Solving the Toxic Food System in America through Systemic Thinking

Food Marketing Institute2345 Crystal Drive Suite 800 Arlington, VA 22202

Dear Ms. Sarasin,

My team and I are writing to you today to propose a solution to improve the toxic food system by increasing the demand of healthy food. In order to achieve our mission, we plan on altering food marketing strategies through product, placement, promotion, and price. While there is no single cause for the reason why people continue to eat unhealthily, we believe we can solve this wicked problem with your help.

We hope that after reading our proposal, you are eager to support our mission, and are willing to help us develop and better the food system. Thank you for your consideration and we look forward to hearing back from you soon. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at any of our emails or phone numbers.

Sincerely,

Bianca Esposito- [email protected] / 914-320-7260Julia Frazee- [email protected] / 973-487-7007Megan Nash- [email protected] / 518-796-4011Madeleine Overholt- [email protected] / 717-673-0735

Running head: FINAL REPORT

The Toxic Food System

Bianca Esposito, Julia Frazee, Megan Nash, and Madeleine Overholt

Ithaca College

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Abstract

Today, many people lack a diet that is full of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, and have

developed poor eating habits that greatly affect their health. There are many reasons as to why

people choose to eat foods that are bad for our bodies, including nutrition education, farming and

sourcing, food economics, and accessibility. This proposal aims to offer solutions to better the

toxic food system that is currently fueled by societal factors, such as food marketing, as well as

the four perspectives mentioned above. We plan to increase the demand of healthy food by

tailoring the four P’s of food marketing, which are price, product, promotion, and placement, in

hopes of diminishing this wicked problem.

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The Toxic Food System

In today’s society, humans are heavily impacted by the unhealthy food culture that has

been ingrained and promoted into people's everyday lives. Eating and purchasing unhealthy

foods ultimately fuels the continuation of poor eating habits, and health related issues that are

associated with long-term unhealthy eating. According to the article, “The way America eats is

killings us: Something has to change,” “We are far too deferential to the interests of big

companies, too invested in a corporate-serving narrative of personal responsibility with no

parallel requirement of social responsibility, and too culturally wedded to a food model of

quantity over quality” (Filipovic, 2013). The food environment, or the physical and social

surroundings that influence what we eat, makes it far too hard to choose healthy foods, and all

too easy to choose unhealthy foods (Harvard T.H. Chan, 2016). This is a deeply ingrained food

culture issue that is often described as toxic because it corrodes healthy lifestyles and promotes

obesity. In 2008, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported that the food industry spends

almost $10 billion per year marketing food and beverages in the U.S. that appeal to children and

adolescents, including $1.6 billion to target children and adolescents directly with soft drinks,

fast-food, and cereal promotions (Harvard T.H. Chan, 2016). Our mission is to propose solutions

that will spark a gradual change in our food culture by redesigning the product, placement, price,

and promotion associated with food marketing.

Defining the Issue

The framework behind our issue is defined by four major interrelated perspectives within

the food system. Using systemic thinking, we established these perspectives by looking at the

food system as a whole. The perspectives are broken down into nutrition education, agricultural

farming and sourcing, food economics, and food accessibility (See Appendix A). Based on our

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research we determined these four perspectives to be the main contributors to the toxic food

environment. More specifically, our findings suggest that people lack a basic understanding of

what constitutes a healthy balanced diet. Additionally, we found that many Americans struggle

to maintain a healthy diet because of the lack of accessibility to nutritious/organic foods. Most

foods that are considered healthy are also more expensive, making it difficult for those with

smaller budgets to purchase healthy, organic, and locally grown foods. This results in individuals

often turning to unhealthy food options because they are the most readily available, low cost, and

“familiar” foods. Throughout our report we will provide further evidence that supports these

findings.

More importantly, we found that these perspectives are heavily influenced by the way

food is advertised and marketed in America. The book, Food Politics: How the Food Industry

Influences Nutrition and Health, highlights the affect marketing has on the food industry by

stating,

In an economy of overabundance, food companies can sell products only to people who

want to buy them. Whether consumer demands drive food sales or the industry creates

such demands is a matter of debate, but much industry effort goes into trying to figure out

what the public “wants” and how to meet such “needs”...The food industry’s marketing

imperatives principally concern four factors: taste, cost, convenience, and public

confusion (Nestle, 2002, p. 16-17).

