--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We need to realize that these industrial…" description: "\"We need to realize that these industrial methods of farming have gotten us used to cheap food. The corollary of cheap food is low wages. What we need t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b45/raj-patel-18362_aim_we-need-to-realize-that-these-industrial_1955011.jpg" --- # We need to realize that these industrial methods of… ![“We need to realize that these industrial methods of farming have gotten us used to cheap food. The corollary of cheap food is low wages. What we need to do in an era when the price of food is going up is pay better wages. A living wage is an absolutely integral part of a modern food system…” quote by Raj Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b45/raj-patel-18362_aim_we-need-to-realize-that-these-industrial_1955011.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b45/raj-patel-18362_aim_we-need-to-realize-that-these-industrial_1955011.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b45/raj-patel-18362_aim_we-need-to-realize-that-these-industrial_1955011.jpg) > “We need to realize that these industrial methods of farming have gotten us used to cheap food. The corollary of cheap food is low wages. What we need to do in an era when the price of food is going up is pay better wages. A living wage is an absolutely integral part of a modern food system, because you can't expect people to eat properly and eat in a sustainable way if you pay them nothing. In fact, it's cheap food that subsidized the exploitation of American workers for a very long time, and that's always been an aim of cheap food.” [Raj Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raj-patel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Industrial farming's cheap food hides the true cost of low wages; fair pay is essential for a sustainable food system. **In simple terms:** Cheap food masks labor exploitation; fair wages needed. Key Takeaway Pay workers a living wage. Themes economics food justice labor rights sustainability Mood concerned determined Type policy advocacy When to use this quote - policy reform - consumer advocacy - corporate responsibility - community-supported agriculture Key Concepts social equity systemic exploitation public health Questions to Reflect On - How can societies balance affordable food with fair labor compensation? - What policies can ensure both food security and living wages? A Different Perspective Higher food prices may strain consumers, making wage increases politically contentious. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aim/) [Better Wages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better-wages-1186396/) [Cheap food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cheap-food/) [Exploitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exploitation/) [Farming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/farming/) [Food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/food/) [Living wage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-wage/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Long time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-time/) [Modern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Price Food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/price-food-623724/) [Realizing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realizing/) [Wages Living](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wages-living-3194967/) ## Related quotes > [To be effective in tackling poverty wages, a living wage has to be mandatory and basic trade union rights should be restored so workers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcdonnell/to-be-effective-in-tackling-poverty-wages-a-living-wage-has-to-be/) [John McDonnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcdonnell/) > [I think we need equal wages which are living wages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/i-think-we-need-equal-wages-which-are-living-wages/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [Those externalized costs have always included labor. 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I can buy a chicken and have many meals come from it. Is it affordable? Yes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-waters/we-all-need-to-know-how-to-cook-i-can-buy-a-chicken-and-have-many/) [Alice Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-waters/) > [“The fact that the nutritional quality of a given food (and of that food's food) can vary not just in degree but in kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/the-fact-that-the-nutritional-quality-of-a-given-food-and-of-that/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [What we shouldn't be doing is trying to take away your rights to bargain for better wages or working conditions... These so-called "right to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/what-we-shouldn-t-be-doing-is-trying-to-take-away-your-rights-to/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) ## More by Raj Patel > [One of the most abused country on earth is Mexico. The marketing spills over the border, and people are persuaded to eat food that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raj-patel/one-of-the-most-abused-country-on-earth-is-mexico-the-marketing/) [Raj Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raj-patel/) > [Right now you're seeing more and more families reporting that they are skipping meals. They're having to give up meat. Mothers are foregoing food…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raj-patel/right-now-you-re-seeing-more-and-more-families-reporting-that-they/) [Raj Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raj-patel/) > [If fucking up takes practice.. i seem well rehearsed..!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raj-patel/if-fucking-up-takes-practice-i-seem-well-rehearsed/) [Raj Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raj-patel/) > [The one thing that everyone knows about America is people will say, I know my rights. 