Comments on: The High Cost of Cheap Food http://nourishedmagazine.com.au/blog/articles/the-high-cost-of-cheap-food Wisdom to thrive by Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:04:43 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Redomestication » Blog Archive » Good Food Costs More Then Bad Food http://nourishedmagazine.com.au/blog/articles/the-high-cost-of-cheap-food#comment-7195 Redomestication » Blog Archive » Good Food Costs More Then Bad Food Mon, 05 Nov 2007 20:33:24 +0000 http://nourishedmagazine.com.au/blog/articles/the-high-cost-of-cheap-food#comment-7195 [...] Another consideration: Nourished magazine writes that, [...] [...] Another consideration: Nourished magazine writes that, [...]

]]> By: John Ikerd http://nourishedmagazine.com.au/blog/articles/the-high-cost-of-cheap-food#comment-6742 John Ikerd Thu, 25 Oct 2007 15:03:00 +0000 http://nourishedmagazine.com.au/blog/articles/the-high-cost-of-cheap-food#comment-6742 Admittedly, food in the U.S. doesn’t always appear to be cheap, but on average Americans spend less that 10% of their disposable income for food. This is among the lowest percentage in the world, even though the dollar and cent costs of our foods are higher than in many other countries with lower per capita incomes. In addition, there are times when specific food items are actually very expensive, as is the case for milk and apples at the present time. Such instances can typically be traced to specific market conditions, such as a late frost in the spring of 2007 in the case of apples, or high grain prices fueled by ethanol production in the case of milk. That said, the greatest downward pressures on food production costs has been at the farm level, not at the food processing or food retailing levels. Rising margins of food processing and retailing – the rising costs of convenience – have keep retail food prices high in relation to prices for basic food commodities at the farm level. We are paying high costs for convenience as well as for “cheap” food. Admittedly, food in the U.S. doesn’t always appear to be cheap, but on average Americans spend less that 10% of their disposable income for food. This is among the lowest percentage in the world, even though the dollar and cent costs of our foods are higher than in many other countries with lower per capita incomes. In addition, there are times when specific food items are actually very expensive, as is the case for milk and apples at the present time. Such instances can typically be traced to specific market conditions, such as a late frost in the spring of 2007 in the case of apples, or high grain prices fueled by ethanol production in the case of milk. That said, the greatest downward pressures on food production costs has been at the farm level, not at the food processing or food retailing levels. Rising margins of food processing and retailing – the rising costs of convenience – have keep retail food prices high in relation to prices for basic food commodities at the farm level. We are paying high costs for convenience as well as for “cheap” food.

]]> By: MBK http://nourishedmagazine.com.au/blog/articles/the-high-cost-of-cheap-food#comment-6703 MBK Tue, 23 Oct 2007 14:49:08 +0000 http://nourishedmagazine.com.au/blog/articles/the-high-cost-of-cheap-food#comment-6703 Isn't all this so ironic, since food here in the US really isn't that cheap? Milk passed $5 a gallon here in Alabama. And I don't consider paying almost a dollar an apple cheap. Give me another country's grocery any day, where a package of pasta isn't 99 cents but 23 cents. An apple is 15 cents. Yeah, you can't buy 100 different kinds of sugary cereals, that's true. Hidden costs and rounding up haven't struck these countries, and their food remains much, much cheaper. Don't even get me started on their efficient (over hundreds of years!) use of land. Isn’t all this so ironic, since food here in the US really isn’t that cheap? Milk passed $5 a gallon here in Alabama. And I don’t consider paying almost a dollar an apple cheap. Give me another country’s grocery any day, where a package of pasta isn’t 99 cents but 23 cents. An apple is 15 cents. Yeah, you can’t buy 100 different kinds of sugary cereals, that’s true. Hidden costs and rounding up haven’t struck these countries, and their food remains much, much cheaper. Don’t even get me started on their efficient (over hundreds of years!) use of land.

]]> By: Henriette http://nourishedmagazine.com.au/blog/articles/the-high-cost-of-cheap-food#comment-6639 Henriette Sun, 21 Oct 2007 09:40:09 +0000 http://nourishedmagazine.com.au/blog/articles/the-high-cost-of-cheap-food#comment-6639 BTW Stephen Nice webpage BTW Stephen
Nice webpage

]]> By: Henriette http://nourishedmagazine.com.au/blog/articles/the-high-cost-of-cheap-food#comment-6637 Henriette Sun, 21 Oct 2007 09:37:34 +0000 http://nourishedmagazine.com.au/blog/articles/the-high-cost-of-cheap-food#comment-6637 Sadly my dad worked as a gardner for 40 years- the first 20 years he didnt use much protection when he sprayed plants and I remmber that he came home SICK from work.... He never smoked- lived a othervice healthy life - no cancer in family - but he died at just 62 - from cancer- doctores was certain that he died from the pesticides he had been spraying with.... When he got sick he said to me " never ever spray your garden- and NOW I understand why you have been so supportive to organic farming ! - I should have known......" Sadly my dad worked as a gardner for 40 years- the first 20 years he didnt use much protection when he sprayed plants and I remmber that he came home SICK from work….
He never smoked- lived a othervice healthy life - no cancer in family
- but he died at just 62 - from cancer- doctores was certain that he died from the pesticides he had been spraying with….
When he got sick he said to me ” never ever spray your garden- and NOW I understand why you have been so supportive to organic farming ! - I should have known……”