This shows how the issue is largely influenced by what consumers demand and how food

companies market and position foods based on consumer preferences and lifestyles. Since

consumers have a preference for energy dense foods that are high in calories, fat, and sugar,

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unhealthy foods will continue to be produced and marketed at a higher rate than healthier

alternatives (Nestle, 2002).

Consequences

The consumption of unhealthy food will continue to escalate if we do not begin to

address the major factors in society that influence poor eating choices and an overall unhealthy

lifestyle. More importantly, this kind of environment can lead to an increase in health

consequences, such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, high cholesterol, and several

other deadly diseases. According to an article from the American Physiology Society, “Effects of

exercise and diet on chronic disease,” “Overwhelming evidence from a variety of sources,

including epidemiological, prospective cohort, and intervention studies, links most chronic

diseases seen in the world today to physical inactivity and inappropriate diet consumption”

(Barnard & Roberts, 2005). If this issue is not addressed, nutrition-related diseases are, and will

continue to kill millions of people every year (Barnard, 2005).

Methods and Sources

In order to gain a better understanding of the toxic food environment, we conducted an

extensive amount of primary and secondary research to help formulate our solution. A great deal

of our research comes from scholarly articles, online resources, and books, as well as interviews

with experts and professionals. These sources have allowed us to further define the overall issue,

understand the implications and constraints behind our issue, and generate possible solutions. It

was important for us to examine what measures have already been taken to improve the toxic

food environment in order to gain a better understanding of what methods would be more

successful.

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As part of our primary research, we consulted experts and professionals in the Ithaca area

to gather information on the food environment. The first interviewee we consulted was Andrew

Novakovic who is a professor of agricultural economics at the Dyson School of Applied

Economics and Management at Cornell University. His proficiency in the economics of market

coordination and pricing, the operation of food processing and marketing firms, and the

economic regulation of marketing and pricing activities has helped us understand the farming

and sourcing perspective of our issue. The second expert we interviewed was Kendall Cirella,

who is a Wegmans employee directly involved in product placement. Knowing the strategy

behind where different products are put in Wegmans has allowed us to recognize why people are

more inclined to purchase unhealthy food options rather than the more nutritious choices. The

experts that we consulted guaranteed quality information and provided us with trustworthy

evidence because of their reputability.

The secondary research that we conducted provided us with information about our four

major perspectives, as well as information about the effects of culture and advertising on food

consumption. We utilized resources written by highly regarded professionals who are considered

experts in the food industry, ensuring that our information is credible and valuable. The

information that we collected from all of our secondary sources contributed to our knowledge of

the food system and ability to create possible solutions.

Research Questions

1. Why do consumers often buy unhealthy food options rather than nutritious foods?

2. Why are healthy/organic foods more expensive than conventional foods?

3. Why are conventional foods more accessible than healthy/organic foods?

4. Do campaigns to end people’s unhealthy dietary habits actually work?

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5. How do marketing and advertising influence people’s dietary habits?

Findings

Through conducting primary and secondary research, we have uncovered various

findings that reveal several of the main contributing factors that fuel this issue in our society.

According to the article, “What’s Wrong With the American Diet?,”

Twenty-five years ago, the average American consumed about 1,850 calories each

day. Since then, our daily diet has grown by 304 calories (roughly the equivalent

of two cans of soda). That's theoretically enough to add an extra 31 pounds to

each person every year...More than 68 percent of all Americans are considered

overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention” (Woolston, 2016).

