George Steinmetz on the hidden costs of our food system

For the photographer George Steinmetz ’79, recipient of the distinguished alumni price of Doerr School of Sustainability, a career in photography has meant on deserts, tropical forests and urban sprawl – capturing the fragile beauty of our above planet. Fragile veins of a tropical forest to the geometric spread of industrial agriculture, its camera reveals models invisible to those linked by the earth.

On March 11, Steinmetz returned to the farm to unveil his book, “Feed the Planet: a photographic Journey to the World’s Food”, published in October 2024. Steinmetz led a masterclass, offering a look back on the realities of the documentation of the world’s food systems, for students of the Earthsys 185: Dollars. He also held a conference entitled “Do you know where your food is coming from?” at Hewlett Teaching Center.

In an odyssey of a decade in 36 countries and six continents, Steinmetz recounts the vast and complex machinery which nourishes humanity, exposing not only its scale but its consequences.

Steinmetz’s trip to photography was neither planned nor conventional. Study geophysics in Stanford, he told the public: “To be honest, I was not exactly interested in geophysics. He was just the second most paid major. »»

His real education did not start in conference rooms but on the open road – 28 months of hitchhiking across Africa, sleeping on train roofs, wandering in forests and buying his first camera without previous experience, according to his speech.

Decades later, with more than 40 national geographic trials and distinctions, notably the Environmental Vision Award and three World Press Photo prizes, Steinmetz has become a hidden landscape cartographer, with a motorized paragliding, its 310 cc engine – called “Monster” – Attached to his back.

From this fragile perch, he hovers between the earth and the ether, according to the adage of the old pilot: “the altitude is your friend,” said Steinmetz during the event. The public laughed. “I thought it meant that I would have more time to cry down,” he added.

Michael Fried – Director of Arts on the planet Earth, a commissioning, presenting and presenting works of environmental art, including creative writing, dance, cinema, media, fine arts, music, photography and theater – presented the presentation of Steinmetz’s evening in the context of a continuous effort to merge the arts, human and sciences exploring the future of all life.

Fried, whose work in the arts of the defense planet The role of narration in the change of public conscience, underlined the need for such discussions. “George goes and he sees and he clicks – and does not create any opinion but simply brings the meaning of reality to these photographs which carry people’s breathing. Reading George’s book was an intoxicating and breathtaking experience. I also admire its air geometry, “said Fried on a daily basis.

Steinmetz projected images on an imposing screen that has led to the history of modern food production: wheat fields extending like golden oceans through kansas, sculpted Indian shrimp farms like abstract mosaics, large Australian cattle stations as a whole.

Poultry plants where hundreds of thousands of birds spend their whole lives under an artificial and crowded wing. The cattle confined in sterile pens, their bodies designed for maximum efficiency. In a Brazilian slaughterhouse, cow skins are hung on the wall while 1,200 workers move in synchronized precision. The relentless pace is dictated by the inflexible requirements of a world supply chain, according to Steinmetz’s speech.

“These cows live in a sad and always environment,” said Steinmetz to the public, stopping on the image of the separate calf of his mother, tiny and alone on the screen.

Public members said they were affected by Steinmetz’s speech. Rachel Lit ’25 spoke of the serious honesty of images, in particular those that light up the toll of the beef industry on the climate. “The meat industry is devastating for the environment,” said Lit.

Isabel Vilá Ortiz ’25 was “taken between the exhaustion of the finals and a wave of inspiration,” she said. For her, “this speech gives hope.”

Students were not the only ones affected by Steinmetz’s work. “We, humans, went too far. Thanks to its presentation, Steinmetz shows that industrial meat production puts unbearable pressure on the planet, and we have to rethink the way we feed, “said Fried.

According to Fried, “George’s speech gives great hope in these dark and dystopian times. And hope is a verb. One of the challenges for those of us who consider themselves environmental activists is the depression that we can feel. George does not preach, he rather puts the truth about his photographic investigation so that we can make more informed decisions on our food. »»

While the presentation ended, the director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment Chris Field joined Steinmetz to address one of the most amazing statistics of the night: “The total biomass of domesticated poultry, mainly chickens, now prevails over floors.”

Steinmetz said, “We have the natural right to see how food we eat are made. We put this in our body, so we have to see where it comes from. There are environmental consequences to what we eat. »»

When asked by the public how we could follow his traces, how could we get such raw and uncrowned truths, Steinmetz’s response was simple: “Go”.