Date of Award

Spring 5-6-2024

Department

Environmental Studies

Advisor(s)

John Van Buren

Abstract

The following paper addresses the issue of unsustainable food and diet in the United States, specifically, the problems related to the US industrial food system that lead to the exploitation of ecosystem services, public health burdens with social inequalities, and economic costs. Possible solutions may include an increased awareness of nutrition through education and policies, as well as urban agricultural technologies like the vertical farm. Chapter 1 analyzes the quantitative data on today's industrial food problem and its degradation of ecosystem services, with concerns for social injustice and ecological instability, including the global over-consumption of beef and its negative effects on human health and the environment. Chapter 2 explores the history of the evolution of industrial agriculture in the US food system, which has led to environmental degradation. Chapter 3 delves into public health burdens, specifically the effects of the US food system on human health and the economic costs of poor public health caused by an industrial diet, comparing the Western and Mediterranean diets. Chapter 4 discusses existing government policies and practices in the US and global food systems, as well as other political players on the federal, state, local and grassroots levels. Chapter 5 draws from previous cases of US and global policy, proposing new policy program management and approaches, particularly in education and technology, that could be developed to encourage more generally healthy diets towards an increasingly sustainable food system.

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