This finding proves that people are eating excessive amounts of unhealthy foods, which is

because people are persuaded to eat more in order to increase food sales. According to Nestle, “[I

am]... increasingly convinced that many of the nutritional problems of Americans - not least of

them obesity - can be traced to the food industry’s imperative to encourage people to eat more in

order to generate sales and increase income in a highly competitive marketplace” (Nestle, 2002,

p.4). The food industry drives many people’s poor eating habits since the primary concern is

generating sales. Past efforts to end unhealthy eating habits and preferences continue to fail

because those who have been implementing “new” solutions aren’t addressing the root causes of

the issue. According to the Newsweek article titled, “Why The Campaign To Stop America’s

Obesity Crisis Keeps Failing,”

The problem is, the solutions this multi-level campaign promotes are the same ones that

have been used to fight obesity for a century—and they just haven’t worked...at the

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moment, the government efforts to curb obesity and diabetes avoid the all-too-apparent

fact...that exhorting obese people to eat less and exercise more doesn’t work, and that this

shouldn’t be an indictment of their character but of the value of the advice. By

institutionalizing this advice as public-health policy, we waste enormous amounts of

money and effort on programs that might make communities nicer places to live—

building parks and making green markets available—but that we have little reason to

believe it will make anyone thinner (Taubes, 2012).

This finding provides our team with useful insights on how we should address solutions to this

ongoing issue and what solutions haven’t worked in the past. This is very important because it

helps our team avoid re-creating solutions that mimic the past failed campaign efforts. Also, to

further demonstrate the colossal negative impact of unhealthy eating, the 2015-2020 Dietary

Guidelines published by Health.gov states,

More than two-thirds of adults and nearly one-third of children and youth are overweight

or obese. These high rates of overweight and obesity and chronic disease have persisted

for more than two decades and come not only with increased health risks, but also at high

cost. In 2008, the medical costs associated with obesity were estimated to be $147 billion.

In 2012, the total estimated cost of diagnosed diabetes was $245 billion, including $176

billion in direct medical costs and $69 billion in decreased productivity (“Nutrition and

Health Are Closely Related,” n.d.).

Unhealthy eating is a serious problem in our society, and while there is not a single cause

for the increase in calorie consumption or for the reason why people continue to purchase and

consume widely known unhealthy foods, there are a few known factors that can be linked to this

growing issue, which are explained by our four perspectives.

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Nutrition Education

There are campaigns and programs throughout the nation designed to educate people,

especially children, on the importance of nutrition and healthy food habits. However, a large

number of people lack basic nutrition information (“Survey Finds Americans Lack Basic

Nutrition Information,” 2012). This is largely due to the fact that past campaigns and programs

are often overshadowed by “Big Food” and “junk-food marketing” (Jacobson, 2013). We are

constantly bombarded by advertisements for fast-foods, candy, sugary drinks, and minute meals.

They dominate TV commercials, mobile devices, video games, and even schools. This is a

critical issue because “about two-thirds of adults and one-third of children and adolescents are

overweight” (“Survey Finds Americans Lack Basic Nutrition Information,” 2012). Studies show

that “nutrition-related diseases kill millions of Americans every year, and a major cause of these

epidemics is that many consumers do not know enough about the role that foods play in health”

(“Survey Finds Americans Lack Basic Nutrition Information,” 2012). The Food and Agriculture

Organization of the United Nations aims to promote nutritionally adequate diets for all people.

The FAO’s core belief is that,

Whether food supplies are scarce or abundant, it is essential that people know how best to

make use of their resources to ensure nutritional well-being. To be adequately nourished

individuals need to have access to sufficient and good quality food and they need an

understanding of what constitutes a good diet for health, as well as the skills and

motivation to make good food choices (“Nutrition Education and Consumer Awareness,”

2016).

It is critical that we increase people's knowledge of the nutritional value of food, which will help

them develop skills to learn and adopt healthy eating practices. Increasing education is the first

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step towards influencing a positive change in people’s behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs towards

healthier eating habits.

Agricultural Farming and Sourcing

Within the U.S, the real cost of fresh fruits and vegetables has risen nearly 40 percent in

the past 20 years. The real costs of soda pop, sweets, fats, and oils, on the other have declined

(“Organic Culture,” 2006). This increase in the cost of food is directly related to the farming and

production process. According to Andrew Novakovic, professor of agricultural economics at the

Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University, “If it weren’t more

expensive to follow organic production standards, farmers wouldn’t use agricultural chemicals

and fertilizers, and all the other things that differentiate conventional from organic practices. The

fact is organic methods cost more primarily in terms of yield effects, not the prices of alternative

inputs” (A. Novakovic, personal communication, November 10, 2016). These contributing

factors include: environmental enhancement and protection, standard for animal welfare,

avoidance of health risks, and additional farm employment and ensuring fair income.

