, rolled oats, tomato puree (water, tomato paste), green peppers, beef flavor (maltodextrin, salt, beef extract, rendered beef fat, sesame oil), salt, sour cream flavor (malto-dextrin, sour cream solids, cultured buttermilk, natural flavors, citric acid, yeast extract), brown sugar syrup, brown sugar, bleached wheat flour, potassium chloride, sugar, dehydrated onions, egg whites, worcestershire sauce (vinegar, mo-lasses, high fructose corn syrup, salt, anchovies, tamarind, spices, natural flavor, caramel color, onion powder, garlic powder), soybean oil, dehy-drated garlic, garlic puree, spices, dehydrated soy sauce (soybeans, salt, wheat), seasoning (tomato paste, natural flavor), seasoning (maltodextrin, flavor, enzyme modified butterfat), caramel color, xanthan gum, carrageenan with dextrose, natural flavors, cultured whey, beef stock, lactic acid, calcium lactate
Macaroni: Blanched macaroni (water, semolina, wheat gluten), water, skim milk, cheddar club cheese (cheddar cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), salt, annatto color), cheddar cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes, annatto color), cheese flavor (cheddar, granular, semisoft and blue cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), sodium phosphate, whey, citric acid), modified cornstarch, rice starch, bleached wheat flour, salt, potassium chloride, cheese flavor (cheddar cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), salt, enzymes, cultures, phosphoric acid, xanthan gum), cheese flavor (cheddar cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), water, salt, disodium phosphate, natural flavors), spices, cultured whey, carrageenan, yeast extract, annatto coloring.
health and education • 27
WHY IS EVERY MEAL MICROWAVABLE?
Approximately one in three meals today
are cooked from scratch. We rely heavily
on pre-prepared, convenient and take out
food that are most often unhealthy. The
statistics for increases in diabetes, heart
disease and childhood obesity, could take
at least a generation to reverse. The public
is now calling for a complete restructure of
the food industry to combat the problem.
Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum,
said: “We have a whole generation of
parents relying on prepared foods that
can be put in a microwave or oven with
no cooking skills involved.
We have a situation where many families,
both one and two parent, are working so
many hours just to survive and feed their
family in today’s economy. It’s a function
of the way in which we live today, which is
an overworked society. The way we live is
causing the problem. The only way out of
the problem is to call on the food industry
and government regulation to have better
standards of the food we are eating.
People I know who are never overweight
or obese are frugal people. It’s not because
their extreme frugality keeps them from
eating at fast food places. They know how
to save money and they do all their own
cooking. This is one of the most important
steps to changing the way you eat.
When you do your own cooking you can
buy more foods in bulk cheaply, control
your sodium, calorie and fat content. This
gives people control of what they are
actually putting in their bodies. When we
rely so much on microwaving our food,
we don’t pay attention to the product that
we are really eating. Instead it is the fat
or calorie content. When cooking a meal,
you have a better understanding of what is
really being put into the food.10
“If you cook from scratch, you’ve got totalcontrol. If you make, for example, a lasagna,you can control how much oil, how manyvegetables, what meat you’re using, whetherthe cheese is low fat or not.”
problem three
RETHINKINGOUR MEALS
As we continue to become more aware of what we are eating, we must also think about how we eat. With the introduction and reliance on products like microwave meals fewer and fewer meals are cooked and enjoyed together.
More often we are eating meals on the go,
alone, or popping pre-made meals into the
microwave. We need to reclaim family and
community meals and begin to once again
cook for ourselves.
One problem today is that teens and young
adults are often not taught how to cook. Of
course making simple meals usually isn’t a
problem, but following a recipe just isn’t as
common anymore. A great option to target
this demographic by createing a unique
cookbook that supplies easy recipes, using
local in-season food. While there are many
cookbooks out there, there aren’t many
directed at the college age level. This is a
great opportunity to reintroduce a younger
audience to the food they are putting into
their body.
Along with the cookbook would be a
guidebook with locations of where to
shop locally in specific cities and towns as
well as a guide to in-season food. All the
information to cook a local, in-season meal
would be at their disposal.
solution
Deliverable | Cookbook with local and inseason food guide
Audience | College Students
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02
FOODETHICS
Separated from their mothers only a few hours after birth, the calf is chained in a stall so small that he cannot even turn around. Stalls are so tiny that the calf cannot even stretch out his legs to sleep, but must lay hunched on top of them.
livestock production • 33
In the United States roughly 10 billion farm animals are raised and slaughtered each year for food. At most conventional farms, these animals are not treated well. With their focus on productivity and efficiency, “factory farms” generally contain many thousands of farm animals under extremely crowded conditions. This is cost-effectively as possible usually with no regard to humane treatment.
