Evaluating the Cost of Food and Its Societal Impacts

In the article, the evolution of poverty measurement in the U.S. is traced from President Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty” in 1964 to contemporary debates on food costs. Initially, poverty was gauged by the ratio of food expenditure to total income, with those spending more than 15% of their income on food deemed impoverished. Today, food expenditure patterns have changed, with lower-income Americans spending a larger share of their income on food compared to the past.
The article critiques the concept of “True Cost Accounting” (TCA), which aims to account for the hidden costs of food production, including environmental damage and health impacts. Reports from organizations like the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Rockefeller Foundation suggest that the true cost of food is significantly higher than current prices, advocating for higher food costs to reflect these externalities. However, the author argues that such reports are overly deterministic and fail to consider the broader social and economic contexts, potentially leading to harmful policy decisions that could exacerbate food insecurity and political unrest.
Ultimately, the article suggests that instead of making food more expensive, efforts should focus on making healthy food more affordable and accessible.