Starving and poisoning humanity: corporate control of global agriculture Martin Donohoe http://www.publichealthandsocialjustice.org http://www.phsj.org martindonohoe@phsj.org 

Outline Food, poverty, famine, and agriculture Industry consolidation Factory farms/agricultural antibiotics Pesticides Genetically-modified foods Bottled water Breast milk substitutes Failure of governmental regulation Eliminating world hunger

Food, Poverty, and Famine U.S. Poverty 15% (22% children) Food insecurity common Worldwide 2 billion people suffer from essential vitamin and mineral deficiencies 21,000 people starve to death daily (1 Hiroshima/7 days)

Agriculture Agriculture = largest industry on earth Responsible for: 70% of fresh water use 80% of world’s tropical and subtropical deforestation 33% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions

Corporate Consolidation in Agriculture 4 companies control 75% of the seed market 4 companies control 56% of the farm machinery market 10 companies control 55% of the fertilizer market 10 companies control 28% of the food processing market

Seed Market Consolidation Mid-1970s: none of the 7,000 seed companies controlled over 0.5% of world seed market Today 10 corporations control 75% Monsanto, DuPont, and Syngenta control 53%

Agricultural/Biotech Companies Most major agricultural biotech companies also pharmaceutical companies (*): Novartis Seeds* Aventis CropScience* Bayer CropScience* (merger with Monsanto pending, 2016) BASF* Dow* (merged with Dupont, 2015) Syngenta* (acquired by ChemChina, 2016) Dupont/Pioneer (merged with Dow, 2015)

Agricultural Biotech Companies’ Other Activities Chemical weapons: Hoechst (mustard gas), Monsanto (Agent Orange, PCBs, dioxins), Dow (napalm) Pesticides: Monsanto (DDT), Dow (dioxins, PCBs, Dursban) Ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons: Dupont and Hoechst (merged with Rhone Poulenc to form Aventis) major producers Other toxins: Dupont (PFOA, major component of Teflon)

10 Corporations Own Virtually Everything You Buy

Supermarket Consolidation Four large chains control over half of grocery sales Walmart, Target, Costco and Sam’s Club One company dominates the organic grocery industry Whole Foods

Factory Farms In 1950, there were 25 million U.S. farmers Today - 2 million 163,000 factory farms produce 60% of the nation’s food Worldwide, factory farms now account for 72 percent of poultry production, 43 percent of egg production, and 55 percent of pork production

U.S. and Global Farm Antibiotic Use

Use of Non-Therapeutic Antibiotics by Factory Farms Agriculture accounts for 70-80% of all antibiotic use Use by animal: Beef cattle – 84% Pigs – 83% Poultry – 40-50%

Agricultural vs. Human Antibiotic Sales

Antibiotic Class – Feed Additive Antibiotics Penicillins – Penicillin Cephalosporins - Cephalosporins Tetracyclines - Chlortetracycline, Oxytetracycline Aminoglycosides - Apramycin Macrolides - Erythromycin, Oleandomycin, Tylosin Clindamycin (Lincosamide class) - Lincomycin Sulfonamides - Sulfamethazine, Sulfathiazole Vancomycin - Avoparcin

Antibiotic Resistant Pathogens CDC: “Antibiotic use in food animals is the dominant source of antibiotic resistance among food-borne pathogens.” Airborne/skin diseases also common US Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act – awaiting vote 19

Pesticides 5.1 billion lbs/yr pesticides (herbicides/insecticides/fungicides) applied to crops annually worldwide 30% in US (almost 4 lbs/person/yr) 10 firms control 90% of market

Pesticides EPA: U.S. farm workers suffer 300,000 pesticide- related acute illnesses and injuries/yr 25 million cases/yr worldwide NAS: Pesticides in food could cause up to 1 million cancers in the current generation of Americans WHO: 1 million people killed by pesticides over the last 6 years US health and environmental costs = $11 billion/yr

Pesticides Have Been Linked to Many Diseases Autism Parkinson’s Disease Alzheimer’s disease Diabetes Obesity (with prenatal exposure) Depression ADHD

Pesticides Pesticides inhibit nitrogen fixation, decrease crop yields Evidence suggests they may actually promote pests (vs. natural pesticides) 30% of medieval crop harvests were destroyed by pests vs. 35-42% of current crop harvests Suggests organic farming may be more cost-effective

Genetically-Modified (Genetically-Engineered) Foods Processed foods comprise 75% of world food sales 85% of processed foods available in the U.S. today come from GM crops Most soybeans, cotton, and corn 80% herbicide-resistant (e.g., Roundup Ready soybeans); 20% produce their own pesticide (e.g., Bt corn) 90% of GM seeds sold by Monsanto or by competitors that license Monsanto genes in their own seeds

Genetically-Modified Crops: Problems Decreased agricultural biodiversity Increased herbicide/pesticide use Superweeds Contamination Financial consequences Changes in soil, soil bacteria Altered nutritional value Allergies Other potential adverse health effects

