Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The production and sale of healthy food, from fruits and vegetables to organic products, suffer from the
same consolidation and corporate control that plagues conventional foods. A growing share of food, includ-
ing fruits, vegetables, and organic products, is sourced from developing nations such as China and Mexico
as a consequence of the trade agreements negotiated for the benefit of large economic interests. Retail chains
such as Walmart are so large that they demand scale all along the distribution chain, resulting in the cre-
ation of large produce companies that source from industrial farms in California as well as around the world.
Many of the same large companies that produce and sell processed food have bought small companies in the
organics industry and merged them into their empires. Not only is this increasing the cost of organic food,
but these multinationals are lobbying to weaken organic standards, so that cheaper synthetic ingredients can
be used. Creating a regionalized food system necessitates understanding all of the issues involved in grow-
ing and marketing fruits and vegetables as well as in producing organic foods.
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