In his book In Defense of Food, Pollan talks about how Americans have lost faith in what their mothers are telling them to eat and are placing greater trust in food scientists. The relationship of breaking food down to its carbs, sugars, and nutrients is not proving beneficial for consumers of the western diet. Who can we trust when deciding what to eat? Frequently, nutritionists are paid to conduct research that puts a company’s product in a favorable light. The nutritionist only recommend the food because they are paid to. How do we convince Americans that the new nutrition fads are unhealthy? It will be difficult to change the industrial foodscape because new and ‘improved’ products are profitable.
The world is running out of food reserves. Where we once had an abundance of food in the ‘80’s, we now have stores that may not last us till the next harvest. With such a large population increase, countries have been pushing their agriculture lands to produce the highest gains and they may be reaching their peak output. What will the world do when we can’t produce higher volumes of food? Will we be able to support the continuing growth? Will companies be able to put some profit aside for global health benefits?