Additionally, post-harvest handling of relatively small quantities of healthy produce results in

higher costs of processing and transportation because of the emphasis on the freshness of that

produce. As a result of the increase in transportation costs, the cost of marketing these products

significantly increases as well. According to the article, “Food without Thought: How U.S. Farm

Policy Contributes to Obesity,”

Low prices trigger more investment in using particular crop, and, not surprisingly, the

food industry has developed many uses for these cheap commodities. High fructose corn

syrup and hydrogenated vegetable oils--products that did not even exist a couple of

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generations ago but are now ubiquitous in food products as added and fats--have

proliferated thanks to artificially cheap corn and soybeans (Schoonover & Muller, 2006).

This proves how and why the go-to cheaper alternatives have dominated the food market. The

food industry’s focus has shifted from small farms to large corporations, and this transformation

has created change within the farm system. According to the book, Food politics: How the food

industry influences nutrition and health, “since 1660, the number of farms has declined from

about 3.2 million to 1.9 million, but their average size has increased by 40% and their

productivity by 82%. Most farms today raise just a single commodity such as cattle, chicken,

pigs, corn, wheat, or soybeans” (Nestle, 2002, p.11). This information demonstrates how large

food corporations have the power to take over small farms by controlling how crops are

harvested and processed into other foods.

Food Economics

Although there has been an increase in efficiency and profitability due to more intensive

farming operations, such as factory farming, there are also a large amount of consequences that

result from these major corporations controlling the food system. According to Grace

Communications Foundation, “A handful of corporations—producers of seeds, processors of

meat and milk, and grocery retailers—now dominate most aspects of the food system, giving

them enormous power to control markets and pricing, and enabling them to influence food and

agricultural regulations. The largest of these agribusinesses are practically monopolies,

controlling what consumers get to eat, what they pay for groceries and what prices farmers

receive for their crops and livestock” (“Food Economics,” n.d.) The expansion of this industrial

way of farming has caused prices of major food groups, such as milk, eggs, and meat, to

increase, meaning farmers aren’t earning any money. Factory farms hire minimal employees,

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making it so there are no jobs for farmers. Grace Communications Foundation says, “Growing

corporate power in agriculture has lead to steadily rising prices for staples like meat, milk and

eggs, while the farmer’s share of the consumer grocery dollar has fallen” (“Food Economics,”

n.d.). Ultimately, large corporations and their dominance over the agriculture industry is a major

reason why healthy/organic foods are overpriced.

Another reason why organic foods are more expensive than conventional foods is

because of the difference in difficulty level of production. According to the Food and

Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, “Production costs for organic foods are typically

higher because of greater labour inputs per unit of output” (“Why is organic food more

expensive than conventional food,” n.d.). Although it is more difficult to produce organic foods,

there are some organic foods that aren’t much more difficult to harvest. For example, the organic

premium, or cost difference between organic and conventional, is only 7% for spinach. Produce,

such as spinach and apples, are easier to grow organically, which makes the cost gap smaller.

Foods that are processed are more difficult to produce organically. Examples of processed foods

include milk and eggs, which will be more expensive than fruits and vegetables. The most

expensive foods include animal products, because raising animals organically is the most

difficult and labor intensive (Plumer, 2016).

There are many factors that must be considered when dealing with economics of the food

system, and there are many angles that can be approached when trying to understand why the

costs of organic, healthy, and locally grown foods are so high. It is difficult to pinpoint one

dominant reason for the expensive prices of healthy food, but having a better understanding of

agricultural economics can make it more possible to find a solution to the overall toxic food

environment problem.