THE TRUTH BEHINDMEAT PRODUCTION
Factory farms animals are often treated
as units of production and are often
subject to forced feeding of unnatural
diets, extremely restrictive confinement,
tail docking, “debeaking,” artificial
growth hormones, electric stunning,
and inhumane slaughter. The problem
is, farm animals are not protected by
federal law from cruelty on the farm.
This is a situation which relys on us to
make a difference. With all of the issues
involved in this industry change needs
to happen immediately.
Some of the inhumane treatments include some of the following:
Debeaked with a hot blade across
the sensitive top portion of their beaks
because tight confinement causes
chickens to peck each other
Hung upside down by their feet at
the slaughterhouse and attached to a
moving rail while still conscious; and
in some cases, boiled alive
Millions of female pigs spend their
pregnancies in small metal crates that
restrict movement. Boredom, frustra-
tion and stress can cause these sows
to develop unnatural behaviors, such
as repetitive head bobbing, similar to
mentally ill humans.11
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WOULD YOU RATHER BE ABLE TO ROAM FREE IN A FIELD
health and education • 35
OR STUCK IN A 14 INCH CAGE WITH EIGHT OF YOUR FRIENDS?
health and education • 37
problem one
LIVESTOCKPRODUCTION
The livestock industry has played a large
role in global warming. The livestock
industry is responsible for 18 percent of
greenhouse gas emissions, a bigger share
than that of transport and accounts for a
great deal of carbon dioxide emissions,
most of it due to growing pasture size and
land for feed crops.
It also heavily impacts the world’s water
supply accounting for more than 8 percent
of human water use worldwide. The farms
are the largest source of water pollutants,
animal waste, antibiotics, hormones,
fertilizers, pesticides, and sediments from
eroded pastures. While global figures are
unavailable, it is estimated that in the USA
livestock and feed crop agriculture are
responsible for 37 percent of pesticide use
and 50 percent of antibiotic use.
The sheer quantity of animals being
raised for human consumption also poses
a threat of the Earth’s biodiversity. The
land area they now occupy was once
habitat for wildlife. In 306 of the 825
terrestrial eco-regions identified by the
Worldwide Fund for Nature, livestock are
identified as “a current threat”, while 23
of Conservation International’s 35 “global
hotspots for biodiversity”—characterized
by serious levels of habitat loss—are af-
fected by livestock production.12
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A stunning instrument used to incapacitate farm animals with a strong electrical shock prior to slaughter.
GESTATION CRATES ARE ONLY
17”WIDE GIVING THE PIG
NO ROOM TO MOVE
health and education • 41
problem two
FACTORY FARMCONDITIONS
Mass production of meat has resulted
in incredible pain and suffering for the
animals. Today they are raised on factory
farms and have been pumped full of
antibiotics, hormones and chemicals to
encourage high productivity.
They are confined to small cages with
metal bars, ammonia-filled air and often
artificial lighting or no lighting at all. They
are subjected to horrible mutilations: beak
searing, tail docking, ear cutting and even
castration. Even the minimum humane
standards proposed are thwarted by the
powerful food conglomerates. Corpora-
tions have turned family-farming methods
into cost-saving production strategies,
which endanger public health and treat
animals cruelly. Also known as confined
animal feeding operations (CAFOs), the
factory farms treat animals like more as
production units and as a result your get
poor food quality, and inhumane condi-
tions for the animals.
Broiler Chickens
The broiler chicken industry produces six billion chickens a year for slaughter. This industry is ruled by 60 companies which have created an oligopoly. The chickens are selectively bred and genetically altered to
produce bigger thighs and breasts, the parts in most demand. This breeding creates birds so heavy that their bones cannot support their weight, making it difficult for them to even stand. The birds are bred to grow at an astonishing rate, reaching their market weight of 3 1/2 pounds in seven weeks. Broilers are raised in overcrowded broiler houses instead of cages to prevent the bruised flesh which would make their meat undesirable. Their beaks and toes are cut off and the broiler houses are usually unlit to prevent fighting among the birds.
Layer Chickens
There are about 250 million hens in U.S. egg factories supplying 95% of the eggs in this country. In these facilities the birds are held in small cages with slanted wire floors which cause severe discomfort and foot deformation. Five to eight birds are crammed in cages only 14 square inches in size. Because of the conditions, they become very aggressive and attack the other birds in their cage. To help combat this behavior, the birds have their beaks seared off at a young age. The chicks are sorted at birth and newborn males are separated and suffocated in trash bags. The layer hens are subjected to constant light to encourage greater egg production. At the end of their laying cycle they are either slaughtered or forced to molt by water and food deprivation, which
Animals are not even considered animals atall;they are just food producing machines.
shocks them into another cycle. Many birds become depleted of minerals and either die from fatigue or can no longer produce eggs and are sent to the slaughterhouse.
