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ACTIVITIES ... STREAMS, STRANDS, STRINGS
FOOD ... the case for better metrics
The PURPOSE of FOOD is a lot more than corporate profit!
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THE CASE FOR BETTER WAYS OF NUMBERING
from PAGE 18 of Sustainable-Food-Trust-The-Cost-of-American-Food-Report-2016
We are currently paying three times for the food we eat. Firstly, in agricultural subsidy payments which largely promote intensive crop production. Secondly, we pay for the food at its retail value when we buy it in the shop. Finally, we pay for a third time to cover the costs of healthcare, as well as the costs of measures to tackle poverty and environmental degradation.
A case in point is the $250 million in subsidies paid annually to maize producers that results in producing cheap high fructose corn syrup for a booming soft drink industry. This leads to increasing incidence of obesity and diabetes, the costs of which are paid for by society.
Another example is the cost of the restaurant system that denies a living wage and benefits to workers, resulting in billions of dollars worth of tips by consumers, and an additional $16.5 billion annually in public subsidies for food stamps and medication. Increasing the federal minimum worker wage to $12 per hour would be equivalent to an average household increase in daily food cost of just 10 cents a day.
Responsible investment strategies are growing in the US but investors are dissatisfied with current environmental, social and governance disclosures. Profit-and-loss accounts must include societal costs in order to enhance market efficiency and manage risks related to resource scarcity, climate change or eventual regulations on product or consumer safety. True cost accounting brings all environmental, social and economic strands into a uniform strategic approach, allowing decisions that safeguard soils, plants, animals and people, while also producing positive business results.
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http://www.truevaluemetrics.org/DBpdfs/Food/SustainableFood/Sustainable-Food-Trust-The-Cost-of-American-Food-Report-2016.pdf
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Open PDF ... Sustainable-Food-Trust-The-Cost-of-American-Food-Report-2016
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But really it is worse than this ...
There was a time when:
• World population was only 1.7 billion in 1900 compared to around 7.5 billion in 2015 ; and
• World GDP about $5 trillion in 1940, compared to more than $70 trillion in 2020.
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What this means is ...
There is an urgent need for action not words because ...
• The population of the world is faced with an existential crisis; and
• World leadership is not facing up to this fact!
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Better metrics must embrace more than just corporate profits ...
Every impact must be accounted for and reported on ...
• The impact on people ... and on the society as a whole, and;
• The impact on the environment ... on nature and its essential roles, as well as;
• The manner in which the benefits of all economic activities are shared.
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