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Food Accessibility

The lack of access to healthy foods greatly contributes to the way individuals consume

food and is one of the major reasons why people turn to unhealthy food options. Some people do

not have the transportation methods to gain access to healthy foods, while others may lack the

monetary funds to purchase healthy foods for themselves or a large family. Some people also

lack the mobility to go to locations that offer healthy food options due to health issues. These

health issues may have a correlation between an unhealthy diet and lifestyle that has stemmed

from the convenience, easy access, and low cost to eat unhealthy foods. According to the Food

Research & Action Center (FRAC), the USDA has reported that,

...vehicle access is perhaps the most important determinant of whether or not a family can

access affordable and nutritious food” (Ver Ploeg et al., 2009). Households with fewer

resources (e.g., SNAP households, WIC households, food insecure households) are

considerably less likely to have and use their own vehicle for their regular food shopping

than those households with more resources (Ver Ploeg et al., 2015 … (“Why Low-

Income and Food Insecure People are Vulnerable to Obesity,” 2015).

The Food Research & Action Center also states that, “Comprehensive literature reviews

examining neighborhood disparities in food access find that neighborhood residents with better

access to supermarkets and limited access to convenience stores tend to have healthier diets and

reduced risk for obesity (Larson et al., 2009; Bell et al., 2013)” (“Why Low-Income and Food

Insecure People are Vulnerable to Obesity,” 2015). This research reveals how healthy eating and

living a healthy lifestyle is somewhat exclusive to those who are more financially secure. A

PolicyLink.org study done in 2013 also reveals that, “Even as recognition of the problem is

growing and progress is being made, between 6 and 9 percent of all U.S. households are still

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without access to healthy food” (Bell, Morra, Hagan, Rubin, & Karpyn, 2013). This statement

shows that while people, businesses, and organizations are aware of the issue, “the research

indicates that poor access to healthy food corresponds with poor nutrition and that new healthy

food retail contributes to community economic development in tangible, positive ways” (Bell,

2013). A recent food accessibility survey was conducted at Georgetown University in November

2016, which also indicated that half of those surveyed had found a lack of accessible food

options on campus. The data from this survey states, “54 percent of 351 surveyed students said

they have experienced hunger but were unable to buy food for cost-related reasons...The shortage

of affordable food options prevented 68.9 percent of surveyed students from eating as healthily

as desired” (Subramaniam, 2016). This finding further illustrates how our other perspectives of

the food system heavily influences food accessibility, and how this major problem will require

several different solutions.

Options

A design requirement that we have found to be essential to use throughout the formation

of our solution has been through using mapping methods. The maps we created helped us

construct our ideas into smaller parts, making it possible to approach our wicked problem

without being overwhelmed or intimidated. We have found that systemic thinking has been

essential to designing our solution for the toxic food environment because it has allowed us to

scale down and visualize a large and complex societal problem into detailed parts. One major

constraint that we have identified throughout the process is a limited number of perspectives,

which makes it difficult for us to get a full understanding of the root of this issue. We have been

challenged throughout the course of this project to analyze the various perspectives of this

critical issue in order to propose a solution that is not exclusively shaped by our personal biases.

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Our group took the initiative to develop four main perspectives that contribute to unhealthy food

consumption, which includes farming and sourcing, education, accessibility, and food

economics.

Throughout the semester, we have had the opportunity to work through a variety of

solutions with the help of our peers and visiting professionals. One of the options we heavily

considered was an educational campaign designed to promote a healthier lifestyle. However,

after Skyping with Dr. Harold Nelson, we were advised differently. He questioned our intentions

and challenged us to think about whether people actually want to change their dietary habits

(Nelson, 2016). We ultimately concluded that we cannot force change onto others, therefore we

decided to refocus our solution to influence others through marketing and advertising. In addition

to educating people about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, we aim to design a solution that will

directly lower healthy food prices. Mentioned throughout our findings, we have discovered that

directly lowering the prices of healthy food options is difficult to do alone due to the cost that

goes into providing fresh, healthy options. Lastly, an alternative solution that we discussed was

designing a healthy food truck to travel throughout areas that have limited accessibility to

nutrition foods, however, when defining our design goal we realized that this alternate solution

did not fully align with our goal for the future. Our overall objective is to focus on the marketing

aspect of the food system, particularly by promoting healthy food options that are nutrient dense

and calorically suited for an average diet.