Pigs
It is estimated that 90% of all pigs raised for food are confined at some point in their lives. Pigs are highly social, affectionate and intelligent creatures, and suffer both physically and emotionally when they are confined in narrow cages where they can’t even turn around. Many pigs become crazy with boredom and develop nervous ticks; while others are driven to fighting. Pigs are born and raised inside buildings that have automated water, feed and waste removal. They don’t see daylight until they are shipped for slaughter. Dust, dirt and toxic gases from the pigs’ waste create an unsanitary environment that contributes to a number of diseases and illnesses, including pneumonia, cholera and dysentery.
Veal Calves
The veal industry is notorious for the cruel confinement of calves. Calves are kept in small crates which prevent movement inhibit muscle growth so their flesh will be tender. They are also fed a diet deficient of iron to keep their flesh pale and appealing
to the consumer. Veal calves spend each day confined alone with no companionship and are deprived of light for a large portion of their four-month lives.
Dairy Cows
Dairy cows are bred today for high milk production. For cows who are injected with Bovine Growth Hormone, their already high rate of milk production is doubled. Half of the cows in the national dairy herd are raised in intensive confinement, where they suffer emotionally from being socially deprived and being prohibited from natural behavior. They produce milk for about ten months after giving birth so they are impreg-nated continuously to keep up the milk flow. When cows can no longer produce adequate amounts of milk they are sent to slaughter. The cows are kept in a holding facility where they are fed, watered and have their waste removed mechanically and are allowed out only twice a day to be milked by machines.13
livestock production • 43
Millions of piglets are killed inhumanely every year in by PACing—Pounding Against Concrete. Many survive the practice but are thrown into the garbage bins regardless. There they suffer for upwards of 7 days as the rendering trucks come to pick them up only once a week. Still want some bacon?
livestock production • 45
95%Some of the “ingredients” commonly used in animal factory feed include:
Drugs, chemicals and antibiotics (an estimated
13.5 million pounds each year)
Excessive grains are fed to most animals who
are designed to eat grass
Animal byproducts, such as feathers, blood,
intestines, euthanized cats, and road kill
Meat from their own species (this practice has
been linked to the spread of mad cow disease)
Plastic pellets are fed to animals as roughage
because the factory diet doesn’t contain fiber14
of factory raised animals are subject to deplorable conditions such as overcrowding, hunger, thirst, and sometimes-fatal weather extremes.
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problem three
HORMONES AND ANTIBIOTICS
Modern industrial farms are ideal breeding
grounds for germs and disease. The animals
live in close confinement, often standing
or laying in their own feces, and under
constant stress. Industrial livestock op-
erations produce an enormous amount of
concentrated animal waste—over one bil-
lion tons annually—that is often laden with
antibiotics, as well as antibiotic-resistant
bacteria from the animals’ intestines. It is
estimated that as much as 80 to 90 percent
of all antibiotics given to animals are not
fully digested and eventually pass through
the body and enter the environment, where
they can encounter new bacteria and cre-
ate additional resistant strains. With huge
quantities of manure routinely sprayed
onto fields surrounding CAFOs, antibiotic
resistant bacteria can leech into surface
and ground water, contaminating drinking
wells and endangering the health of people
living close to large livestock facilities.
Human impact
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a growing public health crisis because infections from resistant bacteria are increasingly difficult and expensive to treat. As of this writing, the U.S. Congress was considering legislation, opposed by industrial farm lobbyists, which would ban seven classes of antibiotics from
use on factory farms and would restrict the use of other antibiotics. This is a response to the fact that modern industrial livestock operations threaten to increase the preva-lence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The National Academy of Sciences calculates that increased health care costs associated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria exceed $4 billion each year in the United States alone—a figure that reflects the price of pharmaceuticals and longer hospital stays, but does not account for lost workdays, lost productivity or human suffering.15
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70% of antibiotics administered in the US go to our meat animals. Of that 70% given to livestock and poultry, 90% are dosages known as “non-therapeutic” meaning they are administered defensively to prevent illness or disease, and to improve growth15
It is extremely important to bring about
awareness on this topic. Animals are being
treated like a product rather than a living
breathing creature. There have been docu-
mentaries such as Food Inc. that have shed
some light on this topic, but still nothing
is drastically changing. Even WWF has
created campaigns to stop the unethical
treatment of animals. Yet people are still
ignoring the topic.
Through graphic design, there needs to be
a drastically different campaign that will
communicate to people the importance of
knowing where their meat comes from. A
poster series to encourage people to think
about their food choices as well as how
easy it can be to choose meat that has been
humanely treated is an easy way to quickly
communicate that message. Along with
the posters, it is important to create a
website that holds relevant content about
what companies have good ethics and
where they are located. If it is easy for
people to access and understand how
simple it is to purchase local and ethical
meat, they will be more likely to change.
