For Nutritional Well-being
The Center for Disease Control reports that for the first time ever, this generation of American children will die at a younger age than their parents. There are nearly twice as many overweight children and almost 3 times as many overweight adolescents today as there were in 1980. Children are more likely to eat healthy foods when they are properly prepared and provided in supportive environments.
Sustainable foods offer a delicious and nutritional approach to the way food is produced, cooked and shared.
For Economic Well-being
Food travels an average of 1500 miles from field to fork. The US population has doubled since 1940, and yet there has been a 60% decline in the number of farms that provide our food. As few as 10 companies control almost 90% of our food supply. Shifting food spending to local sources stimulates local economies by creating new jobs and providing more tax revenue.
Sustainable foods are produced close to home so foods are fresh, nutritional and seasonal.
For Social Well-being
Industrialized facilities raise animals we eat in overcrowded conditions by the thousands at a single site. Animals are fed inappropriate foods and massive dosages of antibiotics. Farm workers, including children, work and live in substandard conditions and are paid low wages. Fairly traded products, available at every price level, ensure livable wages, an improved quality of life and help farmers invest in improving quality and diversifying crops.
Sustainable foods are produced with practices that value and care for the earth, workers and food.
For Environmental Well-being
Our food chain has been radically changed by farming fertilizers and pesticides, large scale irrigation and harvesting methods, as well as genetic engineering. Our soil, water, food supply and the very nature of the food we eat may have already been permanently altered. Sustainable agriculture eliminates the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and genetically modified organisms, conserves water and ensures sustained biodiversity.
Sustainability practices support environmental, economic, social and nutritional well-being.