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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] why we believe in sustainable, local food
  • Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2010 22:14:21 -0600



Dwindling Fossil Fuels and Our Food System
The relationship between energy and food is unsustainable, given the prospect
of peak oil production. How long can we depend on fossil fuels to facilitate
the transfer of food from farm to fork?
August/September 2010 By Lester R. Brown
http://www.motherearthnews.com/sustainable-farming/energy-and-food-z10m0rog.aspx

Since 1981, the quantity of oil extracted from the earth has exceeded new oil
discoveries by an ever-widening margin. In 2008, the world pumped 31 billion
barrels of oil, but discovered fewer than 9 billion new barrels. World
reserves of conventional oil are in a free fall, decreasing every year.

It can’t be denied: Agriculture uses a vast amount of oil. Most tractors use
gasoline or diesel fuel. Irrigation pumps use diesel, natural gas or
coal-fired electricity. Fertilizer production also is energy-intensive.
Natural gas is used to synthesize the basic ammonia building block in
nitrogen fertilizers. The mining, manufacture and international transport of
phosphate and potash fertilizers all depend on oil. Our answer to the
question of how we can end world hunger has thus far been to focus on
increases in agricultural technology. These advances, unfortunately, require
even more fuel.

Fertilizer production accounts for 20 percent of energy use on U.S. farms,
and the demand for this fertilizer continues to climb. In addition, the
international food trade separates producer from consumer by thousands of
miles, further disrupting soil nutrient cycles. For example, the United
States exports some 80 million tons of grain per year — grain that contains
large quantities of basic plant nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus and
potassium. The ongoing export of these nutrients will slowly drain the
inherent fertility from U.S. cropland if the nutrients are not replaced.

This international food trade is responsible for more than just soil nutrient
depletion. Sustainable farming alone cannot solve this problem.The amount of
energy used to transfer goods from farmer to consumer equals two-thirds of
the total amount of energy used to grow it on the farm (see “U.S. Food System
Energy Use” chart in the Image Gallery). An estimated 16 percent of food
system energy is used to can, freeze and dry food — everything from canned
peas to frozen orange juice from concentrate.

Food miles — the distance food travels from producer to consumer — have risen
in the United States thanks to cheap oil. Fresh produce routinely travels
long distances, such as from California to the East Coast. Most of this
produce moves on refrigerated trucks.

In the international food trade, staples such as wheat have historically
moved long distances by ship — traveling from the United States to Europe,
for example. But more recently, fresh fruits and vegetables have begun to
travel vast distances by air; few activities are more energy-intensive.
Packaging is surprisingly energy-intensive as well, accounting for 7 percent
of food system energy use. Along with marketing, it also can account for much
of the cost of processed foods. On average, a U.S. farmer gets only about 20
percent of the total consumer food dollar, and for some products, that figure
is much lower.

What’s the most energy-intensive segment of the food chain? The kitchen. We
actually use more energy to refrigerate and prepare food at home than our
farmers use to produce it in the first place.

With higher energy prices and a limited supply of fossil fuels, the modern
food system that evolved while oil has been cheap clearly cannot survive as
it is currently structured.
---------------
Excerpted from Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, available for
download or purchase online.

Many communities respond to growing concerns about food security by forming
local food policy councils. These nonprofit groups — which work to build
stronger local food systems that are less oil-intensive than factory farms —
generally include food producers, consumers, merchants and policy makers. To
find out if your community has one, search the Web for “food policy council”
and your state’s name, or “food policy council” and your city’s name. Also,
check out the Community Food Security Coalition’s information page on food
policy councils. If there’s not an active council in your area, consider
setting one up. — MOTHER







  • [Livingontheland] why we believe in sustainable, local food, Tradingpost, 08/19/2010

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