Where does your food come from? What have these products gone through before getting to your plate? That chicken breast came from a living, breathing chicken. Where did this chicken live and what kind of life did it have? Better yet, why does this matter?
WHERE DOES YOURMEAT COME FROM?
solution
Deliverable | Poster Awareness Campaign
Audience | General Public
livestock production • 49
health and education • 51
03
LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY
Just nine crops now account for over three-quarters of the plants consumed by humans. And not only have we experienced a massive reduction in the food crops we can choose, but also a shocking loss in varieties within crops. According to a study by the Rural Advancement Foundation International, 75 types of vegetables, or 97% of the varieties available in 1900, are extinct.
LOSINGCROP SPECIES
Even a quick glance down supermarket
shelves would seem to show that the
American consumer has an abundance
of choices when it comes to food products.
In reality, however, this is an illusion of
choice rather than a real opportunity to
experience food diversity.
While it seems that we have a variety to
choose from, the reality is that almost all
processed food products are made from
the same few raw food materials—corn,
wheat, rice and potatoes.
With the introduction of mechanized farm-
ing, the distribution of hybrid seeds and
their accompanying reliance on fertilizers,
pesticides and herbicides became more
widely known. Traditional farming has
been replaced with standardized production
because this allowed for control over any
problem that could arise. This production
has destroyed critical diversity and they
also rely heavily on chemicals and increased
amounts of energy. Genetically modified
seeds were created to respond to certain
chemicals which increased their yield.
This has resulted in a loss in crop diversity.
Now most of the corn grown in America is
one of six types.
health and education • 53
Mechanized crop production at a large farm in Iowa
loss of biodiversity • 55
In an attempt to convince consumers to
accept food biotechnology, the industry
has relentlessly pushed the idea that
biotechnology is the solution to world
hunger. This claim however relies on two
false claims; people are hungry because
there is not enough food produced in the
world and genetic engineering increases
food productivity. The reality is the world
produces more than enough food but the
way it is being produced is not working.
The seeds—usually soybean, cotton or
canola— allow farmers to apply herbicide
in ever greater amounts without killing the
crops. Monsanto and other companies also
produce “Bt” seeds—usually corn, potatoes
and cotton—that are engineered so that
each plant produces its own insecticide.
A two-year study by University of Nebraska
researchers showed that growing herbi-
cide-resistant soybeans actually resulted
in lower productivity than that achieved
with conventional soybeans. These results
confirmed the findings of Dr. Charles Ben-
brook, the former director of the Board on
Agriculture at the National Academy of Sci-
ences. His work looked at more than 8,200
field trials and showed that Roundup Ready
seed produced fewer bushels of soybeans
than similar natural varieties.
THE ROLE OFBIOTECHNOLOGY
Genetic engineering (GE) could be a
major contributor to starvation as well.
Corporations currently have patents on GE
“terminator” technology. These seeds are
genetically engineered by biotech compa-
nies to produce a sterile seed after a single
growing season, insuring that farmers can’t
save their seed and instead are forced to
buy from corporations every season. More
than half of the worlds farmers rely on
saved seeds for their harvest.
One major problem now is that GE seeds
have cross pollinated with other seeds
worldwide. The GE seeds were supposed
to be confined so this would not happen,
but seeds are being blown off of trucks
onto organic farms and contaminating
the crops. In addition, once the patented
gene cross pollinates on a farm, the patent
owner now has rights to the crop on that
farm. This has resulted in many court cases
as to who owns the farm crops.16
problem one
loss of biodiversity • 57
apple
loss of biodiversity • 59
apple
86.2%OF APPLE VARIETIES LOST
FROM 1903-198316
We have lost so many varieties of fruit because agricultural corporations are only interested in crops with high yield and uniformity.
loss of biodiversity • 61
Despite decades of experimentation with
different strategies, effective environmental
regulation, has continued to fail. In the
1990s, there was a critical re-examination
of our regulatory strategies and on the
role of alternative policy options such as
self-regulation, information strategies and
communicative education.
While there is much value in some of these
approaches, there remains a tendency
among policy makers to treat the various
policy instruments as alternatives to one
another rather than as complementary
options. As a result, they often embrace one
of these approaches without regard to the
virtue of others.
LACK OF GOVERNMENT REGULATION
There needs to be focus on one particular,
and pressing, environmental problem:
biodiversity conservation. However, the
problems it confronts and the dilemmas
it faces are substantially similar to those
which many other nations must address.
