Other countries fill in.

Whether you live in farm country or in the city, you’ve probably noticed the quality of produce at your local supermarket has deteriorated over the years. These days, our “fresh” produce isn’t actually fresh at all — much of it has been picked too early, shipped across land and sea, and delivered to your grocer with a “Product of Mexico” or “Product of China” sticker tacked onto it. The United States is growing less and less of its own food and is becoming increasingly dependent on foreign countries to feed itself as a result.

The U.S. has been a proud agricultural powerhouse, consistently running an agricultural trade surplus. But in 2019, for the first time in more than 50 years, the mighty U.S. agriculture system ran an agricultural trade deficit, importing more than it exported: though we racked up a $9.7 billion agricultural trade surplus with the rest of the world, our $11 billion agricultural trade deficit with Mexico resulted in a $1.3 billion deficit. The USDA forecasts the U.S. will again run a deficit in 2023 for the third time since 2019.

This growing deficit is driven by our dependence on imported Mexican fruits and vegetables. In 2019, we imported $13 billion worth of fruits and vegetables from Mexico. In 2021, our fruit and vegetable bill from Mexico went up to $16 billion. Big Ag corporations perpetuate the myth that industrialized agriculture is necessary so the U.S can “feed the world.” How could we even begin to aspire to “feed the world” if we can’t feed our own country? We need to balance our own books first.

We Want Food, Not Feed!

Corporate monopolies’ focus on increasing exports of cheap corn and soybeans comes at the cost of America’s economic security and the public’s health. Corn and soybeans are not the staples of healthy food for people — their primary uses are for industrial livestock feed, ethanol, and to make cheap sugars, starches, and oils that end up in highly-processed junk foods. Big corporations have created a system where we need to buy our fresh produce from Mexico instead of growing it in American soil, and we are giving away opportunities as a result.

Forgone Economic and Public Health Opportunities

As competition from imports has grown, it has negatively impacted food and farm industries, with producers increasingly going out of business or shifting operations to Mexico. For example, in 2000, the U.S. produced 3.9 billion pounds of fresh market tomatoes while importing 1.3 billion pounds from Mexico. But in 2021, these market positions completely reversed: Mexican imports jumped to 3.9 billion pounds and U.S. production dropped to 1.3 billion pounds. It’s easy to look at the data and just see numbers, but those numbers represent farmers who are losing their livelihoods. What’s more, all the jobs and economic benefits supported by local supply chains are disappearing along with those farms.

Fruits and vegetables are higher-value products than the corn and soybeans the U.S. food and farm system currently prioritizes. Even though the soybean industry receives substantially more government support, its industry value is estimated at 20% lower than that of fruits and vegetables.