Consumption America: How Maximum Profits Are Depleting Health, Food Systems, and the Planet
Tracy Turner
Abstract:
The building blocks of 21st century American life, from suburban homes and lawns to gas-guzzling SUVs that clog roadways, have been rooted in excess. Today's culture of consumption controls almost every phase of our lives; excess is now not only deemed normal but actively celebrated. While encouraged at all costs to consume, we are simultaneously expected to look away from the outcomes of those behaviors.
Yet, this is fundamentally an unsustainable consumption culture that in many ways gives women a sense of empowerment. And the corporations facilitating the vicious cycle of consumption with this trend have prospered from the base of ignorance and apathy among us while agricultural livelihoods, biodiversity, and our health—that nurturing touch to life—continue to buckle under such exploitation. This system is based on the principle of maximum profit, a principle that often works directly against the environment and the very systems of life we rely on for survival. As will be outlined in these following sections, this destructive, profit-driven model is taking humanity—and the planet itself—into extinction.
1. The SUV Crisis: Gasoline over Food, Cruising over Crops
It is impossible to ignore the huge, thirsty SUVs that rule the American roads. These have come to be symbols of wealth and status, but also a reflection of something deeper and more disturbing. They are an irrational use of resources—gasoline, land, and the environment—in the name of luxury and convenience. But they are more than just a symbol of consumerism; they are a manifestation of a dangerous trend: prioritizing consumption over sustenance.
Through the bottom line, driving huge, inept cars is touted as a personal achievement for the masses toiling away in this concrete jungle. From an ecological point of view, while SUVs barely have a number of advantages compared with smaller, efficient class vehicles, SUVs use more resources than it would appear feasible and thus speed up environmental decay and further heighten the temperature of the planet.
Doing the Math on the SUV Crisis
| Vehicle | Fuel Economy (mpg) | Annual Fuel Use (gallons) | CO2 Emissions (lbs/year) | Fuel Cost (2025, $4.00/gallon) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average SUV | 15 mpg | 600 gallons | 10,800 lbs CO2 | $2,400 |
| Average Sedan | 30 mpg | 300 gallons | 5,400 lbs CO2 | $1,200 |
| Food System Annual Cost | N/A | N/A | N/A | $1,500 (average household) |
In putting into perspective the amount it would cost to keep an SUV on the road, that investment could go a long way toward food production. For the same amount it takes to feed a single large SUV for a year, you can easily feed a family of four all year long. This is not a choice of lifestyle, it is a life or death choice. Continue filling your SUV now and starve later. The younger you are, the more you will know hunger and starvation in your generation. Todays SUV guzzlers are your Grandchildren's starvation.
- Annual Fuel Consumption: While the average SUV requires 600 gallons per year in gas, the newer sedan averages only 300 gallons.
- CO2 Emissions: An SUV on the road emits over 10,800 pounds of CO2 per year, nearly twice as much as the amount from a sedan.
- Fuel Costs: The fuel for one SUV costs roughly $2,400 yearly, while for a sedan it is half that much, only $1,200.
But it far exceeds the mere consideration of cost; while we are filling up our fuel tanks and not our food baskets, so to say, the vital resources that should go into the support of agriculture are being squandered. Think about this very deeply. You burn a tank of gas in your SUV, that energy will produce zero food, for eternity, for posterity. You are quite literally burning up your children's eating habits in tomorrow.
2. Food Crisis: Agricultural Production vs. Profit-making
The problem of overconsumption is not restricted to transportation; it is equally inherent in our food system. Lying at the root of the agricultural crisis is this fact: corporate interests are exploiting the global food system for short-term profit, and the consequences are devastating. These corporate giants don't care about feeding people; they care about making money.
The industrial agricultural system, driven by global corporations such as Monsanto, Cargill, and Tyson Foods, has created an agricultural landscape where the bottom line is about maximizing yields, not maximizing the nutritional value or sustainability of the food produced. This system drives the use of industrial farming practices—monocropping, overuse of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and a focus on genetically modified crops—which have significantly reduced the ability of soil to regenerate and provide nutrients.
The monoculture of a single crop in large tracts of land, which could be corn or soy, has depleted the natural nutrients of the soil. That clearly makes crops more susceptible to pests, diseases, and extreme weather events. These monocultures, nonetheless, are favored because they maximize profit for corporations in the short term, not long-term food security for humanity.
