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1) Introduction to the Food Industry
At the end of the Civil War in 1865, farmers made up about
55% of the workforce in the United States. By 1900, 38% of
working Americans still toiled on 5.7 million farms—growing
enough food to feed the nation’s population of 76 million.
Today, only about 2.5% of the U.S. workforce is employed on
farms. The total number of American farms is down to a little
over 2 million, but that dwindling count of farms and farmers
meets the domestic needs of a national population approaching
300 million—nearly four times the population of 1900.
Since the early 1900s, the amount of manpower required to
grow food has plummeted. The relative cost of an American
family’s food has likewise dropped impressively. According
to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, in 1901 46.4% of a
typical American household’s income went to food. By
1995, that ratio had dropped to 14.0%. Here’s another
way to look at it: In 1919, at the end of World War I, a basket
of staple food items (one pound each of coffee, bacon, bread,
beans, onions, lettuce and ground beef, plus generous amounts
of sugar, tomatoes and other items) cost what an average American
would earn in 10 hours of work. By 1995, that cost had dropped
to less than two hours. The drop has been caused by increases
in total personal income, as well as improvements in food
technologies. Outside the U.S., other industrialized nations
have made outstanding strides in food cost, availability and
quality. Many developing nations have seen vast improvements
as well. (Ironically, while we all need food to live, and
we tend to derive tremendous enjoyment from good food, we
nonetheless do a poor job of compensating most people who
work in the food industry. From fry cooks to chicken pluckers,
many people who work in the food sector receive very low wages.)
Meanwhile, throughout much of the world, technology and globalization
have revolutionized the way that we grow food, as well as
the way that we transport, process, package, purchase and
cook it. Waste and spoilage are down to nominal levels thanks
to innovations like interstate highways and refrigerated trucks.
Furthermore, it’s an everyday occurrence for consumers
in the U.S. to pick up strawberries from New Zealand or mangos
from Mexico in the fresh produce section of the local supermarket.
Globalization has led to the rise of massive multinational
food processing companies like Nestlé and Kraft, which
often sell their foods under local names in local languages,
after producing them in regional factories worldwide.
The types of technologies affecting the food industry have
evolved over time. From mechanized tractors and implements
to diesel trucks to flash freezing, food technology has moved
on to become high-tech. Today, computerization has made marked
changes in the food industry: Electronic data interchange
ensures that inventories and shipments are well managed so
your local grocer doesn’t run out of the products that
are selling quickly. Point-of-sale systems at the cash register
capture minute-by-minute sales data. Biotechnology is making
sweeping changes at the ground level—in seed stocks
and agricultural animal health. In fact, gradual genetic improvement
of grain seeds like rice and wheat, combined with better fertilizers
and other technologies, has created a “green revolution,”
enabling nations like China and India to go from agonizingly
underfed populations to a large degree of food self-sufficiency
and, in some cases, net exports of bounteous crops. Now, genetically
modified seeds are gaining ground with the promise of crops
that not only resist insects and have extremely high yields
per acre, but also produce high levels of desirable nutrients
and vitamins.
Growing health concerns are significantly impacting all sectors
of the food industry as obesity levels continue to rise to
alarming proportions in the U.S. and elsewhere. The Federal
Government, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and a host
of consumer groups are squaring off with food producers over
nutrition and the responsibilities and ethical issues inherent
in the production and marketing of food.
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