Accordingly, there is good reason to believe
that the lessons we draw, the policy design
criteria we identify, and the solutions we
suggest, will have a broader resonance and
applicability to other developed nations
seeking to conserve biodiversity, including
the United States.17
Researchers showed that growingherbicide-resistant soybeans actuallyresulted in lower productivity than thatachieved with conventional soybeans
problem two
It is extremely important to bring about
awareness on this topic. Animals are being
treated like a product rather than a living
breathing creature. There have been docu-
mentaries such as Food Inc. that have shed
some light on this topic, but still nothing
is drastically changing. Even WWF has
created campaigns to stop the unethical
treatment of animals. Yet people are still
ignoring the topic.
Through graphic design, there needs to be
a drastically different campaign that will
communicate to people the importance of
knowing where their meat comes from. A
poster series to encourage people to think
about their food choices as well as how
easy it can be to choose meat that has been
humanely treated is an easy way to quickly
communicate that message. Along with
the posters, it is important to create a
website that holds relevant content about
what companies have good ethics and
where they are located. If it is easy for
people to access and understand how
simple it is to purchase local and ethical
meat, they will be more likely to change.
Where does your food come from? What have these products gone through before getting to your plate? That chicken breast came from a living, breathing chicken. Where did this chicken live and what kind of life did it have? Better yet, why does this matter?
UNDERSTANDINGBIODIVERSITY
solution
Deliverable | Infographic Poster Series
Audience | General Public
loss of biodiversity • 63
health and education • 65
04
CORPORATECONTROL
While we continue to stuff ourselves with processed food, the corporations continue to make an overwhelming profit at the cost of our health.
LOSS OF OURFOOD RIGHTS
Until the 1970’s, there was much less of a
monopoly over the food industry. Today
there are only about six corporations that
own close to 90% of the food industry.
On top of their control, they also get the
majority of government subsidies. This
creates enourmous control over what we
are able to eat.
Small farms, who have good practices, do
not recieve government subsidies mostly
because they do not produce high yields
of corn and soy. This drives their prices
up without support from the government,
whereas large corporations who have huge
profits from an overabundance of certain
crops are showered with subsidies to keep
producing the same dangerous food.
While we do have the choice of what we
eat, corporations try to keep health studies
on their food under the radar. In order for
them to continue to profit they need to
keep producing the same unhealthy food
created from the same few ingredients. If
consumers begin to ask questions, and stop
purchasing certain products, corporations
will begin to lose much of their profit.
corporate control • 67
According to the FDA, farmers feed their cattle anywhere from 1 million to 2 million tons of chicken feces each year. This cross-species crap-as-food practice worries critics who are con-cerned it may lead to increased risk of mad cow disease contaminating beef products. So they want to ban the practice and disallow the feed-ing of chicken litter to cows.
problem one
LACK OF GOVERNMENT REGULATION
There are many problems with how the
government regulates our food. A major
concern are the amount of false claims food
companies promise on their packaging.
Many processed food claims to help to
lower cholesterol, increase brain function
and even help with digestion. The problem
with these claims is that it gives people a
false sense of security which discourages
them from taking other more effective mea-
sures, like exercising and eating healthy.
Most of the products fail to deliver on the
claim and when asked for proof, many can’t
provide evidence.
Another issue is that the government does
not have the power to take contaminated
meat off of the shelves at the grocery store,
instead it is up to the corporations to pull
product from the shelf. Since most of the
corporations care more about money than
human health, often times companies
know about the contaminated products but
choose to continue selling them.
Last, the lack of FDA regulation on food
safety is unacceptable. Corporations are
allowed to put “free range” on eggs and
chicken if the animal has an opportunity to
go outside. This means that the may never
actually go outside but there is an outside
area. If the claim is made on the packaging
consumers should be able to trust if. It’s
things like this that the FDA really needs
to step in and mandate.
health and education • 69
53%CONTAMINATED WITH
CLOSTRIDIUM PERFRINGENS5
30%CONTAMINATED WITH
STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS
11%CONTAMINATED WITH
LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES
6%CONTAMINATED WITH
SALMONELLA
corporate control • 71
Chicken Feces
According to the FDA, farmers feed their cat-
tle anywhere from 1 million to 2 million tons
of chicken feces each year. This cross-species
crap-as-food practice worries critics who are
concerned it may lead to increased risk of mad
cow disease contaminating beef products. So
they want to ban the practice and disallow the
feeding of chicken litter to cows.9
Corn
Though “corn finishing” produces bigger,
fatter cows in less time, corn is not a natural
diet for a cow. In 1998, a Cornell University
study revealed that cows fed on a natural grass
diet had at least 80% less E. coli than grain
fed cows.