Water and Land Use in Agriculture
Agriculture is considered the greatest user of freshwater on this planet, consuming 70% of Earth's water supplies. Yet, much of this goes into the production of crops to feed livestock or manufacture biofuels rather than feeding human populations directly. This grossly inefficient use of water further worsens the growing global water crisis, particularly in regions whose water supply is already marginal.
It is also very land-consuming, for example: 1.5 acres of land per person are required to sustain this model of industrial agriculture. Much of this land is farmed using synthetic chemicals that degrade its capacity to support future generations. On the contrary, sustainable farming requires only 0.5 acres of land per person and uses regenerative practices that restore the soil and preserve biodiversity.
The Economics of Industrial Agriculture
| Type of Agriculture | Land Use (Acres per person) | Water Consumption (Gallons/day) | Energy Input (kWh/ton of food) | Profit Margins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial Agriculture | 1.5 acres | 1,000 gallons | 50 kWh/ton | High: 10-15% |
| Sustainable Agriculture | 0.5 acres | 400 gallons | 30 kWh/ton | Low: 2-5% |
- Water Efficiency: Sustainable farming uses significantly less water than industrial agriculture, a critical factor as water scarcity becomes an increasingly serious global issue.
- Land Efficiency: Sustainable farming techniques are not only more efficient in their land use but also restore the land over time, whereas industrial farming strips the soil of nutrients, making it less fertile for future generations.
While industrial agriculture may offer high profits in the short run, it is undermining the long-term ability of the earth to provide for future generations. Soils are becoming barren, waterways are poisoned with agricultural runoff, and the ability to feed the world's population is being increasingly jeopardized.
3. Maximum Profits: The Root of the Planetary Crisis
The thing is, maximum profits are ignoring the so-called "externalities"—the hidden costs of business practices that have to be covered by society, future generations, and the planet. Corporations externalize those costs—meaning we, the public, bear them: the polluted air we breathe, the contaminated water we drink, the destroyed habitats we depend on, and the rising healthcare costs to treat diseases caused by pollution and environmental degradation.
The Economics of Maximum Profits: A Broken System
| Corporate Activity | Cost to the Environment | Cost to Human Health | Profit Generated (2025) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fossil Fuel Extraction | Soil and water contamination, CO2 emissions, habitat loss | Respiratory diseases, cancers, cardiovascular disease | $1 Trillion+ |
| Industrial Agriculture | Soil erosion, pesticide pollution, greenhouse gas emissions | Cancer, neurological damage, food insecurity | $3 Trillion+ |
| Plastic Production | Ocean pollution, overflowing landfills, toxin release | Cancer, endocrine disruption, reproductive harm | $800 Billion+ |
| Lithium Mining (for Electric Cars) | Freshwater depletion, habitat destruction, toxic runoff | Respiratory problems, neurological damage | $100 Billion+ |
| Lithium Battery Disposal | Water contamination, toxic landfill runoff | Cancer, endocrine disruption, contamination of food chains | N/A |
These organizations generate revenue from activities that damage the planet but pass the real costs to society. The people will pay in due time through medical care, cleaning up the environment, and through climate and resource destruction. This immoral system favors short-term profits for the greedy over long-term sustainability for the masses, rapidly leading humanity toward environmental collapse. The corporatocracy uses the words "freedom" and "democracy" ad nauseum, soon we will have food wars, not freedom.
Making Shift to a Sustainable Future
Now is the time for change. We have to start to dismantle the systems that have driven us to the brink of disaster and replace them with models centered on sustainability, resilience, and equity. This means:
- Transition to renewable energy: We must divest from fossil fuels toward solar, wind, and other renewable sources of energy.
- Investing in regenerative agriculture: The shift from industrial farming to the regenerative version that restores the soil and protects the environment.
- Rethinking transportation: Instead of driving inefficient SUVs, the focus should go toward sustainable means of transportation like public transit, biofuel vehicles, or Bio-battery EVs.
- Corporate accountability: We need to demand accountability from corporations for environmental and human health damages. We have to make corporations responsible for what they do to this world and the people who live in it.
After all, our future, our very survival, will depend on the choices we make about which path to follow: the path of sustainability or the path of profit. We must change our ways before it's too late.
Conclusion
This extended discussion of the deep repercussions due to the consumption-driven models underlines dramatically the need for change. The choices we make today—about the cars we drive, the food we eat, and the corporations we support—will define the future of humanity. We must transition from a profit-driven, extractive economy to one that values life, health, and the environment above everything else. Only then can we sustain ourselves—and this planet—for the foreseeable future.
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