Total Health Costs of Industrial Food Systems Are “Staggering,” Says New Report
A new report by international experts draws significant linkages between industrial food and farming practices and many of the “severest health conditions afflicting populations around the world,” from respiratory diseases to a range of cancers and systematic livelihood stresses.
The report was released on October 9, 2017, and is titled, “Unravelling the Food-Health Nexus: Addressing Practices, Political Economy, and Power Relations to Build Healthier Food Systems.” It was produced by the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) and commissioned by the Global Alliance for the Future of Food (GAFF).
The report aims to estimate the global aggregate human and economic costs of the various ways industrial food and farming systems are making people sick. Ruth Richardson, the Executive Director of GAFF, calls the report’s conclusions “staggering” and “difficult to ignore.” . . .