For 2014: Define "Broken"

Here's what I want for the new year (and yeah, I know this is the sort of thing I'm supposed to a) do on New Year's Eve; and b) is supposed to be well-thought-out, etc. Meh.)

Here's what I want for 2014: I want someone, anyone, I don't care who, to explain to me in what way the American food system is "broken." 

My request is prompted by yet another rendition of the "broken" theme, this time in this morning's Des Moines Register (my local newspaper) (local more or less). The food person there wrote that in the new year, she would

 not buy meat or eggs from huge factory farms or trucked-in produce when I can buy it from someone right here. It’s a small thing in the face of our massive and massively broken and untenable food system, but we all have our uncrossable lines and this is mine. [emphasis added]

I read something like this at least once a week. It's the basis on which reformers call for change. 

Great. Fine. Just explain the "broken" part. That's all I'm asking.

(I ask because when I want to eat, well, there's lots of food to choose from, most of it high-quality and affordable. And the range of options is astounding: I can eat cheap hamburger or drop $25/pound on "organic" filet. I can find cheese from around the country and around the world. Vegetables and fruits abound. . . . So what, precisely, is broken?)

Thanks in advance.