Evidence of something gone terribly wrong is easy to see in so many places in rural America.
I just returned from a walk with my wife, Karen, along a rural road through some farmland close to our home. This is the life I know best and cherish the most, but unfortunately, it is under threat.
Growing up on a dairy farm, I spent a great deal of time walking along dirt roads, lanes and fields. That was life, and not only mine, but also the countless lives around me—swarms of grasshoppers flitting about, birds singing, and, at dusk, fireflies lighting up the way and frogs and crickets chortling. Among the vibrant smells of grasses and trees, often unique for different areas, we all moved together.
Today, these roads seem quieter, less alive. The nearby fields are dominated by unusually straight rows of corn and grains, usually without a weed in sight. The nearby dairy farm is not the kind of family farm I once knew, where 15–20 cows were put out to pasture after milking was done. No—this farm consists of about 7,000 cows, 75–100 workers from Guatemala and a few thousand acres of corn, grain, and alfalfa. The fields are uniformly expansive and the cows uniformly confined. They are locked inside massive barns, or rather factories, where they sniff what little outside air they can and have their milk taken 2–3 times a day for the 3–4 years of their peak production. Then, it’s off to slaughter for their meat.
The primary product of this farm is not nutritious food, but massive profit.
This transformation is very personal to me. What’s happened? How did we arrive at this Brave New World, highly mechanized, organized, and streamlined to increase the efficiency of milk and meat production?
“Farming” today is all about economy of scale, return on investment, and maximizing efficient production. This technologists’ utopia and the “get big or get out” logic of modern agribusiness is propped up by taxpayer-funded government subsidies. And what do we get for it? Are we healthier as a result of this mass production? No, no we are not.
subsidiZed sickness
We pay money, through subsidies, for our sickness, then become customers for the needed pills.
I could go on, as I will in my book, which is coming out next year. This book is about how our crises of food, health, medicine, and corruption are all connected, and it draws on my experiences of more than six decades doing experimental research, lecturing to the public, teaching in academia and helping to write food and health policy. It’s a book about the science of nutrition, and it answers the question: Why is nutrition so misunderstood by the public and ignored by the professions of healthcare?
so, why is nutrition so misunderstood?
The answer is corruption—historically entrenched, “scientifically” enforced, and industry-mandated corruption
It is only by understanding nutrition—honestly, fundamentally—that we will reach a better understanding of how food, health and a broad spectrum of environmental issues are connected. This “better understanding” requires radical reformation since, presently, information on nutrition is controlled so as to ensure wealth for the few at a cost of health for the many. By “many,” I mean animals (us, too!), plants and microorganisms—all the pieces of that thing we once called Nature.
our health and planetary health are intertwined
As my wife and I walked along that road, I took a picture of a sign that tells so much. It advertises how to grow plants for harvest and profit with the help of a program called “SeedWay”, and a seed source called SmartStax. It offers “seven [genetic] levels of protection,” taking “advantage of multiple modes of insect protection and herbicide tolerance” by applying RoundUp-Ready herbicide to kill all “pest” life (animal and plant) above and below the soil line prior to planting the herbicide-resistant seed corn.
Pretty deadly, it seems!
Agriculture is killing wildlife
How did we reach such a place? Are these not the tools of biological warfare hiding beneath the pretense of biological feeding?
Of course, industry says it’s not so bad, but other sources of evidence say otherwise. It’s almost impossible to know how lethal such chemicals may be for other forms of life, including ourselves, in the long run. This, I do know: roadside grasshoppers and butterflies and worms and bees are suffering. Just in the short time of my life, I can hear the difference.
The famous Cornell Ornithology Laboratory recently contributed to a report that finds a staggering 29% decrease in the bird population since 1970, recording findings right here where we walk, among other observation sites. Larks are down a staggering 67%. Countless other reports suggest a massive decline of wildlife populations, including the pollinators so critical to sustaining life as we know it.
Something is wrong on a social level, too. That big farm—factory—down the road where we were headed commands all the attention in our community. It leaves in its wake the barns of yesteryear. Hidden from view are the families who owned those farms with pride and dignity for generations. I know I wander now, but the evidence of something gone terribly wrong is easily seen in so many places in rural America.
It is easily seen in our society, our environment, our health. These are not separate crises: they are all interconnected, tethered to an insatiable demand for dietary protein. I look forward to defending this reasoning in future articles and in the forthcoming book.
So, the reason that nutrition is so misunderstood is because if we are healthy, the planet is healthy, and big corporations profit from the ill health of both.
T. Colin Campbell, PhD has been dedicated to the science of human health for more than 60 years. His primary focus is on the association between diet and disease, particularly cancer. Although largely known for the China Study–one of the most comprehensive studies of health and nutrition ever conducted–Dr. Campbell’s profound impact also includes extensive involvement in education, public policy, and laboratory research.
Learn more about Dr. Campbell and his pioneering work at NutritionStudies.org