Design

Our overall design goal is to increase the demand of healthy foods in order to improve the

current toxic food system that influences the way people eat. To increase the demand of healthy

foods, our plan is to alter the four P’s of food marketing, which include product, placement,

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promotion, and price. Shifting the way foods are marketed is intended to spark a change in the

demand for healthy foods. Our design solution will guide consumers to purchase healthy foods

within every food shopping transaction. As communications majors with backgrounds in

marketing, we believe the best approach to this solution is to target the four P’s of marketing

(See Appendix B).

We understand that attempting to eliminate this societal problem with one single solution

is not feasible, which is why we have proposed using the four P’s of marketing. Using the four

P’s will ensure that each perspective is being tackled. By implementing our design solutions that

have been created based on our extensive research, we hope to see a decrease in the consumption

of unhealthy food and an increase in the demand of healthy food. In order to implement our

design solutions, it is essential that the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) accepts our proposal. The

Food Marketing Institute is a trade association whose vision is to lead the way in providing

comprehensive programs, guidance, resources, advocacy, and services for the food, pharmacy,

and grocery retail industry to wholesalers, food retailers, and suppliers (“Food Marketing

Institute,” n.d.). FMI will be able to communicate our solutions to the food retailers, wholesalers,

and suppliers they assist. Also, since much of our solution relies on remaining local, we will

execute our ideas at the local grocery stores in Ithaca, NY, such as GreenStar. We can suggest

these local stores implement our solutions, and then in order to measure success, we will keep

track of the sales of healthy foods and brands after implementation and compare them to the

sales of healthy foods and brands before implementation.

Product

The products that our design goal is focused on are healthy food that is best defined by

the book, Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health, by Marion

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Nestle. Nestle defines healthy food as being food that contains vitamins and minerals necessary

to prevent deficiencies and supports normal metabolism (Nestle, 2002, p. 5).

Placement

As one of the four P’s of marketing, placement is a major factor that influences

consumers purchasing habits. We spoke with Kendall Cirella, a Wegmans employee, to further

our understanding of the effect product placement in grocery stores has on what shoppers’ buy.

Her expertise in product placement and knowledge of where to put certain kinds of foods has

allowed us to generate a solution that changes product placement strategy. Cirella said,

We place certain products at the front of the store in the checkout lines to encourage

customers to make last minute purchases. By placing specific products at the checkout

lines, shoppers are persuaded into buying things that they didn’t plan on buying. It is an

effective marketing tactic, and the products that are bought in the checkout lines actually

boost sales. Also, conventional foods are separated from healthier brands and placed into

different sections of the store. Most people don’t even know we have sections in the store

that offer healthier brands or they just skip over those sections. Since many shoppers

either skip over or don’t know about the sections in the store that have healthier food

options, sales for those foods aren’t very high (K. Cirella, personal communication,

December 1, 2016).

The information Cirella provided has helped us decide which methods of product placement will

be most effective. Rather than having candy and junk food, as well as sodas, energy drinks, and

sugary drinks, placed near checkout, Wegmans and other grocery stores, should place healthy

food options at the checkout lines. Another change that grocery stores should make in regard to

product placement is integrating healthy food options throughout the store by mixing the

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placement of healthy brands and junk food brands together. By placing healthier brand

alternatives next to junk food brands, consumers will be motivated to contemplate which product

to buy rather than automatically choosing the unhealthier option. When these types of foods are

separated into different sections of the store like Cirella mentioned, people are more likely to

skip over healthy food sections. The demand for healthier foods will increase by changing

product placement.

Promotion

The way food is promoted through marketing and advertising strategies has a huge effect

on consumers spending habits. The U.S. food industry spends almost $10 billion per year

marketing food and beverages such as, soft drinks and fast-food, that appeal to children and

adolescents (Harvard T.H. Chan, 2016). According to the book, Food fight: The inside story of

the food industry, America’s obesity crisis, and what we can do about it, “health authorities

believe that the accumulation of unhealthy messages communicated to children through food

advertising is a leading cause of unhealthy consumption” (Brownell &, Horgen, 2004). By

increasing the promotion of healthy food we intend to shift consumers demand for unhealthy

food options to healthier choices.

