Processed food is increasingly becoming the only food available to many people around the world. This inadequate access to nutritious foods is not the result of scarcity, but rather the result of the government subsidies for key crops that make up the majority of these processed food products. People in poverty are a target demographic for the food industry, due to their economic vulnerability that makes them more limited in choice and prone to purchasing unhealthy food. 

At the same time, animal agriculture is responsible for 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions and is a leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution, and habitat destruction. Fishing is the fastest growing food industry in the world and the aggressive capture of ocean life is leading aquatic ecosystems to the verge of collapse. This week, we explore the current state of industrialized animal agriculture and make recommendations for sustainable alternatives while encouraging the critique of a few of them. 

Farmer in Chief: A letter to President Obama, Michael Pollan

Reading: The Chain Never Stops by Eric Schlosser 

This reading is about the physical and mental affects of working in a slaughterhouse. 

By following three Americans facing food insecurity, A Place at the Table surveys the issue of hunger in the United States. The film demystifies the idea that the hunger epidemic is a a result of scarcity and exposes it as a political and socioeconomic injustice; the government subsidizes food so that processed, low-nutrient foods are the least expensive options.

In response to the overwhelming presence of processed and animal-based foods, a public health epidemic threatens western society with diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and many other life-impairing illnesses. Forks over Knives follows Dr. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell's research on the consequences of the "Western diet" by exploring plant-based eating.  

Disclaimer: this film does not address the economic barriers to implementing its proposed solutions. For more information, see last week's recommendation, A Place at the Table.

This is a highly recommended course if you are interested in diving deep into food justice/sovereignity, organic & urban farming, and environmental movements. Check out this 4-unit course on the Berkeley Academic Guide.

Uprooted and Rising is a movement fighting to end big food business, bring back culture to sustain future generations, and revive the human connection to the land. You can go to their site to sign up and get involved.

• CEO's and other top individuals of food corporations 

• Industrialized farms and slaughterhouses

• Politicians financially supported by corporate power

• Minimum and below-wage workers at chain restaurants

• Farm workers withstanding inhumane working conditions to cultivate cash crops

• Communities that live in food deserts and have a higher risk of contracting illnesses such as diabetes and cancer

• Communities that are displaced by large businesses (gentrification)

• Ocean and terrestrial ecosystems that are invaded by plastic waste byproducts from the sale industrialized food

• Coastal and Indigenous communities that lose the right to capture fish because of aquatic ecosystem collapse caused by unsustainable fishing practices

• Slaughterhouse workers, who are often low-income, undocumented, and/or people of color, that suffer mental and physical trauma from work

• Animals continuously impregnated for dairy production and animals brutally slaughtered for meat