The Price of Things
The Hidden Cost of FOOD Production in the US
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A recent article by the New York Times, Sept 18, 2024, attempted to put a price tag on the hidden costs of food production in the US. The article discusses the hidden environmental costs of different types of food, including beef, cheese, chicken, and tofu, and how these costs are often not reflected in the retail price. The document discusses the hidden environmental costs of food, particularly focusing on the disparity between retail prices and the true environmental costs of various protein sources. The article fall short in addressing the social costs of food production when it comes to farmers and labor working in the food industries in terms of unpaid living wages. The main suggestion is to have a “sticker shock” pricing in terms of having the true price associated with the retail price to raise consumer awareness (without charging the true price).
Key Food Items include:
Beef: Retail price is $5.34 per pound, but the estimated environmental cost adds $22.02, making the true price $27.36. The high cost is due to methane emissions, water use, and land needed for cattle feed.
Cheese: Retail price is $3.74 per pound, with an environmental cost of $3.76, totaling $7.50. The costs stem from methane emissions, water use, and land for dairy feed.
Chicken: Retail price is $2.20 per pound, with an environmental cost of $1.83, making the true price $4.03. Chickens are more efficient in feed conversion and emit less methane.
Chickpeas: Retail price is $1.46 per pound, with an environmental cost of $0.74, totaling $2.20. Chickpeas have minimal emissions, low water usage, and modest ecosystem effects.
The article also highlights the challenges of calculating true environmental costs, the potential policy implications, and the benefits of low food prices for affordability. Some governments are using this research to design policies, such as New York State's procurement tool and Denmark's methane tax.
In Rockefeller Foundation report dated July 2021 titled the "True Cost of Food, Measuring What Matters to Transform the U.S. Food System", the hidden cost of food production in the US was estimated to be $3.27 Trillion 2x the cost of food production.
The hidden costs of food are contributed by several factors, including:
Health Costs: The healthcare costs for diet-related diseases such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and heart failure, as well as productivity losses associated with these conditions.
Environmental Costs: Greenhouse gas emissions, water use, soil erosion, and pollution (air, water, and soil).
Biodiversity Costs: Land use changes, loss of biodiversity, and impacts from pollution.
Livelihood Costs: Underpayment of wages, lack of benefits, child labor, and occupational health and safety issues.
Economic Costs: Agricultural subsidies and other economic distortions not captured in food prices.
Social Costs: Disproportionate impacts on marginalized communities, including higher rates of diet-related diseases, food insecurity, and exposure to pollution.
These hidden costs are not reflected in the price of food but are borne by society, the environment, and future generations. The proposition here is for local and state governments to decide to procure local/fresh within 100s of miles, or within state boarders, from local farms that use sustainable permaculture and agroecological practices to reduce the total environmental costs as well to support the local economy.
