Corporations Control Our Food..
- In the U.S. four companies pack 83.5% of beef, 66% of pork, and crush 80% of soybeans
- Two companies sell 58% of all seed corn
- Corporations produce 98% of poultry in the U.S.
- In 2006, farms larger than 2,000 acres made up 4% of all farms receiving government aid, but they got 27% of the money
- In 1935, the average farm was 135 acres. In 2002, average was 441 acres, median was 2,190
- 2% of farms produce 50% of all agricultural products in the country
- U.S. farmers use 2 billion kg of pesticides per year. World-wide use is 10 billion kg
- Genetically engineered herbicide-resistant crops have led to a 122-million pound increase in pesticide use
- In 2000, 25% of corn and 54% of soybeans grown in the U.S. were genetically modified. In 2008, the numbers were 80% and 92%
- Iceburg lettuce, frozen and fried potatoes, potato chips, and canned tomatoes make up almost half of U.S. vegetable consumption
- In 1967, U.S. per capita consumption of high fructose corn syrup was .03 pounds per year. In 2006, it was 58.2. Total consumption of all sweeteners went up 23% in the same period.
- 75% of the world's food is generated from just 12 varieties of plants and five animal species.
- In 2007, before the current recession, 36.2 million people in the U.S. lived in food-insecure households, including 12.4 million children
- Global food prices increased almost 50% in 2008
- Americans generate roughly 30 million tons of food waste each year
- 66% of adult Americans are overweight or obese
- The "dead zone" at the mouth of the Mississippi River is now 8,000 square miles - about the size of New Jersey
- 38% of agricultural lands worldwide are designated "degraded".
- Livestock production creates 18% of greenhouse gases globally.
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