The Cost & Economics Myth
"Sustainably raised food is too expensive."
What’s the true costs of the food we eat? Do we always face a tradeoff between affordable and healthy food?
You can’t eat money, right? And money doesn’t grow on trees…Yet, how can we make sure we all have not only enough to eat, but also have quality food we can raise our kids on without going broke? Industrial agriculture continues to peddle their products and we all pay the costs of it — from farmer, to foodworker, to the eater, to the cook, to society. This section explores some of the biggest myths about the cost and economics of food, exploring why we simply can’t afford to continue to eat the food industrial agriculture pushes and why it makes economic sense to eat sustainably.
Take Action
Coalition of Immokalee Workers asks Wendy to sign-on for Fair Food
Join the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and their student, faith and community allies for a spirited, art-filled action demanding justice for farmworkers in Wendy’s supply chain! On Saturday, May 18 @ 2 pm, we will gather at Union Square Plaza (14th St.) at 2 pm. Following a short theater piece, we’ll march to Wendy’s at 20 East 14th St and then south on Broadway Ave. to another Wendy’s on 650 Broadway Ave.
Q & A
Question:
What are some inspiring efforts around the country that are helping put healthy food in the hands of low-income families?
Detroit Black Food Policy Council and Malik Yakini, raising community food systems from the bottom up. This effort does not take a silver bullet approach and takes the community side of food systems development.
Featured voice: LaDonna Redmond, Food Justice Activist
Question:
What are some specific ways we can each make it more affordable to choose organic food for ourselves?
The system is too complex to suggest that consumer behavior will change the system. In fact, I don’t believe that it will. We need consumers remember that they are also citizens and adopt a mentality that helps them understand the connection between the grocery store aisle and polling booths.
Featured voice: LaDonna Redmond, Food Justice Activist
Question:
What are some policies that we could support that would make healthy food more affordable for the typical American family?
We must go beyond the farm bill policy. We have to come to an understanding that the food system that we want has never existed – meaning, one that is free from exploitation of land, labor and natural resources. This means that we need a NEW set of policies that unites these principles.
Featured voice: LaDonna Redmond, Food Justice Activist
Reports and Resources
A Dime A Day: The Impact of the Miller/Harkin Minimum Wage Proposal on the Price of Food
Big Food companies and their lobbying groups have lied to us many times, including spreading the myth that if the minimum wage is raised, food will become so expensive that none of us will be able to afford to eat out – or eat at all – again. The proposed Fair Minimum Wage Act, introduced in 2012 [...]
Double Value Coupon Program: Diet and Shopping Behavior Study
Wholesome Wave took the simple idea of “doubling” the value of federal nutrition benefits at farmers markets as a way to buy local healthy fresh fruits and vegetables that are often inaccessible to folks in underserved neighborhoods. The program quickly spread to 25 states and more than 300 farmers markets in less than 5 years. [...]
Ensuring the Harvest: Crop Insurance and Credit for a Healthy Farm and Food Future
One largely untried that government policy could encourage Americans to eat more healthy foods is by making it easier for farmers to grow more of them, and would also increase our ability to buy them. Instead, federal farm subsidies are disproportionately directed to ingredients for unhealthy processed foods, using methods that degrade our environment and squander [...]
From the Blog
Wendy’s What Are You Waiting For: Calling on the Fast Food Giant to Stand up For Farmworkers
One of the highest earning fast food chains in the country, Wendy’s comes in at number two behind McDonald’s. Nearly 6,600 restaurants in the U.S. and around the globe afford the company serious market power— influence that can go a long way to shift purchasing practices. Instead of leveraging that power to demand lower prices from suppliers, Wendy’s could be rewarding growers who respect workers’ rights.
