Crisis and Opportunity: Sustainability in American Agriculture

19. The New American Food System

274 The New American Food System The twentieth century was the American Century—as is commonly conceded by historians. During the twentieth century, the United States replaced Great Britain as the dominant global economic power and America’s corporate version of capitalism replaced both socialism and classical capitalism as the world’s dominant economic model. The United States came from behind to beat the Soviet Union to the moon and take leadership in space. The United States came from behind to pull ahead of Japan in electronics and communications technologies. And the United States replaced the whole of Europe as the single dominant global military power. The American Century was a time during which economics gained precedence over all else—including politics, society, and culture. America struggled economically along with the rest of the world during much of the first half of the century. But America built the foundation for its modern industrial economy during World War II, used its postwar economy to help rebuild Europe and Japan, and thereafter never looked back. The United States’ desire for maximum economic growth provided the motive for its unrestrained corporatist economy, which later became the model for developing economies around the globe. Research and development supported by economic growth allowed America to take world leadership in space and electronics. And economic growth made possible the most powerful and dominant military force ever assembled in the history of humanity. As we enter a new century, however, public concerns are growing regarding the sustainability of the country’s economic 19 New American Food System 275 growth. Growing evidence of air and water pollution during the 1960s raised questions concerning the inherent negative environmental impacts of the industrial paradigm of economic development. The energy crisis of the 1970s raised concerns about the extractive nature of the “free market” economy, and its inherent reliance on limited supplies of nonrenewable resources . The economics of greed, which characterized America in the 1980s, raised new concerns about a growing economic gap between the “haves and have-nots.” And when the economic bubble of the 1990s burst at the turn of the century, many more people began to question whether America’s economic growth was sustainable. The environment has been the focus of primary concern for sustainability, but there are growing questions of social and cultural sustainability as well. Our relentless pursuit of economic prosperity is separating people within families, communities, and society as a whole and is destroying the social fabric of our country. The health of any society is reflected in the quality of relationships among its people—within families, communities, and society in general. During the latter half of the twentieth century, as American society has become increasingly disconnected , our relationships have become increasingly unhealthy and dysfunctional. In our quest for global economic supremacy, the United States has become a splintered nation of disconnected people. We Americans have come to deal with each other only indirectly —through markets, through agents, or through lawyers and courts. Our relationships are defined by transactions, contracts, and laws rather than by common interests, commitments , and trust. In the marketplace, we are committed to competition, not cooperation. We take adversarial positions in the courts in our search for truth. Our personal disagreements lead to arguments and threats, and we settle our international disagreements through coercion and “small wars.” Relationships based on believing, trusting, caring, and sharing are la- 276 Sustainable Systems beled as naive or idealistic. We seem to be a nation that has lost any sense of personal connectedness. In his book Bowling Alone, Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam provides measure after measure verifying that Americans have became increasingly disconnected during the last half of the twentieth century.1 Fewer Americans voted in elections, belonged to organizations, participated in social activities, visited each other’s homes, or did other things necessary to build personal relationships. Most such measures of social connectedness have dropped by 30 to 50 percent since the late 1950s. Putnam says that we remain interested and critical spectators of the public scene, but we don’t play. We remain affiliated with various civic associations, but we don’t show up. We attend public meetings less often, and when we do, we are disappointed to find that few of our neighbors have joined us. We are less generous with our time and money, we are less likely to give strangers the benefit of...