ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how the processing arid marketing of food have created a food delivery system acclaimed for variety and low costs but fragile because of consolidation and specialization. Americans traditionally have prided themselves on their self-sufficiency. A hundred years ago, people produced and stored much of their own food supplies more by necessity than by choice. The media often depict the self-sufficient farms of yore with root cellars piled high with apples, carrots, potatoes, beets, hams, and so forth. Regional specialization in food production, an elaborate interstate transportation system, and largescale buying and selling have stimulated a rather rigid structure in today's food system. Food chains occasionally advertize fresh, locally grown foods such as corn or strawberries in season, but this is the exception rather than the rule; it constitutes a very small proportion of the food handled by a store. Supermarkets generally restock food staples on the average of two or three times a week.