]]> By: Stephen L. Tvedten http://nourishedmagazine.com.au/blog/articles/the-high-cost-of-cheap-food#comment-6577 Stephen L. Tvedten Sat, 20 Oct 2007 05:53:41 +0000 http://nourishedmagazine.com.au/blog/articles/the-high-cost-of-cheap-food#comment-6577 How to kill pests without killing yourself or the earth...... There are about 50 to 60 million insect species on earth - we have named only about 1 million and there are only about 1 thousand pest species - already over 50% of these thousand pests are already resistant to our volatile, dangerous, synthetic pesticide POISONS. We accidentally lose about 25,000 to 100,000 species of insects, plants and animals every year due to "man's footprint". But, after poisoning the entire world and contaminating every living thing for over 60 years with these dangerous and ineffective pesticide POISONS we have not even controlled much less eliminated even one pest species and every year we use/misuse more and more pesticide POISONS to try to "keep up"! Even with all of this expensive and unnecessary pollution - we lose more and more crops and lives to these thousand pests every year. We are losing the war against these thousand pests mainly because we insist on using only synthetic pesticide POISONS and fertilizers There has been a severe "knowledge drought" - a worldwide decline in agricultural R&D, especially in production research and safe, more effective pest control since the advent of synthetic pesticide POISONS and fertilizers. Today we are like lemmings running to the sea insisting that is the "right way". The greatest challenge facing humanity this century is the necessity for us to double our global food production with less land, less water, less nutrients, less science, frequent droughts, more and more contamination and ever-increasing pest damage. National Poison Prevention Week, March 18-24,2007 was created to highlight the dangers of poisoning and how to prevent it. One study shows that about 70,000 children in the USA were involved in common household pesticide-related (acute) poisonings or exposures in 2004. At least two peer-reviewed studies have described associations between autism rates and pesticides (D'Amelio et al 2005; Roberts EM et al 2007 in EHP). It is estimated that 300,000 farm workers suffer acute pesticide poisoning each year in the United States - No one is checking chronic contamination. In order to try to help "stem the tide", I have just finished re-writing my IPM encyclopedia entitled: THE BEST CONTROL II, that contains over 2,800 safe and far more effective alternatives to pesticide POISONS. This latest copyrighted work is about 1,800 pages in length and is now being updated at my new website at http://www.stephentvedten.com/ . This new website at http://www.stephentvedten.com/ has been basically updated; all we have left to update is Chapter 39 and to renumber the pages. All of these copyrighted items are free for you to read and/or download. There is simply no need to POISON yourself or your family or to have any pest problems. Stephen L. Tvedten 2530 Hayes Street Marne, Michigan 49435 1-616-677-1261 "An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come." --Victor Hugo How to kill pests without killing yourself or the earth……

There are about 50 to 60 million insect species on earth - we have named only about 1 million and there are only about 1 thousand pest species - already over 50% of these thousand pests are already resistant to our volatile, dangerous, synthetic pesticide POISONS. We accidentally lose about 25,000 to 100,000 species of insects, plants and animals every year due to “man’s footprint”. But, after poisoning the entire world and contaminating every living thing for over 60 years with these dangerous and ineffective pesticide POISONS we have not even controlled much less eliminated even one pest species and every year we use/misuse more and more pesticide POISONS to try to “keep up”! Even with all of this expensive and unnecessary pollution - we lose more and more crops and lives to these thousand pests every year.

We are losing the war against these thousand pests mainly because we insist on using only synthetic pesticide POISONS and fertilizers There has been a severe “knowledge drought” - a worldwide decline in agricultural R&D, especially in production research and safe, more effective pest control since the advent of synthetic pesticide POISONS and fertilizers. Today we are like lemmings running to the sea insisting that is the “right way”. The greatest challenge facing humanity this century is the necessity for us to double our global food production with less land, less water, less nutrients, less science, frequent droughts, more and more contamination and ever-increasing pest damage.

National Poison Prevention Week, March 18-24,2007 was created to highlight the dangers of poisoning and how to prevent it. One study shows that about 70,000 children in the USA were involved in common household pesticide-related (acute) poisonings or exposures in 2004. At least two peer-reviewed studies have described associations between autism rates and pesticides (D’Amelio et al 2005; Roberts EM et al 2007 in EHP). It is estimated that 300,000 farm workers suffer acute pesticide poisoning each year in the United States - No one is checking chronic contamination.
In order to try to help “stem the tide”, I have just finished re-writing my IPM encyclopedia entitled: THE BEST CONTROL II, that contains over 2,800 safe and far more effective alternatives to pesticide POISONS. This latest copyrighted work is about 1,800 pages in length and is now being updated at my new website at http://www.stephentvedten.com/ .

This new website at http://www.stephentvedten.com/ has been basically updated; all we have left to update is Chapter 39 and to renumber the pages. All of these copyrighted items are free for you to read and/or download. There is simply no need to POISON yourself or your family or to have any pest problems.

Stephen L. Tvedten
2530 Hayes Street
Marne, Michigan 49435
1-616-677-1261
“An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.” –Victor Hugo

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