Читать книгу The Social Network Diet - Michael Bertoldo - Страница 13

HOW HAS OUR FOOD SUPPLY CHANGED?

Food is cheaper. Americans use less of their incomes for food than do people in any other developed country in the world—just 11 percent, compared with 22 percent in Europe. The American food system has surrounded us with food choices based largely on convenience and cost. Fifty years ago, our selection was limited to what was produced by small local farms. Now most of our food comes from supermarkets supplied by large agribusinesses in other states or countries. A typical American farm, for instance, once raised a flock of a hundred or so free-ranging chickens; now a commercial broiler growing house raises some 20,000 chickens. Policies at the national level have driven this change. Modern industrial agriculture, subsidized by taxes, has forced many small farmers out of business.

This modern system has made food less expensive. It has also expanded our food choices. In the 1950s, the average grocery store had about 2,000 food items for sale; in 1978, it was just over 10,000. Now most carry some 45,000 to 70,000 food items. Every year, another 17,000 food items are introduced to grocery store shelves. Nearly all of these are convenient, cheap, and highly palatable. This would seem to be a good thing except for one important fact: Much of this food is not wholesome.

Most foods now packing our grocery-store shelves are highly processed, containing little food value and too much sugar, fat, and salt to be considered healthy. Food companies understand that these ingredients are cheap, irresistible to our taste buds, and highly rewarding to the pleasure pathways in our brains, so they design their products with this in mind. They also market them heavily. According to the USDA, food manufacturers spend $12 billion a year advertising their highly processed, highly packaged products; only 2 percent of this advertising is devoted to fresh fruits and vegetables, and beans and grains.

Where we eat our food and buy our food has also shifted, away from smaller grocery stores and toward warehouse clubs and supercenters that offer food packaged in bulk sizes.

Food Expenditures as Percentage of Disposable Income