THE END OF FOOD by Paul Roberts

The End of Food by Paul Roberts (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008; Mariner Books; Reprint edition, 2009).Also available on Kindle and CD.

(Non-fiction)

Reviewed by Wilda Morris

Paul Roberts argues that “On nearly every level, we are reaching the end of what may one day be called the ‘golden age’ of food, a brief, near-miraculous period during which the things we ate seemed to grow only more plentiful, more secure, more nutritious, and simply better with each passing year” (xii). The modern food system is an economic system which treats food like other consumer products, which has meant increasingly larger scales of production to provide high volume at lower costs, continuous innovation to create new products, and distribution channels not unlike those of toys or DVDs. But, according to Roberts, food is not suited to the kind of mass production and distribution. The system has contributed to obesity, the development of food-borne pathogens against which we have no defense, failed programs against world hunger which have increased malnutrition in some areas of the world, while putting small producers out of business. The current food system will make it exceedingly difficult for human beings to respond to changes which will result if predictions of global warming are correct. Rising fuel costs and the depletion of water resources threaten the system.

The book is organized “somewhat like the economic system it seeks to reveal” (xxv). Roberts begins with a history of the food economy, then, in chapter 2, discusses how food became industrialized. Nestlé, the world’s largest food distributor is used as the primary example. Then Roberts looks at the ways in which large food companies leveraged size and market share to take control of the supply chain, driving smaller produces from the market and changing the nature of food. He discusses how these changes resulted in a decline in the nutritional quality of food as the system demanded more and more processing, and how this has contributed to diabetes and other health issues.

Roberts discusses how the benefits of globalizing the food system have been balanced by new dangers, including easier transmission of diseases and greater vulnerability to increases in energy costs.  Increased control by large corporations centered in the US, Europe, Brazil and China has excluded millions of people, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, without adequate food or nutrition. The US Department of Agriculture has been complicit in the creation of many problems for other countries by its support of US agribusiness. I found the case study of Kenya and its food issues quite eye-opening.

According to Roberts, if we are to overcome problems related to food-borne disease; soil contamination; water, energy and land scarcity, we need to completely overhaul our food system and reduce our meat consumption. Neither transgenic nor organic food will solve the problem. Other options are available, but there is resistance to needed changes from the large corporations benefiting from the current system, not to mention politicians who want the support of these magnates. There is also resistance to the required changes in culture: eating less meat; doing more of our own cooking instead of reaching for the most processed—and often most convenient—products. and so on.

This book provides much for us to chew on, as we consider where our food comes from and how it comes to us.

Note: Page numbers are from the paperback edition.