Where Does Food Come From? Michael Pollan on Food Sources

In a literal sense, food comes from two sources, plants and animals, but it takes a wide network of farms and food chains worldwide to get these items into your pantry and refrigerator. As a result of widespread global trade, countries capitalize on exporting the food groups they grow best to the rest of the world. This means the dinner you eat in North America might have come from ingredients suppliers sourced from South America or Asia.

The food chain leading to your grocery store might have plenty of different origin points throughout the world. Here are just three places the food in your local supermarket comes from:

1. 1. Domestic farms: Many foods arrive at grocery stores from farms right in their country of origin rather than via importation from other nations. For instance, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) keeps track of food items producers make in the United States exclusively. Some domestic farms are small, local, and family-owned, while others are big, corporation-run businesses. Each individual farmer or farming company might differ in terms of how humanely they treat their animals or how naturally they raise their crops.
2. 2. International farms: Different habitats produce and sustain different food products. For example, one country might have an ecosystem conducive to growing avocados and blueberries, whereas another might have an easier time growing pumpkins and soybeans. Thanks to globalization, the world’s population can now eat food products municipalities have imported from far beyond the country of origin’s borders.
3. 3. Processing plants: Some cereals, meat products, and even plant-based foods end up packed with artificial preservatives and byproducts as they pass through processing plants. These industrial food manufacturers pump out as much food as possible to grocery stores. The chemicals they add to the foods can, in many cases, reduce nutritional value at the same time they help producers to preserve and package it more efficiently.

According to Michael, there are four main food chains, with the industrial food chain being the biggest. The smallest is what he sometimes calls the “first person food chain.” He says, “This is food you grow yourself or you forage yourself. It’s the shortest food chain of all. So we go from the longest to the shortest, and they each operate accordion to very different rules, and they produce a very different kind of food.”

The sources of food matter, whether for your own personal health or on a broader environmental scale. Here are just a few reasons journalist and food educator Michael Pollan believes you must know where your food comes from:

• To inform your consumption: Food labels might seem like a shortcut to understanding how healthy an item is, but Michael believes these identifiers can prove deceptive. “People put labels on things that don't mean anything,” he says. “‘Farm fresh’ or ‘natural’ means absolutely nothing. So it's very easy to become confused in the supermarket.” When you know where your food supply comes from, you can make more informed decisions for your diet.
• To maintain healthy eating: If you want to eat healthy food, you need to keep an eye on how farmers and processors prepare it for you. “You know, you can have a potato here and a potato there,” Michael says, “And they might look the same, and they might even taste the same. But one of them may be full of pesticides.” As an example, a small organic farm will likely provide you with more nutritious and natural food than an industrial processing plant would.
• To protect the environment: Certain food sources have a negative impact on the environment, while others make the world a better, more sustainable place to live. “Eating from the industrial food chain is damaging to the environment,” Michael says. “And eating from the regenerative food chain actually may contribute to environmental health.” To be an environmentally and socially conscious consumer, learn more about the farms and vendors providing you with your food.

Global food consumption, especially from industrial sources, can have a very negative impact on climate change and other environmental concerns. By contrast, when people grow food in a sustainable and organic manner, it helps the environment maintain a healthy state of equilibrium. Sustainable farming also helps bolster food security for people throughout the world.

See food like you have never seen it before. With the MasterClass Annual Membership, journalist and educator Michael Pollan teaches you how to determine your ingredient sources, shop at the grocery store, and rethink your relationship to food.