Other cows
In the real world cows are vegetarians. They
don’t eat other cows, or chickens, or poop
from any creature. Through the magic of
horrific factory food production practices
in the USA, dead cows are fed to chickens,
and chicken poop is fed to cows. Rather than
trying to protect the integrity of their cows,
the U.S. beef industry chooses to pretend that
there’s nothing wrong with practice of feeding
corpses to chickens, and feces to cows. Also,
the USDA has banned farmers from testing
problem two
MEAT CONTAMINATION
01
02
03
MONSANTO SHOULD NOT HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE SAFETY OF BIOTECH FOOD, OUR INTEREST IS IN SELLING AS MUCH OF IT AS POSSIBLE. ASSURING ITS SAFETY IS THE FDA’S JOB.—PHIL ANGELL, MONSANTO
MONSANTO SHOULD NOT HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE SAFETY OF BIOTECH FOOD, OUR INTEREST IS IN SELLING AS MUCH OF IT AS POSSIBLE. ASSURING ITS SAFETY IS THE FDA’S JOB.—PHIL ANGELL, MONSANTO
problem three
CONTROL OF THE SEED
The unknown is a huge factor. We are kind
of recreating nature and we have no idea
what the outcome is going to be. We keep
creating quick fixes for everything rather
then trying to come up with a sustain-
able solution with the things we already
have. For plants designed in a lab a little
more than a decade ago, they’ve come a
long way: Today, the majority of the na-
tion’s two primary crops grow from seeds
genetically altered according to Monsanto
company patents. Ninety-three percent
of soybeans. Eighty percent of corn.
The seeds represent “probably the most
revolutionary event in grain crops over the
last 30 years,” said Geno Lowe, a Salisbury,
Md., soybean farmer.
But for farmers such as Lowe, prices of the
Monsanto-patented seeds have steadily in-
creased, roughly doubling during the past
decade, to $50 for a 50-pound bag of soy-
bean seed. The revolution, and Monsanto’s
dominant role in the nation’s agriculture,
has not unfolded without complaint.
Farmers have complained about the price
increases, and competitors say that the
company has ruthlessly stifled competi-
tion. Now Monsanto, much like IBM and
Google, has drawn scrutiny from the U.S.
antitrust investigators, who under the
Obama administration have looked more
skeptically at the actions of dominant
firms. During the Bush administration, the
Justice Department did not file a single
case under antimonopoly laws regulating
a dominant firm. But that stretch seems
unlikely to continue.
“We must change course,” Christine
Varney, the Obama administration’s chief
antitrust enforcer, said at the time. Of all
the new scrutiny by Justice, the Monsanto
investigation might have the highest
stakes, dealing as it does with the food
supply and one of the nation’s largest
agricultural firms. It could also force the
Obama administration, already under fire
for the government’s expanded role in the
economy, to explain how it distinguishes
between normal rough-and-tumble com-
petition and abusive monopolistic business
practices.
Monsanto says it has done nothing
wrong. “Farmers choose these products
because of the value they deliver on farm,”
Monsanto said in a statement. “Given the
phenomenally broad adoption of these
technologies by farmers, such questions
are normal and to be expected.”
corporate control • 73
Mechanized food production at a large corporate farm
health and education • 75
Naturally growing food at a small organic farm
corporate control • 77
problem four
GENETICALLYMODIFIED FOOD
Genetically Modified food is a relatively
new practice. Almost every country around
the world, except for the U.S. has mandated
that food be labeled GE if it has been ge-
netically modified. Almost 70% of what is in
the grocery store today has been genetically
modified in some way.
So what is the problem with this? Nobody
knows what impact this will have in any
sense. There have not been enough studies
done to show conclusive evidence of no
health impact. This concerns many people.
If we do not know the outcome of manipu-
lating our food, then why should we do it
at all? Another problem is the impact on
the environment. This is already started to
show. GE seeds have been found in remote
parts of the world where they have cross
pollinated with other plants. The GE crops
were meant to be completely segragated
to ensure this would not happen, but obvi-
ously that is not the case.
The introduction of GE seeds could have
dire consequences, or not, the problem is
that nobody fully understands what could
potentially happen. By creating these
new organisms, we are introducing a new
variety into the world without studying the
future potential.
While we have survived for thousands
of years on diverse crops, we now have
created a single variety that is meant to pro-
duce an abundance of food. This food often
has a gene inserted to make it resistent to
pesticides while maintaining its perfect ap-
pearance. So instead of losing any crop, they
are now having to use more and more fertil-
izers. One problem that has stemmed from
this is that bugs are now becoming resistent
to some of the fertilizers. This means that
more and more are being used ending up in
a never ending cycle of pesticide use.
health and education • 79
70%of food in America is genetically modified. Unfortunately it is not required to label such food.
INFORMATIVE PACKAGING DESIGN
Currently, there is little regulation on packaging to inform the consumer about where there food comes from and how that food was produced.
solution
Deliverable | Miles traveled packaging and receipt
Audience | General Public
While many countries have created
policies to inform the consumer about
food products, America still lacks the
regulation to control this. Consumers are
not informed as to whether or not their
food has been genetically modified and the
list of ingredients is often so difficult to
understand that people have given up.
