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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@gilanet.com>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Oil and food: A new security challenge
  • Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2005 20:11:39 -0600

Oil and food: A new security challenge
By Danielle Murray
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/GF03Dj01.html

Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers
to have their say. Please click here if you are interested in contributing.

>From farm to plate, the modern food system relies heavily on cheap oil.
Threats to our oil supply are also threats to our food supply. As food
undergoes more processing and travels farther, the food system consumes
ever more energy each year.

The US food system uses over 10 quadrillion Btu (10,551 quadrillion Joules)
of energy each year, as much as France's total annual energy consumption.
Growing food accounts for only one-fifth of this. The other four-fifths is
used to move, process, package, sell, and store food after it leaves the
farm. Some 28% of energy used in agriculture goes to fertilizer
manufacturing, 7% goes to irrigation, and 34% is consumed as diesel and
gasoline by farm vehicles used to plant, till, and harvest crops. The rest
goes to pesticide production, grain drying, and facility operations.

The past half-century has witnessed a tripling in world grain production -
from 631 million tons in 1950 to 2,029 million tons in 2004. While 80% of
the increase is due to population growth raising demand, the remainder can
be attributed to more people eating higher up the food chain, increasing
per capita grain consumption by 24%. New grain demand has been met
primarily by raising land productivity through higher yielding crop
varieties in conjunction with more oil-intensive mechanization, irrigation,
and fertilizer use, rather than by expanding cropland.

Crop production now relies on fertilizers to replace soil nutrients, and
therefore on the oil needed to mine, manufacture, and transport these
fertilizers around the world. Rock deposits in the United States, Morocco,
China, and Russia meet two-thirds of world phosphate demand, while Canada,
Russia, and Belarus account for half of potash mine production. Nitrogen
fertilizer production, which relies heavily on natural gas to fuel the
conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into reduced forms of nitrogen such as
ammonia, is much more widely dispersed.

World fertilizer use has increased dramatically since the 1950s. China is
now the top consumer with use rising beyond 40 million tons in 2004.
Fertilizer use has leveled off in the United States, staying near 19
million tons per year since 1984. India's use also has stabilized at around
16 million tons per year since 1998. More energy-efficient fertilizer
production technology and precision monitoring of soil nutrient needs have
cut the amount of energy needed to fertilize crops, but there is still more
room for improvement. As oil prices increase and the price of fertilizer
rises, there will be a premium on closing the nutrient cycle and replacing
synthetic fertilizer with organic waste.

The use of mechanical pumps to irrigate crops has allowed farms to prosper
in the middle of the desert. It also has increased farm energy use, allowed
larger water withdrawals, and contributed to aquifer depletion worldwide.
As water tables drop, ever more powerful pumps must be used, perpetuating
and increasing the oil requirements for irrigation. More efficient
irrigation systems, such as low-pressure and drip irrigation, and precision
soil moisture testing could reduce agricultural water and energy needs. But
in many countries, government subsidies keep water artificially cheap and
readily available.

Countering the historical trend toward more energy-intensive farm
mechanization has been the adoption of conservation tillage methods -
leaving crop residues on the ground to minimize wind and water erosion and
soil moisture loss. Soil quality is improved through this technique, while
farm fuel use and irrigation needs are lowered. Zero-till farming is
practiced on 90 million hectares worldwide, over half of which are in the
United States and Brazil. Reduced tillage is now used on 41% of US
cropland.

Although agriculture is finding ways to use less energy, the amount
consumed between the farm gate and the kitchen table continues to rise.
While 21% of overall food system energy is used in agricultural production,
another 14% goes to food transport, 16% to processing, 7% to packaging, 4%
to food retailing, 7% to restaurants and caterers, and 32% to home
refrigeration and preparation.

Food today travels farther than ever, with fruits and vegetables in Western
industrial countries often logging 2,500-4,000 kilometers from farm to
store. Increasingly, open world markets combined with low fuel prices allow
the import of fresh produce year round, regardless of season or location.
But as food travels farther, energy use soars. Trucking accounts for the
majority of food transport, though it is nearly 10 times more
energy-intensive than moving goods by rail or barge. Refrigerated jumbo
jets - 60 times more energy-intensive than sea transport - constitute a
small but growing sector of food transport, helping supply northern
hemisphere markets with fresh produce from places like Chile, South Africa,
and New Zealand.

Processed foods now make up three-fourths of total world food sales. One
pound (0.45 kilograms) of frozen fruits or vegetables requires 825
kilocalories of energy for processing and 559 kilocalories for packaging,
plus energy for refrigeration during transport, at the store, and in homes.
Processing a one-pound can of fruits or vegetables takes an average 261
kilocalories, and packaging adds 1,006 kilocalories, thanks to the high
energy-intensity of mining and manufacturing steel. Processing breakfast
cereals requires 7,125 kilocalories per pound - easily five times as much
energy as is contained in the cereal itself.

Most fresh produce and minimally processed grains, legumes, and sugars
require very little packaging, particularly if bought in bulk. Processed
foods, on the other hand, are often individually wrapped, bagged and boxed,
or similarly overpackaged. This flashy packaging requires large amounts of
energy and raw materials to produce, yet almost all of it ends up in our
landfills.

Food retail operations, such as supermarkets and restaurants, require
massive amounts of energy for refrigeration and food preparation. The
replacement of neighborhood shops by "super" stores means consumers must
drive farther to buy their food and rely more heavily on refrigeration to
store food between shopping trips. Due to their preference for large
contracts and homogenous supply, most grocery chains are reluctant to buy
from local or small farms. Instead, food is shipped from distant
large-scale farms and distributors - adding again to transport, packaging,
and refrigeration energy needs.

Rather than propping up fossil-fuel-intensive, long-distance food systems
through oil, irrigation, and transport subsidies, governments could promote
sustainable agriculture, locally grown foods, and energy-efficient
transportation. Incentives to use environmentally friendly farming methods
such as conservation tillage, organic fertilizer application, and
integrated pest management could reduce farm energy use significantly.
Rebate programs for energy-efficient appliances and machinery for homes,
retail establishments, processors, and farms would cut energy use
throughout the food system. Legislation to minimize unnecessary packaging
and promote recycling would decrease energy use and waste going to
landfills.

Direct farmer-to-consumer marketing, such as farmers' markets, bypasses
centralized distribution systems, cutting out unnecessary food travel and
reducing packaging needs while improving local food security. Farmers'
markets are expanding across the US, growing from 1,755 markets in 1993 to
3,100 in 2002, but still represent only 0.3% of food sales.

The biggest political action individuals take each day is deciding what to
buy and eat. Preferentially buying local foods that are in season can cut
transport and farm energy use and can improve food safety and security.
Buying fewer processed, heavily packaged, and frozen foods can cut energy
use and marketing costs, and using smaller refrigerators can slash
household electricity bills. Eating lower on the food chain can reduce
pressure on land, water, and energy supplies.

Fossil fuel reliance may prove to be the Achilles' heel of the modern food
system. Oil supply fluctuations and disruptions could send food prices
soaring overnight. Competition and conflict could quickly escalate.
Decoupling the food system from the oil industry is key to improving food
security.

Danielle Murray is a staff researcher with Earth Policy Institute.





  • [Livingontheland] Oil and food: A new security challenge, Tradingpost, 06/17/2005

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