As rates of obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases skyrocket, it's time to take a closer look at how our food system may be failing us.
Shocking statistics paint a bleak picture:
- 1 in 5 kids are obese, up from just 1 in 20 in the 1970s
- 2 in 3 adults are overweight
- 1 in 10 adults have diabetes
- 4 in 10 people will get cancer
What happened? Why are more Americans sicker than just a generation ago?
While many factors add up, much evidence points to the industrialization of our food supply starting in the late 20th century (1970's and 1980's). This created a kind of “perfect storm” for dietary disasters:
- Government subsidies promoted massive overproduction of commodity crops like corn, wheat and soy
- Big corporations consolidated control over food production and distribution
- Abundant commodities got turned into addictive processed snacks loaded with corn syrup, refined grains and vegetable oils
- Traditional diets got replaced with convenience foods designed to overstimulate our biological cravings
The result was a cascade of unintended consequences. Obesity and metabolic diseases undermining public health on an unprecedented scale.
Fortunately, solutions exist. A growing movement of farmers use holistic methods to grow nutrient-dense food while regenerating soil health. Pasture-based livestock, diverse crop rotations and ecological integration helps repair the land.
But scale remains an issue when the dominant system centers on profits over health or sustainability.
That’s why nonprofits may offer the best vehicle for real change. Freed from quarterly earnings reports, nonprofits like Dive Into Nature envision regional networks of small-scale regenerative farms, connected into regional food hubs supplying cities with clean, healthy affordable food for all.
Rather than extracting value, this nonprofit model revolves around voluntary donations to fund the crucial long-term infrastructure investments that healing the land requires.
A key tenet of Dive Into Nature's model is establishing long-term financial sustainability without dependence on continual donations. While fundraising covers initial land and infrastructure investments, the goal is for the regional food hubs to become self-funding over 5-10 years through product sales. This enables paying the hardworking regenerative farmers respectable wages for their labor intensive methods. It's a holistic, stakeholder-focused approach - supporting living wages for farm employees, fair prices for wholesome food, and regional economies circularizing dollars locally for maximum community benefit. Through the nonprofit vehicle, the economic incentives get properly aligned from the start to serve all participants in the food chain. Rather than extracting and concentrating wealth like many commercial models, this structure allows a self-reinforcing ecology of health and prosperity.
Yes, you and I as citizens can drive change through our consumer decisions - opting for local produce, grass-fed beef and voting with our dollars. But systemic transformation of this scale requires broad collaboration.
Will you join Dive Into Nature as we work to rebuild our food system from the soil up?