The global food industry isn’t going to become sustainable overnight. Yet, it’s clear that unless we change existing practices, the world will face massive food challenges in the future.

Introducing small changes to how we eat, shop, and view food can make a big difference in the long run. This will require commitments from consumers, brands, and retailers, who can all work together to support a more sustainable food industry. According to the World Economic Forum, 65% of people want to lead a healthy and sustainable life and are willing to spend money to do so. Most consumers care about the planet and the food they eat, so they’re well-positioned to take action.

A growing awareness about the food industry’s impact has prompted many to take action. Consumers are reassessing what they eat, while some brands are swapping unsustainable practices for planet-friendly alternatives. While organic farming has been around for some time, we’re now seeing the emergence of new tools and strategies designed to make food processes long-lasting and good for the planet.

Big food is getting bigger

A handful of powerful companies control the majority market share of almost 80% of dozens of grocery items bought regularly by ordinary Americans, a new analysis reveals. A joint investigation by the Guardian and Food and Water Watch found that consumer choice is largely an illusion, despite supermarket shelves and fridges brimming with different brands. In fact, a few powerful transnational companies dominate every link of the food supply chain: from seeds and fertilizers to slaughterhouses and supermarkets to cereals and beers.

The size, power, and profits of these mega companies have expanded thanks to political lobbying and weak regulation, which enabled a wave of unchecked mergers and acquisitions. This matters because the size and influence of these mega-companies enable them to largely dictate what America’s 2 million farmers grow and how much they are paid, as well as what consumers eat and how much our groceries cost. It also means those who harvest, pack, and sell us our food have the least power: at least half of the 10 lowest-paid jobs are in the food industry. Farms and meat processing plants are among the most dangerous and exploitative workplaces in the country. Overall, only 15 cents of every dollar we spend in the supermarket goes to farmers. The rest goes to processing and marketing our food.

The consolidation runs deep: four firms or fewer controlled at least 50% of the market for 79% of the groceries. For almost a third of shopping items, the top firms controlled at least 75% of the market share. For instance, PepsiCo controls 88% of the dip market, as it owns fi, ve of the most popular brands including Tostitos, Lay’s, and Fritos. Ninety-three per cent of the sodas we drink are owned by just three companies. The same goes for 73% of the breakfast cereals we eat, despite the shelves stacked with different boxes.

The economic power of the corporations has contributed to their growing political power, which in turn has led to laws that put profits before food and worker safety, consumer rights, and sustainability.

During the 2020 election cycle, the food industry spent $175m on political contributions, including lobbying by PACs and individuals and other efforts. The money came from every part of the food chain, including dairy, eggs, poultry, meat processing, farm bureaus, sugar cane, crop production, and supermarkets. About two-thirds went to Republicans. The 2020 total compares to just $29m spent during the 1992 election cycle, which means lobbying by the food industry has increased by sixfold in less than three decades as consolidation across the supply chain has boomed.

Farmers and food industry workers and getting desperate

America’s farmers have become increasingly dependent on government aid. Farmers received $424.4bn in subsidies between 1995 and 2020, of which 49% were for just three crops: corn, wheat, and soybeans, according to the Environmental Working Group. Corn subsidies are the largest by a long way – $116.6bn – accounting for 27% of the total. Very little corn grown in the US is eaten these days. Instead, more than 99% goes into animal feed, additives like corn syrup used in sugary junk food and, increasingly, ethanol, which produces toxic air pollutants when burned with gasoline.

Advocates say that a toxic mix of financial woes, climate chaos, and trade wars has contributed to a mental health crisis among farmers. At least 450 farmers died by suicide across nine midwestern states between 2014 to 2018, according to the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. Calls to a crisis hotline operated by Farm Aid, a non-profit agency trying to help farmers keep their land, almost doubled over the same period. In 2020, 552 farmers filed for bankruptcy – 7% fewer than the previous year, as commodity prices and government aid increased during the pandemic, but still the third-highest figure over the last decade.

At least half of the 10 lowest-paid jobs in the US are in the food industry, and they rely disproportionately on federal benefits. Walmart and McDonald’s are among the top employers of beneficiaries of food stamps and Medicaid, according to a 2020 study by a non-partisan government watchdog.

Even before the pandemic, farms were among the most dangerous workplaces in the country, where low-paid workers have little protection from long hours, repetitive strain injuries, exposures to pesticides, dangerous machinery, extreme heat, and animal waste. Between 50% and 75% of the country’s 2.5 million farmworkers are undocumented migrants who have few labor rights and limited access to occupational healthcare.

The environmental impact of the food production

About half of the planet’s land and 70% of freshwater withdrawals are for farming, which is increasingly industrialized. Industrial agriculture is focused on extracting maximum profits for minimum costs – an exploitative model with grave consequences for animal welfare, water, land and global heating.

Agriculture is responsible for more than a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions, making food production a major contributor to the climate crisis. Across the board, the carbon footprint for animal-based foods – beef, lamb, chicken, cheese – is higher than for plant-based food, which is mostly due to the consequences of deforestation to create space to grow feed crops, fertilizer used for these crops, and methane emissions.

Despite the community, environmental, and economic benefits of supporting local sustainable producers, transporting food is a very small contributor to greenhouse gases: it’s really what you eat, not where it comes from, that’s key to reducing your dietary carbon footprint.

Incentivising farmers to grow the same crops has reduced the productivity of some of the country’s most fertile lands, as monocropping depletes soil of nutrients and can lead to significant erosion. The practice requires synthetic fertilizers to compensate for the lost nutrients, and pesticides to combat fungi and insect predators that thrive in these conditions. Indigenous and subsistence farmers have always rotated multiple crops because it’s the best way of ensuring healthy soil and good yields.

Agricultural runoff is now responsible for 80% of excessive nutrients in our freshwater and oceans, which cause dense growth of plant life like algae that block oxygen from reaching fish and other animals.

The food industry generates a huge amount of carbon emissions, from farming and transport to the energy powering our grocery stores. Agriculture contributed to 10% of total global emissions in the United States in 2021. According to the EPA, this is primarily down to livestock (such as cows, which are notorious for methane emissions) and rice production.

Food waste also contributes to emissions. Many assume food products biodegrade, so they don’t impact the environment once discarded — unfortunately, they’re wrong. In 2020, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said that food waste rotting in landfills led to the release of around 55 million metric tons of CO2 equivalents. That’s the same as Finland’s total emissions as a country in 2019. A further 61% of methane from US food waste goes directly into our atmosphere, further fueling climate change.

Here are some simple ways to support the environment as a food brand.

• Explore packaging alternatives — Swapping single-use plastic for alternatives like recycled cardboard can unlock a new customer base and help you stand out as a sustainable leader. You can also join forces with organizations that can help food and beverage businesses turn their plastic waste into sustainable action.
• Optimize supply chain practices — Conduct regular audits to understand where your emissions come from and paint a clearer picture of how to cut costs and save energy. For instance, you could reconfigure the packaging size to minimize shipping space while reducing waste.  
• Work with local farmers — Instead of sourcing your ingredients from around the world, working with local producers can dramatically reduce emissions linked to your food products. This usually supports local small-time growers, prioritizing more sustainable practices than mass-production farms.  
• Commit to reducing food waste — Explore ways to keep the byproducts of food manufacturing in circulation and embrace composting. Skip the ‘sell by’ dates and ensure that good-to-eat products aren’t thrown away unnecessarily.