Why the U.S. is growing less food

Item #2: Inefficient Healthcare Spending

The United States government subsidizes the raw ingredients that go into inexpensive carbohydrate-based ultra-processed foods. For example, the high-fructose corn syrup industry gets more federal funds (via subsidies for types of corn that are bred for that purpose and inedible for corn-on-the-cob consumpti

With pests often consuming up to 40 percent of the crops grown in the United States,

Today, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that over 50 percent of all crops planted in the United States never reach the plate of the consumer.

Right now less than 2 percent of the U.S. population provides our food. Even if that number expanded by a factor of five—an occupational shift without precedent—we’d have nowhere near enough growers for a relocalized food supply.

This is not to say that such advancements have not been without controversy. Our technology has often outpaced our understanding of nutrition and diets. So, while we are certainly producing more food than ever, there is some evidence that suggests that much of this food is lower in nutritional quality. Omega-3 fatty acids, for example, are essentia