End Plastics
Unwrapping the Hidden Role of Plastic in Our Food System
December 15, 2025
As we head into the holiday season and all the over consumption that can trigger in some parts of the world, it’s important to recognize that our buying habits directly feed the plastic pollution crisis. Because practically every new product carries a plastic footprint through its plastic packaging, production, and shipping. By choosing to buy less, or skip impulse purchases altogether, we can reduce the amount of plastic entering our environment and even our own bodies.
That is because so much of the food we eat has come into contact with plastics, from plastic-coated fertilizers and mulches used in farming, to the packaging around your sandwich or the plastic lining in canned foods. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, in 2019, the global food system relied on over 12.5 million tonnes of plastic in agricultural production alone and another 37.3 million tonnes in food packaging – that’s the same as encasing the Earth’s equator in plastic wrap over 112,000 times!
The modern food industry relies on plastic at every stage. The issue is that all plastics, be it in the food industry or any other industry, in the end breaks down, shedding microplastics which are about the size of a grain of rice or smaller.
Tiny Plastics Particles Are a Problem
As a result these microplastics are now found everywhere: in our oceans, rivers, soil, the air we breathe, and yes, in the food we eat!
Here’s how – plastic can be ingested by animals, eventually entering the human food chain via seafood, livestock, and crops. Research has shown that marine organisms, such as shrimp and fish for example, ingest microplastics from the ocean. In fact a study in 2024, by the Ocean Conservancy and the University of Toronto, found microplastics in nearly nine out of ten protein samples. This included animal proteins, such as beef, pork, seafood, chicken, as well as plant-based options. It’s not just protein, studies have found leafy and root vegetables absorb microplastics from contaminated soil and water too.
Microplastics can enter our bodies when we consume contaminated foods. Researchers estimate that adults in the United States may ingest nearly 4 million microplastic particles per year from protein sources alone. Highly processed foods tend to contain more microplastics than raw or minimally processed items, making diet choice an important factor in exposure.
These microplastics can leach a cocktail of toxi plastic chemicals into our bodies. While scientists are still studying the long-term health effects of this plastic exposure, these toxic substances are linked to a large range of human health issues, from Alzheimer’s, infertility, some cancers. How did we end up in this plastic mess?
Farming and Plastics
Plastic has silently invaded the global food system. Beginning on our farms, from plastic wraps over mulch and fodder to polytunnels, irrigation tubes, and microplastic coated fertilizers and seeds, it touches nearly every stage of crop production. Plastic mulching alone accounted for almost 40% of the global agriplastic market between 2013 and 2019. These plastics don’t just linger in the soil—they break down into microplastics that can leach harmful chemicals into the food we eat, quietly affecting human health and the environment long before the products reach our plates.
These materials promise benefits, such as reduced weed pressure, improved moisture retention, cost-effectiveness, and pest protection.Yet they come with hidden costs: As of 2016, 40-50% of the plastic used in farming processes has soil and plant debris on it meaning that it is rarely recycled. And instead is likely burned, buried or landfilled. Additionally, plastic film breaks down into microplastics that contaminate the soil, which end up in our food.
While there may be gaps in our knowledge on just how much plastic is in our soil, U.S farms that use plastic sheets for mulching have 75% higher microplastic concentration in their soil than farms who don’t use these plastic sheets. So, even if the food these farms sell isn’t wrapped in plastic at the store, it might still contain plastic due to how it was produced.
Processing, Packaging, and Distribution
But plastics don’t stop at the farm. During processing and packaging, food can absorb microplastics from equipment.
Once packaged, single-use plastics dominate the global food system, enabling long-distance transport and extended shelf life. Which is why in 2016, roughly 50% of all fossil fuel–based plastics were used for food packaging alone. The same properties that make these plastics so useful, durability, flexibility, and moisture resistance, also make them non-biodegradable, and contribute to the growing plastic pollution crisis.
Plastic additives chemicals like phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA), and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) are all used to make food packaging. Phthalates are commonly found in soft plastics and cling wraps, BPA in hard plastics and food can linings, and PFAs in non-stick coatings, greaseproof paper, and waterproof packaging.
Storing our food in this packaging can cause yet more plastic to leach into our meals. Especially under heat, light, or prolonged storage, plastic chemicals from packaging can leach into the food we eat. Many of these chemicals are known as endocrine disruptors and have been linked to adverse health issues, such as infertility, obesity, and development issues. In effect, the very chemicals designed to preserve and protect our food may quietly be harming our health.
More plastic in the form of stretch and bubble wrap, liners, and insulation are then used to secure and refrigerate food shipments and studies have found that microplastics from these materials can travel in the air, entering food packaging environments, long before they even reach consumers. So, not only are these plastic pallets, wraps, and containers thrown away after each shipment, adding to the global waste problem, but they are also putting workers in the food industry at risk.
Plus, only 13.6% of all of the plastic packaging generated in 2018 was recycled.Then the vast majority end up in landfill where it breaks down into microplastics and contaminates the soil all over again.
Solutions: Rethinking Food Systems Beyond Plastic
Addressing plastic pollution in the food industry requires serious action at every stage.
Introducing innovative, sustainable replacements like bioplastics and compostable materials into the modern food system could boost the recycling rates of food packaging by 22% to 64%, depending on the scenario.
Farmers must phase out plastic mulches and coated fertilizers by switching to safer materials and ingredients. In distribution, reusable pallets and insulated containers can help reduce microplastics from entering the environment.
There are also plenty of alternatives to plastic packaging and household food containers, such as compostable packaging, silicone kitchen utensils, glass containers, beeswax wraps, and even zero waste grocery stores.
EARTHDAY.ORG is calling for a 60% reduction in plastic production by 2040, and you can help: find a cleanup near you on our Great Global Cleanup Map, sign our Global Plastic Treaty Petition against plastic pollution, and always choose reusable and sustainable alternatives when you shop. Next time you unwrap a plastic-packaged snack or bite a packet of plastic wrapped chicken, remember the long, plastic-filled journey this food took before it got to you and maybe find healthier alternatives!
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