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A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raj-patel/i-think-we-do-need-to-worry-about-a-food-shortage-but-we-also-need-to/) [Raj Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raj-patel/) > [“studies are beginning to show that our ability to appreciate the intrinsic value of generosity, sharing and selflessness is central to maximizing our well-being.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raj-patel/studies-are-beginning-to-show-that-our-ability-to-appreciate-the/) [Raj Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raj-patel/) > [When you have weird policy decisions in the United States that then ripple out throughout the world, the rest of the world really takes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raj-patel/when-you-have-weird-policy-decisions-in-the-united-states-that-then/) [Raj Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raj-patel/) > [I do think we have a food problem. In 2006, which is the year for which we have the latest data, 35.5 million Americans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raj-patel/i-do-think-we-have-a-food-problem-in-2006-which-is-the-year-for-which/) [Raj Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raj-patel/) > [All of human history is about the going from sudden fat years to the sudden lean years. We've always had good times and bad,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raj-patel/all-of-human-history-is-about-the-going-from-sudden-fat-years-to-the/) [Raj Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raj-patel/) > [“Today’s human activity isn’t exterminating mammoths through centuries of overhunting. Some humans are currently killing everything, from megafauna to microbiota, at speeds one hundred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raj-patel/today-s-human-activity-isn-t-exterminating-mammoths-through-centuries/) [Raj Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raj-patel/) > [By the end of the 1960s, the United States owned more than half of the Indian rupee money supply, and that had been acquired…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raj-patel/by-the-end-of-the-1960s-the-united-states-owned-more-than-half-of-the/) [Raj Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raj-patel/) > [The problem is that we are living now with the consequences of the others people mistake. It would be nice to make our own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raj-patel/the-problem-is-that-we-are-living-now-with-the-consequences-of-the/) [Raj Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raj-patel/) > [A fertilizer bomb that kills hundreds in Oklahoma. Fuel-laden civil jets that kill 4000 in New York. 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It always aims at making things beautiful. But relevance is just as important. I often say, 'If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-behar/design-certainly-has-a-cosmetic-aesthetic-aim-it-always-aims-at/) [Yves Behar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-behar/) > [My aim was to make money for the bank. You lose track of the amounts involved when you are engaged in this kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-kerviel/my-aim-was-to-make-money-for-the-bank-you-lose-track-of-the-amounts/) [Jerome Kerviel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-kerviel/) > [My only aim is to clock a time that everyone remembers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hima-das/my-only-aim-is-to-clock-a-time-that-everyone-remembers/) [Hima Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hima-das/) > [My main aim has always been to do good quality films with roles that have some substance. 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Ralph \[Fiennes\] was very open to my input,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felicity-jones/i-really-enjoyed-it-being-involved-in-watching-rushes-and-playback-in/) [Felicity Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felicity-jones/) > [My aim is to be counted among the top players.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/babar-azam/my-aim-is-to-be-counted-among-the-top-players/) [Babar Azam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/babar-azam/) > [The single aim of my life is that every child is: free to be a child, free to grow and develop, free to eat,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kailash-satyarthi/the-single-aim-of-my-life-is-that-every-child-is-free-to-be-a-child/) [Kailash Satyarthi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kailash-satyarthi/) > [The aim of good prose words is to mean what they say. The aim of good poetical words is to mean what they do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-aim-of-good-prose-words-is-to-mean-what-they-say-the-aim-of-good/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Prescribing hard work for the soft, or easy work for the hardy, is generally nonsense. What is always needed in any aim is right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/prescribing-hard-work-for-the-soft-or-easy-work-for-the-hardy-is/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [To be normal is the ultimate aim of the unsuccessful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/to-be-normal-is-the-ultimate-aim-of-the-unsuccessful/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) [Browse all 3,047 Aim quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aim/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We need to realize that these industrial methods of farming have gotten us used to cheap food. The corollary of cheap food is low wages. What we need to do in an era when the price of food is going up is pay better wages. 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