The Role of Agribusiness

The role of agribusiness in the food system is perhaps one of the most important relationships that there is on the planet. Agribusiness is a broad term that combines all those who play a part in the production and sale of food and drink products. Everything from the seed producers to the retail outlets and restaurants that sell the final product falls within the criteria of “agribusiness”. Companies in the agribusiness chain include globally prominent multi-billion dollar companies such as Monsanto, Archer Daniels Midland, PepsiCo, and Nestle as well as tens of thousands of much smaller businesses. These companies make up the control agribusiness and play a leading role in our world food system.

Agribusiness has transformed the planet in ways that are both criticized and praised. For instance, Monsanto, a multi-billion dollar seed and chemical company has introduced products and technologies that have significantly changed the landscape of agriculture. In 2009 Monsanto was ranked as the company of the year by Forbes magazine but since then the world's perception of them has reached rock bottom due to their GM products that are banned in the EU for health concerns and for their chemical products that are polluting our planet.

The days of agriculture being the largest sector of employment for Americans are long gone, as are the days of small, self-sustaining family farming practices. Food systems, now mostly managed by global corporations are largely out of sight, out of mind for the average consumer in developed areas of the world. With agribusiness has come chemicals in our foods, pollution, water crisis, obesity, and a disruption to the natural processes of the world among other things. There is no question that we could not be where we are as a planet without agribusiness, it is both good and bad, unwanted but completely necessary. It is biofuels, diet and health, animal welfare, food insecurity, and so much more. As the world becomes more reliant on agribusiness the number of those who are chronically malnourished in developed countries has dropped from 34% in the 1970s to just 15% now in the 2000s. We have also seen third world countries develop their economies, a decrease in global poverty, and a better sense of food security than ever before. As the world population grows so will the importance of agribusiness as it attempts to improve supply chains, crop yields, education, and infrastructure so it can continue to feed the world.

Animal Welfare

As many of us know there is plenty of controversy when it comes to meat these days. Film after film and article after article condemns feed systems, battery pens and all other means of getting affordable meat onto our tables. So is the farmer, the meat eater, all-in-all just cruel, uncaring to the life of an animal, or desensitized to it. There may be truth there, but there may also be truth in the part that most of us today are so detached from our meat that we don't know what it looks like to kill an animal without it looking cruel, or thinking all those "nasty" bits and pieces that the rest of the world consumes are "gross". No matter what it is, it is certainly a reality that growing populations, factory farming, and creating an economy of scale have led themselves to system that is in all reality not ideal,  and in many ways is cruel.

So with all the controversy it lends one to question: What are the rules and regulations on meat production here in the United States? There are a few labels that are regulated as by the US government. The most commonly seen is the address the use of antibiotics in poultry and pork. Most packages of these meats will have the ** after a statement about being antibiotic free- with the small print disclaimer that federal regulations prohibit the use, thought this is not in all senses directly related to the welfare issue. Cage free and free range directly address the issue of pen systems, and things like grass-fed regulations address feed systems. But to be perfectly honest there is little else in place that is a directly a regulation on meat producers. Most other labels and system regulations are self imposed, third party regulations, created as way to meet the consumer demand for better quality, well treated animal based products.

These regulations offer approval stamps, as well as ratings like the 5 step program put in place by Whole Foods market (pictured below), so that concerned individuals who still wish to eat meat but would otherwise not based on the general nature of large scale meat product have an option. Farms and markets are willing to meet the demand and at least for now you have both systems working next to each other, but there is ever more pressure that consumer demand will potentially cause a more EU like approach to animal regulations.

So how does the European Union regulate?
The European Convention for the Protection of Animals kept for Farming Purposes reflects what are know as the "Five Freedoms"

• Freedom from hunger and thirst - access to fresh water and a diet for full health and vigour,
• Freedom from discomfort - an appropriate environment with shelter and comfortable rest area,
• Freedom from pain, injury and disease - prevention or rapid treatment,
• Freedom to express normal behaviour - adequate space and facilities, company of the animal's own kind,
• Freedom from fear and distress - conditions and treatment which avoid mental sufferings.

These minimum standards ensure that even farms just meeting minimum standards that those protect the quality of life of animals in the agricultural system. 

Interestingly enough in France is the case of Foie Gras. Gavage, which is the practice of force feeding corn to ducks and geese to fatten their livers for the product is widely seen by many across the Western world as a cruel practice (look up images on your own as you wish). It was even until recently illegal in the state of California. However gavage is written into law as required for foie gras production. This however is now coming under the kind of scrutiny that the rest of the meat industry has in the past. We'll have to wait and see what, if anything changed in the future.

Food Security and Global Hunger

Feeding the world and the world consistently having access to safe, nutritious food is a topic that has been discussed for decades if not centuries and continues to be a common topic as the world’s population continues to increase. Food security is defined as “when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life” according to the World Health Summit of 1996.  It is based on three pillars availability, access, and use.



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The first pillar, food availability, consists of availability to a sufficient quantity of food on a consistent basis. The second pillar, food access, is defined as having adequate resources to nutritious foods that meet dietary standards. The last pillar, food use, is defined as the appropriate use of food and clean water based on dietary needs and nutrition, all according to the World Health Organization.

Food insecurity varies by location, economic status, agricultural production and more. In each location of the world the level of food insecurity is different, in fact, there is the Global Food Security Index which ranks each country based on their food security scores. The United States is ranked as number one with an overall score of 89.3, an affordability score of 94.8, availability score of 85.5, and quality and safety score of 85.7.

Despite the United States ranking number one among all countries and having fairly high scores, there is still a decent amount of Americans that experience food insecurity. In 2012, 14.5% of American households experienced food insecurity, meaning that the household was not able to feed all it members due to inadequate resources. This statistic, unfortunately, has been “relatively unchanged” since 2008 according to the USDA. Also in 2012, 5.7% of American households, approximately 7 million households, experienced very low food security which means that the household had very limited resources which created a lower intake of food and changes in eating patterns.

 

 

Video from Feeding America regarding results from their Hunger in America 2014 report

 

Since this class compares agriculture and food systems of the United States and France, when comparing food security, France is ranked slightly lower at number ten. France’s overall score is 83.7, the affordability score is 85.9, the availability score is 79.7, and the quality and safety score is 87.6. The overall score of France is only slightly lower than the U.S.’s but the quality and safety score of France is slightly higher. In both the U.S. and France the availability score is the lowest when comparing all scores for each country.

As the world’s population continues to grow there will be more and more people that will need safe, nutritious food. One concern that many people have raised is that it will not be possible to produce enough food to support the population based on the food production practices of today. Another concern is that the amount of food needed is being made now but there is no means of getting the food to those who need it. It is evident that food security and global hunger will unfortunately be an issue for years to come unless some more action and problem solving is taken.