GE Crop Contamination 448 contamination incidents involving 63 countries from 1996-mid 2016 GM Contamination Register: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40550-014- 0005-8 Failure of regulatory oversight per Office of Inspector General, Department of Agriculture

Corporate Agriculture’s PR tactics Characterize opposition as “technophobic,” anti- science,” and “against progress” Portray their products as environmentally beneficial despite evidence to the contrary (Greenwashing) Sponsor educational materials Co-opt academics, attack scientists Lobby, political donations

Corporate Agribusiness Successful campaigns against statewide GM labeling initiatives Keeps GM seeds from non-corporate academic researchers Promotes agriculture bills which provide big subsidies to large industrial farms Supports state “Ag-Gag” laws - aimed at preventing employees, journalists, and activists from exposing illegal or unethical practices

GM Food Labeling Today 2016: Federal Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act (aka Dark Act – Denying Americans Right to Know Act) signed by Obama, requires limited/confusing labeling, overrides all local labeling laws, supported by industry 2016: Center for Food Safety, others file lawsuit opposing

Famine and GE Foods Countries/corporations who control GE seeds and crops attempted, through the UNFAO and the WHO, to use the famine in Zambia (early 2000s) to market GE foods through aid programs, even though… More than 45 African and other countries expressed a willingness to supply local, non-GE relief

Famine and GE Foods Zambia did not wish to pollute its crops with GE foods, which would have prevented it from exporting home- grown crops to many other countries which do not accept GE imports (further weakening its already fragile economy) Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Angola have also refused GM food aid

GE Foods and World Hunger GE foods promoted as the solution to world hunger No commercially available GE crop that is drought-resistant, salt- or flood-tolerant, or which increases yields (USDA)

GE Foods and World Hunger Undermine food and nutritional security, food sovereignty, and food democracy Increasing reliance on GE food Consolidates corporate control of agriculture Transmogrifies farmers into bioserfs

Bottled Water $400 billion/yr industry Costs 1,400-3,000X more than tap water Takes up to 2,000X more energy to produce than tap water Often lacks essential minerals, fluoride Creates more waste - recycling rate of plastic bottles only 23% 45% is tap water!

Bottled Water “Water is an efficient product…which normally would be free, and it is our job to sell it.” Suez CEO Gerard Mestrallet

Breast Milk Substitutes Marketed to women in developing world Nestlé, others Discourage (and make more difficult) breast feeding WHO International Code of Conduct U.S. has not signed 32% of U.S. hospitals still distribute formula packs at discharge (which would violate WHO code)

Problems with the Integrity of the Food System in the United States Inadequate funding for food inspection FDA has 1,000 food inspectors responsible for 421,000 production facilities FDA inspects fewer than 8,000 facilities per year (down from 35,000/yr in 1970s) FDA conflicts of interest, revolving door with industry

Problems with the Integrity of the Food System 33% of food (including 20% of seafood) is mislabeled 19% of U.S. food supply imported (including 52% of fresh fruits, 22% of fresh vegetables, and 85% of seafood) Only 1.5% of imported food is inspected COOL (Country of Origin Labeling) overturned by Congress (2015) 2016: OIG (DHHS) finds FDA’s procedures to recall contaminated or misbranded food inadequate

Feeding the World There is already enough food to feed the planet (UNFAO) Solving world hunger requires social and political will One week of developed world farm subsidies = Annual cost of food aid to eliminate world hunger Eliminate IMF, World Bank, and WTO structural adjustment programs which exacerbate hunger in the developing world by forcing debtor nations to restructure their agricultural base toward export crops and away from nutritional foodstuffs for local consumption

Feeding the World - Foreign Aid 0.19% of the total federal budget (vs. UN target of 0.7%) 1.6% of the U.S. discretionary budget On average, Americans think that 24% of the federal budget goes toward foreign aid 45

Feeding the World - Foreign Aid In total dollars: U.S. #1 As a % of GDP, U.S. ranks 21st U.S. Aid: Over 1/3 military, 1/4 economic, 1/3 for food and development Most U.S. aid benefits U.S. corporations 46

Feeding the World Support Local Agriculture Organic Farming: Helps local economies Minimizes environmental footprint Organic Farming: Produces higher yields than non-organic farming Uses 45% less energy, less water, and no pesticides Increases soil carbon (converting carbon from a greenhouse gas into a food-producing asset)

Feeding the World Organic foods contain Up to 20% higher mineral and vitamin content and 30% more antioxidants Lower levels of toxic metals Organic meats and milk have 50% higher amounts of healthful omega-3 fatty acids

Public Health and Social Justice Website and Book http://www.publichealthandsocialjustice.org http://www.phsj.org martindonohoe@phsj.org Reference Material for this Slide Show: https://phsj.org/food-safety-issues/