Food Network Analysis #5

Thus far, I have been focusing on the network aspect of the United States food system; the components and relationships between those components.  Such an approach, however, seemed too narrow to properly gain an appreciation of the food system as a system.  So recently, I have been reading the text, “Principles of System Science1,” to gain a better understanding of how to view and analyze systems, in general.  One concept in the text that intrigued me is how systems change over time.  What can such analysis tell me about the food system?

Base assumptions

Food is a basic necessity and is needed consistently over time to avoid adverse health impacts.  Raw food products such as harvested crops and butchered livestock are perishable; natural biochemical decay and bacterial decay limit the time that those products can be safely consumed.  A third assumption is that raw food products, particularly plant based in the United States have defined growing seasons.  It takes time for plants and livestock to mature to the point that they can be harvested for food.  Taken together these assumptions mean that sufficient food must be produced or sourced, processed, and stored to feed a given population throughout the year.

Time periods

I have somewhat arbitrarily chosen three points in time; 1824, 1924, 2024.  Hundred-year intervals should capture significant changes in population, demographics, technology, and society.

1824

In 1820 the estimated population was 9.6 million people2 with around 93% living in a rural setting3.  Human and animal labor powered the primarily agrarian economy.  Animal power, rail, and waterways largely constituted regional transportation methods.  Steam technology was powering an emerging industrialization (textile manufacturing) in the northern states.  Slavery, the westward expansion, and federalism vs states’ rights were significant political issues3.

With roughly nine out of ten Americans living in a rural setting, the population was co-located with food production.  This means that Americans were performing the food system functions; production, harvesting/handling, processing, storing, and food preparation.  Salting, smoking, drying, canning, fermenting, and other techniques were used to extend the period in which food products can be consumed (food safety).  Such local self-reliance also meant that poor production could lead to starvation (food insecurity).

My perception of what the food system looked like:

1924

From 1820 to 1920, the U.S. population grew tenfold, from 9.6 million to 106 million2.  The degree of urbanization also grew from roughly 7% in 1824 to 50% in 19243.  Animal and manual power replaced by mechanical power for farm production1.  In the 1920s, the population became much more mobile as there was a boom in automobile ownership; from 6.5 million vehicles in 1919 to 23 million in 19294.  Highway construction reached 10,000 miles throughout the U.S.  Refrigerated rail boxcars were developed in 18881.  Refrigeration technology was becoming available for homes in the later part of this period.  Food processing technology develops as does the emergence of regional grocery stores to distribute processed food.  The iodization of salt began in 1924.  Socially, farm organizations were created and in 1920 the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, giving women the right to vote.

At this point in time, Americans were more mobile and indeed the infrastructure for transporting not only people, but goods became more extensive.  Refrigeration and food processing technology somewhat addressed the perishability of food and allowed food to be transported regionally and carried in retail outlets and support the movement of a significant portion of the populace to urban environments.  I suspect most of the food preparation still occurs in the home.

My perception of what the food system looked like:

2024

By 2010 the U.S. population reached over 300 million, with 80% living in an urban environment2. 

The industrial age economy of the early 20th century has taken a back seat to the information age.  Indeed, technology has made the globe a smaller place by facilitating the flow of information, goods & services, and communication to a global scale.  Technology, including genetic engineering, has improved food productivity, preservation, and safety.  Food production from growth to processing and storage is highly mechanized and automated.  And, in stark contrast the insecure food environment of rural communities in the 1800’s, most Americans today are subject to overnutrition.  Indeed, through delivery apps and telecommunication, food will find consumers instead of consumers having to find food.

In addition to health issues of diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease that are associated with overnutrition, there are environmental problems threatening the globe including climate change, pollution, and loss of biodiversity, some of which can be associated with food production practices.

Significant social issues include pervasive incidence of obesity, climate change, and sustainable agriculture.

The National Research Council depiction of the modern U.S. food system looks like this:

The U.S. Food System Over Time

The need for food is ubiquitous, and pervasive year around.  Food must be grown/raised, harvested, processed, preserved, stored, and prepared for consumption, for a population that has grown from 10 million in 1820 to over 300 million in 2010.  Over the two-hundred-year period of interest urbanization, job specialization, technological development, and changes in family structure have coincided with a growing network of intermediaries between the production and consumption of food.  Moreover, the U.S. food system is part of a larger, global food system.  There have been however, consequences, to this development and separation.  On an individual level processed food, bolstered by marketing and food science, is in many cases high in fat, salt, and sugar, to point of being unhealthy but irresistible.  On a regional, national, and international level such mass production of food is depleting soil nutrients, reducing biodiversity, depleting water aquifers, contributed to greenhouse gases that drive climate change, and other ecological and socioeconomic issues.

1 Mobus GE, Kalton MC, Springerlink (Online Service. Principles of Systems Science. Springer New York; 2015.

2 U.S. Population, 1790-2000: Always Growing. U-s-history.com. Published 2000. https://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h980.html

3 ChatGPT.com prompt, “what was the United States of America like in 1824, 1924 and 2024 in terms of degree of urbanization, economic context, political context, and technological context?”

4 St. Onge T. Paving the Way: Traffic Flow Maps From the 1920s | Worlds Revealed: Geography & Maps at The Library Of Congress. blogs.loc.gov. Published August 18, 2022. https://blogs.loc.gov/maps/2022/08/paving-the-way-traffic-flow-maps-from-the-1920s/