By instituting a policy which requires cor-
porations to list more information about
the product , consumers would have a bet-
ter understanding of their food and would
possibly make a more informed decisions
about what they decide to purchase. The
new packaging design would require
companies to list where the product came
from, distance traveled included, and how
that food was created—whether it was
genetically modified. Most other countries
are already requiring most of this informa-
tion to be present on packaging, but for
some reason America has fallen short.
With this information clearly displayed
on the product, consumers would quickly
be able to make more informed decision
as to whether or not they want to support
certain agricultural practices. It is also a
quick read as to what foods are currently
out of season and are required to be
shipped in from far distances to get to
your dinner plate.
corporate control • 81
health and education • 83
05
THEENVIRONMENT
Global agriculture uses 70% of the worlds water and threatens the oceans with agrochemicals and the atmosphere with greenhouse gases from livestock production.
the environment • 85
The United Nations estimates that farm animals world-wide generate 18% of the worlds greenhouse gas emissions. Couple that with emissions from transportation, refrigeration, the clearing land for crops, pastures and livestock and one can see the environmental impact is much greater than corporations want people to believe.
THE DEVASTATING IMPACT
Corporate farming, at times known as
agribusiness, has had a profound effect on
not only the way we eat as human beings,
but on the very concept as to how we look
at the food. When we use the word farm,
we like to think of the classic painting of
mom & pop in front of the red barn with a
pitchfork and happy little cows.
Nothing of course, could be further from
the truth. Today’s agribusiness is one,
smooth, streamlined process, designed for
getting maximum profit from minimal ef-
fort. It doesn’t stop at the production, but
in fact moves onto the distribution aspect
of food as it gets to our table. The problem
with this concept of course is that by
reducing the actual number of companies
that produce our food, it limits the diver-
sity of the food being produced, and
if one of these great agribusinesses
should stop functioning, a great deal of
the food chain could be threatened.
Environmentally, of course, when
things are streamlined for profit,
there is often a great cost. Because
larger machines are needed to harvest
and process food, the effects of these
machines billow diesel byproducts
into the air. They are expensive to
purchase and maintain, especially as
technology becomes more and more
integrated to them. Meat production,
desertification, industrial farming, soil
degradation, forrest loss, food process-
ing, food packaging, transportation
and waste account for a third of all
green house gas emissions.
Over 98% of sprayed insecticides and 95% of herbicides reach a destination other than their target species, including non-target spe-cies, air, water, bottom sediments, and food. Pesticides contaminate land and water when they escape.2
health and education • 87
the environment • 89
problem one
CORPORATEWASTE
There is an extremely large amount of
chemicals used by corporations in order to
mass produce crops. Chemical fertilizers,
which are a key component of industrial
agriculture, pose a risk to soil and water
quality18. Not only is this waste harmful just
by being used, it is also not often disposed
of properly. Many times chemicals leak into
drinking water creating toxic problems.
Pig and poultry industries produce 6.9
million tons of nitrogen per year, equivalent
to 7 percent of the total inorganic nitrogen
fertilizer production in the world. In areas
of animal concentrations, excess nitrogen
and leaches or runs off into drainage
and groundwater, damaging aquatic and
wetland ecosystems, and polluting water
supplies for human consumption. Proper
drainage of manure and other animal
wastes in to surface water and leaching
from saturated soils become an issue in
industrial livestock production systems.
Transportation of food also has a negative
impact on the environment. While it is
difficult to generalize, transport beyond
15 kilometres is often uneconomical. In
addition, fertilizers, often a cheaper more
available and more practical source of
nutrients, further reduce the demand for
nutrients from manure, turning the latter
into “waste” 18.
problem two
INDUSTRIALFARMING
We have relied on our environment and
natural resources for thousands of years
without problems. Why is it now that we
are destroying the environment in order to
mass produce food?
Industrial farming uses a massive amount
of water, energy and chemicals with little
regard for the environment. A number
of irrigation systems used to create our
food have been pumping water out of
reservoirs. Also, chemicals are being used
at high rates and they are seeping into our
drinking water. All of these problems are
creating extremely unhealthy drinking
water for the public.
There are also many concerns with the
livestock industry. The creation and
disposal of such enormous quantities of
waste has a devastating effect on the air,
water and soil surrounding factory farms.
Unlike human waste, livestock manure is
not processed for sanitation. On factory
farms it is commonly mixed with water
and held in pits (called “lagoons”), and
then spread or sprayed on cropland. But
the system often suffers from an excess of
manure: the lagoons can leak or spill, for
instance, or the manure is over-applied to
fields, which can cause it to run off into
surface waters19.
the environment • 91
CHOOSING THE RIGHT FOOD
Processed food and corporate farming is having an enormous impact on our environment and it is sometimes unclear how much our food choices are contributing to the problem.
