Food Final Question 2

The history of food is as old as history itself. Human life has been dependent on food in every stage of life. Nonetheless, the function of food has changed vastly throughout time to meet the needs of the people living in that era. Humans have undergone a transformation from relying on hunting and gathering to relying on industrial agriculture. Because of the state that we are in right now, society is heading into a capricious direction. We cannot predict the future state of food unless we make drastic changes as soon as possible.
For thousands of years, humans were hunter gatherers. They thrived because they utilized many resources lightly rather than depending on just a few resources. This made sure there was an abundance of all resources. Hunter gatherers would adapt to every climate and condition that they faced, as well as enjoying a diverse diet. Gender roles were about equal as women did most of the foraging and men did most of the hunting. Since they were constantly on the move, hunter gatherers could not develop an economic specialization. (Washington State University)
Around 10,000 years ago, agriculture emerged around river valleys, altering society for years to come. According to Richard Heinberg, a centuries long food crisis triggered by the over-hunting of mega fauna, which are large animals living in a certain period or area, led to the development of agriculture. This caused humans to settle down in communities and use the resources just in that vicinity, as well as domesticating animals and plants. Agriculture helped support larger and more sedentary populations by increasing food per unit of land productivity. Moreover, domesticated animals were being raised by humans and also assisted the growing of the field crops.
As beneficial as it was, agriculture entailed many consequences to society. Heinberg’s ‘50 million Farmers,’ manifested these changes.
“Plowing fields was men’s work; women were forced to stay at home and
lost social power. Larger seasonal surpluses required management as well
as protection from raiders; full-time managers and specialists in violence proliferated as a result. Societies became multi-layered: wealthy ruling
classes sat atop an economic pyramid that came to include scribes, soldiers, and
religious functionaries, and that was supported at its base by the vastly more numerous peasants…”

Hence, Sexism, social stratification and warfare resulted from agriculture. Obviously, agriculture was meant to be for the good of all people, but the conditions inherent with agriculture caused social problems that still exist today.
The food system remained this way for a long time without many major changes. The only major changes in agriculture leading up to the 20th century were to put more land into production and more effective tools of farming. Finally, the beginning of the 20th century brought cheap fossil fuel energy and high tech farm machinery. By the time World War 2 was over, pesticides and fertilizers were introduced. The United States began having an industrial food system and created an agriculture policy that began favoring larger farms and the exportation of U.S. products.
Today, agriculture accounts for about 17 percent of the U.S. annual energy budget and large farms are growing so much of the same crops that the prices of the crops have gone so low. It is without question that there is enough food in this world and that there are places to buy food at such low prices. The problem is that food isn’t being divided equally to everyone. According to chapter 6 of Omnivore’s Dilemma, “the number of people suffering from overnutrition—a billion—had officially surpassed the number suffering from malnutrition—800 million”. This is largely due to the fact that many people are eating too much food high in calories and fat. Obesity and heart related diseases have become a huge health issue in the United States, whereas, starvation and natural diseases have become the biggest health issues in 3rd world countries.
As we prepare for the future, we have to cope with the problems that we have created ourselves by constructing an industrial civilization. We have used way too much fossil fuel and natural resources. In addition, our attempts to create biofuels such as ethanol are not enough. Furthermore, we have destroyed habitats and the soil to grow food. It is imperative to modify the industrial food system before our civilization collapses. How do we address this problem? We look at a neighbor that recently had a similar fate and was able to survive.
In the early 1990’s when the Soviet Union collapsed, Cuba lost its sources of cheap oil. The leaders had to devise ways to continue agriculture. Cuba broke up large, government owned farms, which are similar to the ones in the United States, and introduced small private farms and farmer markets. Urban gardens were encouraged and were a good way to ensure availability and accessibility to people living in cities. Universities quickly added courses on agronomy and many people were encouraged to move to the countryside. Permaculture and Biointensive farming were other techniques used. All of these farming methods required minimal energy.
The United States can follow this example by encouraging various farming methods, educating people about the crisis that we are in and how we can ameliorate our situation. It is critical for this country that we abandon large corporate farms, cheap commodities and fast food. Currently, only 1% of Americans are involved with farming. It is imperative that at least 25% of Americans engage in small farming methods and that these farmers are supported by the government so that they can grow fruits and vegetables, as well as raising meat and poultry. The soil will slowly replenish and rejuvenate but it is our responsibility to put aside millions of acres of land so that it can be enriched. Once we minimize the use of fossil fuel, the supply will slowly be able to increase again. The federal government needs to pass many laws to make all of this possible.
In conclusion, the food systems in our society are constantly changing and whatever we do to make sure there is enough food for ourselves; we must take care of the resources of the land because the resources are limited. It is important to change the current industrial food system for our society to survive.