The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved: Inside America’s Underground Food Movements

By Sandor Ellix Katz

Summarized with permission of Chelsea Green.
All rights reserved.

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In economics, the term 'multiplier effect' is used to describe the money spent in an economy that is then re-circulated within the community in which it originated. In terms of our food supply, this would apply to a local grower being patronized, and the money spent from the fruits of the community's land would then in turn support the local mechanics, craftspeople, other food growers, and so on.

In globalized food systems however, this does not apply. The consumer is far removed from the source of their food, and the bulk of the money spent does not go to the producer, instead it is channeled through a large array of middlemen. According to the 2001-2002 USDA-published Agriculture Fact Book, farmers only receive nineteen cents per food dollar, and the rest goes to various sources under the umbrella term 'marketing':

• Fuel for transportation
• Military and political cost of maintaining control of the land, sea, and sky
• Labor and energy supplies
• Environmental costs of chemical agriculture
• Pollution
• Groundwater and ozone depletion
• Global warming
• Soil erosion
• Health care costs relating to diseases from pollution and chemical residues left on the food

Local Food Systems

Food is coming home more than ever, but not without regulation:

• Limited range of what can be sold
• Free exchange locally is virtually non-existent
• Laws for hygiene regulation require expensive equipment that doesn't guarantee safety, and that smaller producers many times cannot afford

Along with these issues there is also the fact that some foods may not be available to consumers year round, as the environment may not be sustaining. Oranges, and therefore fresh local orange juice, would be an example of this factor. Many people also find the idea of locally or organically grown food elitist as well, sacrificing flavor, nutrients, and safety for convenience.

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