A guidebook directed towards families
who purchase a large amount of food
would inform families how to shop in sea-
son and locally. This would help decrease
the overall environmental impact of our
food choices.
Currently most people have a little
understanding of the food industry and
it’s impact on the environment. However,
creating a detailed guidebook on afford-
able ways to make smart purchases, it will
create a simple step by step guide to show
consumers how easy it is to switch.
Making smart choices can be hard, but I
am hoping that this guidebook will allevi-
ate some of the complications. Included
in the guide are restaurants that are sus-
tainable, local markets and farms, CSA’s
as well as simple recipes separated by
season. By separating them this will show
the consumer that only certain products
should be purchased during certain times
of the year.
solution
Deliverable | Sustainable Guidebook
Audience | Urban Consumers
the environment • 93
While many problems exist in the food industry, there is still hope for positive change to occur. Policies are slowly being put into place to protect small scale farms and consumers.
THE FUTURE OF THE FOOD INDUSTRY
There have been slow changes occurring
recently because of the realization of all
the problems in the food industry. People
are paying more attention to their food
and where it is coming from. Many are
taking steps to shop at farmers markets
and local stores rather than buying from
large corporate food companies.
Policies are also coming into play and will
hopefully be much more supportive of the
small farms as the green revolution has
taken over the country. While this move-
ment is headed in the right direction, there
are also corporations jumping on the band
wagon without proper care for the food
they are putting on the shelves. They are
still finding loopholes to label food that
could mislead the consumer.
Hopefully better food policy will pass soon
where proper labeling will be mandatory.
This means that for now, it is really up to
the consumer to understand where their
food comes from and what is in it. With a
continued push from many consumers and
better government stipulation, the horrors
of what is currently happening the food
industry will begin to reshape in order to
fit a healthy lifestyle.
It is easy to start with small changes like
shopping local and eating in-season food.
These are the small steps that are going to
take us from a corporate run food system
to a more sustainable food future. With
the problems listed throughout this book,
making a small change can really help to
push for a better and local food industry.
the environment • 95
1 Unknown.“Why the Organic Movement Talks AboutButz.” Organaholic! Organic Food Blog. Nov 2010. organaholic.com/2010/11/21/earl-butz
2 Unknown. “A History of American Agriculture.” Nov 2010. Growing A Nation. www.agclassroom.org/gan/timeline/gov.htm
3 Unknown. Nov 2010. library.duke.edu/digitalcollections.
4 Krebs, Al. “Control of the World’s Food Supply.” Nov 2010. www.converge.org.nz/pirm/ctrlfood.htm
5 Richardson, Jill. “Sick of Corporate Control Over Your Food. Dec 2009. Common Dreams. www.commondreams.org/view/2009/12/28-2
6 Pollan Michael. “Farmer in Chief” Oct 2008. Michael Pollan. michaelpollan.com/articles-archive/farmer-in-chief/
7 Allen Will. “The Real Cost of Cheap Food.” June 2008. www.alternet.org/environment/86986/
8 Hellmich, Ninci. “Rising Obesity Will Cost U.S. Health Care $344 Billion a Year.” Nov 2009. abcnews.go.com/Politics
9 Collins, Anne. “Health Risks of Obesity.” www.annecollins.com
10 Unknown. “Ready in minutes … but micro meals are obesity timebomb.” July 2010. www.heraldscotland.com/news/health
11 Noyes, Katherine. “Help Factory Farm Animals.” charityguide.org/volunteer/fewhours/factory-farm-animals.htm
12 Unknown. “Livestock impacts on the environment.” 2006 www.fao.org/ag/magazine/0612sp1.htm
13 Unknown. “Factory Farming Facts”. www.idausa.org/facts/factory farmfacts.html
14 Adams, Mike. “Factory animal farms.” Oct 2007. www.naturalnews.com
15 Unknown. “Antibiotics.” 2009. www.sustainabletable.org/issues/antibiotics
16 Kimbrell, Andrew. “Fatal Harvest.” Island Press. ©2002.
17 Gunningham, Neil. Redesigning Environmental Regulation.” 2010. www.elaw.org/node/2682
SOURCES
All photographs used in this book are from flickr.com under the creative commons liscense, “Fatal Harvest” ©2002 and “Charlie Harper, an illlustrated life.”
Copyright © Andrea Falke 2010
Personal project without rights for multiple publication
Presented for The Academy of Art University
79 New Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA
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Printed on acid-free Red River 50 lb
Printed using Epson 3800 Ink Jet Printer
Typefaces used Chronicle, Glypha, Din
Photography from Flickr, Fatal Harvest and Charley Harper
Andrea Falke | 814.880.0641 | [email protected]
the environment • 99
http://www.tutorvista.com/bow/environmen-
tal-effects-of-pesticides