Every day, more than 8 billion people across the globe sit down to eat. Yet, tonight, an estimated 800 million will go to bed hungry. At the same time, more than 1.9 billion around the world are overweight or obese, a direct consequence of a modern food system that prioritizes cheap calories over our health, our environment, public safety, and our democracy.

Over the past half-century, the widespread adoption of industrial farming practices has severely damaged on our soil and water cycles. This has not only led to an increasingly sick and unwell population but also led to an alarming loss of biodiversity.

The rapid transformation of fertile topsoil into potential dust storms due to heavy tillage and synthetic chemicals is a looming crisis. The ‘insect apocalypse,’ a drastic 75% collapse in insect populations, is a clear sign of the scale of the problem. 

The environmental degradation caused by industrial agriculture, along with the proliferation of synthetic pesticides and genetically engineered crops, has resulted in a staggering 93% loss in unique seed diversity among food crops over the past 80 years. 

This loss is not just a statistic but a permanent and significant blow to the future of our food supply.

The primary outcome of the focus on a cheap food economy has been the rise of what experts call ‘ultra-processed foods’ that are significantly altered from their original form, and often contain additives, preservatives, and other artificial ingredients.

• Ultra-processed foods now make up 73% of the U.S. diet and provide American adults with 60% of their daily calories.
• Today, more than 1 million Americans die from diet-related illnesses, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and certain cancers,
• This is largely due to the consumption of processed foods that are full of empty calories from unnecessarily added sugars and harmful seed oils.