We have covered the unique ability of our food system to consume ever smaller amounts of resources yet provide ever more abundant food in previous discussions.

However, it may bear repeating the improvements in agricultural productivity has allowed resources such as land and labor be used for nonagricultural uses, reducing the environmental impact of farming, and made food more affordable to our growing world population.

Additionally, the U.S. is now producing more oil than we import.

Not only are we well down the path to less reliance on others for our energy needs, we now dominate the world ethanol market.

In 2014, we exported more than 30 percent more ethanol than the previous year.

The shale-gas boom has us exporting this raw energy product while the recent record corn harvests are driving ethanol markets.

Global demand for U.S. ethanol is helping ward off a glut after our government eased obligations to blend the fuel with gasoline.

More and more consumers are focused on humanely raised food.

It is easy to understand this trend.

Many of us have family pets and most of us are at least three generations removed from farm life.

We tend to associate our family companions with food animals and get a little lost along the road to long term food sustainability.

As populations become more economically advanced they tend to seek higher protein foods.

These foods are often animal related.

Let's explore the simple example of "humanely produced" eggs.

California residents have passed legislation requiring all eggs sold in the state be from hen houses using cages larger than the industry standard.

As consumers saw a need to provide hens with bigger living quarters, egg farmers now have to rebuild their hen houses by installing these larger cages.

The end result (which is seldom discussed) is with increased fixed costs and fewer eggs produced per housing unit the expense of these "humanely produced" eggs is higher.

It is estimated as these new regulations take affect over the next few months, all California consumers will be paying at least 20 percent more for their eggs.

Of course, the consumer is always right and we do enjoy a wide range of freedoms living and eating in the U.S.

People may want to more fully consider what it is they are trying to achieve as we alter and develop our farm and food system standards.

The implications of our policies are often broader and deeper than first anticipated.

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John Berry is the agricultural marketing educator with the Ag Entrepreneurship Economic and Community Development Team for Penn State Extension, Lehigh County.

Information for this article was adapted from: Ron Sands, USDA's Economic Research Service; Dermot J. Hayes, Iowa State University; and Darrel Good, University of Illinois.