A main part of our promotion strategy is to increase the amount of commercials that

advertise healthy food options. Commercials are a great way to promote healthier consumption

habits because they reach large audiences. Since the advertising of unhealthy food seems to have

a huge impact on how people eat, we believe that increasing the amount of advertising for

healthy food will have the same effect in a much more positive way. In addition to increasing

promotion through commercials, we will also utilize social media to further influence consumers.

More specifically, we want to start a series of ‘How To’ healthy food videos that can be shared

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on all social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. We believe

that this has the potential to expose massive amounts of consumers to healthy meals that are not

only easy to make, but healthy as well. We also want to incorporate ‘How To’ recipes on the

back of food labels in addition to videos on social media. Promoting healthy recipes and food

options will greatly impact what consumers are exposed to, in turn influencing them to make

better decisions regarding their eating habits.

Price

Price is another major contributor to the toxic food system because the higher costs of

healthier foods heavily influence consumers spending habits. In order to see a change in people’s

unhealthy dietary habits it is important to alter the price of healthy food products. According to

Grace Communications Foundation, “Farmers' markets, food cooperatives, and community

supported agriculture programs continue to grow in popularity, making local, sustainably

produced food more available. These programs offer consumers the opportunity to put their

dollars directly into farmers' pockets, cutting out corporate middlemen and strengthening a

regional food system” (Food Economics, n.d.). Since the dominance of major corporations is a

root cause of the high prices of healthy/organic foods, it is critical that smaller, locally operated

grocery markets take over the food industry, which then will make sustainably produced foods

more available. This change will result in an increase in demand of healthy foods, and make

healthier foods more accessible and readily available. The Food and Agriculture Organization of

the United Nations says, “As demand for organic food and products is increasing, technological

innovations and economies of scale should reduce costs of production, processing, distribution

and marketing for organic produce” (“Why is organic food more expensive than conventional

food,” n.d.). Price and demand have a direct relationship, and because prices will decrease when

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large corporations no longer control the food industry, demand will increase. Once demand

increases, the costs of production, processing, distribution, and marketing will decrease as well.

Ultimately, it is crucial that local markets dominate agribusiness in order to lower prices and

increase demand of healthy and organic foods.

The toxic food system is a serious problem that is often overlooked. It is important that

our design solutions are implemented in order to see a change in people’s eating routines. If this

problem isn’t fixed, many people will suffer and ultimately have a poor quality of life. Efforts in

the past have not been successful, and our design solutions are different and innovative

compared to what has been done before. It is not enough to just tell people to eat healthy and

exercise. While campaigns are perceived to be productive in igniting change, alone they don’t

work, and our solutions will shift consumers’ behavior, which will gradually improve the toxic

food system.

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References

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Brownell KD, Horgen KB. Food fight: The inside story of the food industry, America’s obesity

crisis, and what we can do about it. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2004.

Bell, J., Morra, G., Hagan, E., Rubin, V., & Karpyn, A. (n.d.). Access to Healthy Food and Why

It Matters

Cirella, K. (2016, December 1). Personal interview.

Filipovic, J. (2013, September 26). The way America eats is killing us. Something has to change.

Retrieved November, 2016, from

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/26/american-diet-report-card-

unhealty

Food Economics. (2016). Retrieved October 15, 2016, from

http://www.sustainabletable.org/491/food-economics

Food Marketing Institute (n.d.). About Us. Retrieved December, 2016, from

http://www.fmi.org/about-us/about-us

Jacobson, M. F. (2013, August 07). Ending Food Ignorance: Education Is Too Important to

Leave to Big Food. Retrieved October 18, 2016, from

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Appendix A

Perspectives Map

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Appendix B

Solution/Design Map

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Solving the Toxic Food System in America through Systemic Thinking

Business

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