Choices Quote by Raj Patel
“Yet if you go to the supermarket and look at food that's produced through industrial agriculture, look at what's happened to the prices. Have they been going down? They've been going up and they will continue to go up. So the choice is either, do we hitch onto a system of agriculture that's doomed and will doom the planet with it, and go along the route of industrial agriculture, or do we want to shift to a kind of system that we know is going to be, in the long run, cheaper, because we'll have a planet left at the end of it? We need to factor that cost in.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: Interview on Food Systems, 2015
Industrial agriculture raises prices and harms the planet; sustainable systems will be cheaper long‑term.
In simple terms: Industrial farming is costly and unsustainable; sustainable farming saves money and the planet.
Key Takeaway
Choose sustainable agriculture now.
Themes
environment
economics
food systems
sustainability
policy
Mood
concerned
hopeful
Type
persuasive
analytical
When to use this quote
- policy making
- consumer choices
- investment decisions
- educational curricula
Key Concepts
externalities
long‑term planning
planetary health
Questions to Reflect On
- What policies could accelerate the shift to sustainable farming?
- How can consumers influence agricultural practices?
A Different Perspective
Industrial agriculture may still dominate due to entrenched interests and subsidies.
