Human Health and the Gulf Dead Zone

Dead Zones: Causes and Effects
Dead zones are areas that can no longer sustain life. Usually referring to oceanic dead zones, the term could just as well apply to agricultural dead zones. The dead zones that impact the food supplies in North America include the Gulf of Mexico’s dead zone, which is the largest ever measured (NOAA, 2017). The causes of dead zones include pollutants like nitrogen and phosphorous from industrial development, sewage, and agriculture itself. Pollutants make their way into the ocean through rivers and other aquatic feeders. The Mississippi River is primarily responsible for feeding the Gulf of Mexico as it has accumulated nitrogen and phosphorus from all points upriver (“The Floods' Lingering Effects: New Study Shows Gulf "Dead Zone,” 2017). Agricultural waste and nutrient pollution lead to the rapid growth of algae, which in turn consumes the oxygen in the water. As the algae proliferate, it consumes so much oxygen that other species cannot survive in the surrounding waters and results in the dead zone.
The Gulf of Mexico has been a reliable source of seafood products like shrimp, and the dead zone seriously threatens food safety and security. Tourism is also affected, with detrimental effects on the American economy. According to the nature Conservancy, the dead zone costs more than $82 million per year in lost revenues (“The Floods' Lingering Effects: New Study Shows Gulf "Dead Zone,” 2017). The Gulf of Mexico provides more than 40 percent of the nation’s seafood, too, presenting clear threats to food security (“The Floods' Lingering Effects: New Study Shows Gulf "Dead Zone,” 2017). The dead zone will also drive up prices of seafood products, as fishermen need to travel farther afield (“The Floods' Lingering Effects: New Study Shows Gulf "Dead Zone,” 2017).
Health Problems Related to Diet and Dead Zone
According to Nichols (2017), 75% of all deaths in the United States can be traced to only ten different causes. The leading cause remains heart disease, followed by cancer and respiratory disease. Many causes of death in the top ten are related to lifestyle choices and dietary habits, especially heart disease, diabetes, and even some cancers. Although no deaths can yet be directly attributed to the Gulf of Mexico dead zone, the same pollutants that promote algae growth may be contaminating local drinking water supplies. In many cases, the causes of health problems like heart disease, some types of cancer, and diabetes are linked to the same root causes of the dead zone. For example, Wallinga (2009) points out that the industrialized food system practiced in the United States is a core culprit of the dead zone and other problems like water contamination. Wallinga (2009) also notes that pesticides, which run off into the Mississippi River and into the Gulf of Mexico, are also linked to certain types of cancer in the United States.
Public Policy and Politics and the Dead Zone
Industrialized food production may not be the boon it once seemed. Although food production rates are high with the industrialized model, the consequences are dire. Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and other industrialized food operations produce waste in unsustainable levels. Industrial agricultural operations are threatening the surrounding soil and water systems’ integrity and also leading to the dead zone. Yet government policy is only beginning to recognize its role and responsibility in balancing the demands of agro-business with the need for public health and safety. Because the dead zone impacts another industrial feeding sector, fishing, the government is finally starting to listen. In fact, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is part of the United States Department of Commerce. Recognizing that pro-industrial policy has ended up being detrimental to the very industries they are trying to protect, policy may finally be changing.
Strategies for Sustainable Food Systems
Multiple strategies are needed to promote a sustainable food system. One of the most important strategies will be eliminating the CAFOs, and reducing overall animal food consumption. CAFOs are one of the biggest culprits of the dead zone (Wallinga, 2009). Also, CAFOs are categorically unethical in terms of animal welfare (“Sustainable Livestock Husbandry,” n.d.). The conditions in which animals are raised during the production of meat and dairy using the factory model are untenable. Moreover, eating too much meat leads to widespread health problems that are not just lowering quality of life but also impacting the economy.
Therefore, the factory model of meat production needs to be outlawed in favor of pasture-raised animals. The cattle and other animal industries will protest, but ultimately by banning CAFOs, the price of meat will simply rise as production goes down. Americans eat more meat than they need to, and driving the price down will actually encourage healthier eating in the same way tobacco taxes combined with public health outreach campaigns have helped decrease prevalence of smoking.
Americans dislike change in general, which is why it will be challenging to ban CAFOs and industrial meat production. Yet there is now financial incentive to start phasing out the CAFO model, as the dead zone threatens the fishing industry. The CAFO model also causes a number of preventable health problems related not just to over-consumption of meat but also to the overall higher nutritive quality in the meat yielded by pasture-raised animals (“Sustainable Livestock Husbandry,” n.d.). With a comprehensive public health campaign modeled after the one used by the anti-tobacco campaign, it will be possible to reduce the consumption of meat and drive down the demand for cheap and unsustainable animal husbandry practices.



References

“The Floods' Lingering Effects: New Study Shows Gulf "Dead Zone" One of the Largest on Record,” (2017). Nature Conservancy. Retrieved online: https://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/areas/gulfofmexico/explore/gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone.xml
Nichols, H. (2017). The top 10 leading causes of death in the United States. Medical News Today. Retrieved online: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/282929.php
NOAA (2017). Gulf of Mexico ‘dead zone’ is the largest ever measured. NOAA. Retrieved online: http://www.noaa.gov/media-release/gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone-is-largest-ever-measured
“Sustainable Livestock Husbandry,” (n.d.). Grace. Retrieved online: http://www.sustainabletable.org/248/sustainable-livestock-husbandry
Wallinga, D. (2009). Today’s food system: How healthy is it? Journal of Hunger and Enviornmental Nutrition 4(3-4): 251-281.