WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Consequences/Concerns
The consequences of transporting enormous amounts of food, over vast distances is something that wasn’t accounted for. Approximately half of the global useable land is used for pastoral or intensive agricultural purposes, these methods of farming are very hard on the earth and cause degradation of top soil, which takes thousands of years to build back up to a healthy level to successfully grow crops. A method called monocropping, popular when growing crops such as corn, soybeans, wheat and others, is where the same crop is grown on the same land year after year without rotating other crops in to replenish the soil nutrients.
This in turn creates a fragile ecosystem and a field of crops that is vulnerable to insects, plants and microorganisms, because of that vulnerability the dependence of fertilizers and pesticides continue to increase. Only a small percent of the fertilizers are actually absorbed by the plants leaving the rest to pollute the soil and groundwater which contaminants lakes, ocean and our drinking water. The part of the process that generates 10-12% of total manmade carbon emissions is the various methods of transport. Transport is usually by train, boat, truck or plane, transport by plane being the most energy intensive followed by trucks, and boats being the method that produces the least about of carbon emissions. In this study the measure of distance from the grocery stores to the country of origin of each product will be used to calculate an estimated “food miles”, this won’t produce an accurate value of “food miles” but it will provide an idea of which regions are pulling products from certain countries and how much of a difference location can make.
The consequences of transporting enormous amounts of food, over vast distances is something that wasn’t accounted for. Approximately half of the global useable land is used for pastoral or intensive agricultural purposes, these methods of farming are very hard on the earth and cause degradation of top soil, which takes thousands of years to build back up to a healthy level to successfully grow crops. A method called monocropping, popular when growing crops such as corn, soybeans, wheat and others, is where the same crop is grown on the same land year after year without rotating other crops in to replenish the soil nutrients.
This in turn creates a fragile ecosystem and a field of crops that is vulnerable to insects, plants and microorganisms, because of that vulnerability the dependence of fertilizers and pesticides continue to increase. Only a small percent of the fertilizers are actually absorbed by the plants leaving the rest to pollute the soil and groundwater which contaminants lakes, ocean and our drinking water. The part of the process that generates 10-12% of total manmade carbon emissions is the various methods of transport. Transport is usually by train, boat, truck or plane, transport by plane being the most energy intensive followed by trucks, and boats being the method that produces the least about of carbon emissions. In this study the measure of distance from the grocery stores to the country of origin of each product will be used to calculate an estimated “food miles”, this won’t produce an accurate value of “food miles” but it will provide an idea of which regions are pulling products from certain countries and how much of a difference location can make.
Population Growth
The rate at which our population is growing is a huge concern in terms of producing enough food to sustain the entire population. Although food production in the last four decades has doubled and in attempt to keep up with the population growth, this growth has not been uniform across the globe, leaving some in excess while others are starving. Another issue we see today is the surge of urban sprawl happening across U.S. cities, this expansion of large urban centers is consuming a considerable amount of land that is needed for potential agricultural purposes. Take Austin, Texas for example, their population is expected to double every 25 years, as the second fastest growing city in America. This land is being used for commercial or residential use it leaves no room to grow food for the people within that city, leading them to receive food from elsewhere and encouraging this food dependence issue.
(Photos: http://climatevoices.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/industrial-ag.jpg
http://arch1design.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/pesticides1.jpg
http://www.exponent.com/files/Uploads/Images/environmental/env%20forensics/rangeland%20dust.jpg
http://www.environmentmagazine.org/sebin/f/z/ecosystem-photo3.jpg)
The rate at which our population is growing is a huge concern in terms of producing enough food to sustain the entire population. Although food production in the last four decades has doubled and in attempt to keep up with the population growth, this growth has not been uniform across the globe, leaving some in excess while others are starving. Another issue we see today is the surge of urban sprawl happening across U.S. cities, this expansion of large urban centers is consuming a considerable amount of land that is needed for potential agricultural purposes. Take Austin, Texas for example, their population is expected to double every 25 years, as the second fastest growing city in America. This land is being used for commercial or residential use it leaves no room to grow food for the people within that city, leading them to receive food from elsewhere and encouraging this food dependence issue.
(Photos: http://climatevoices.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/industrial-ag.jpg
http://arch1design.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/pesticides1.jpg
http://www.exponent.com/files/Uploads/Images/environmental/env%20forensics/rangeland%20dust.jpg
http://www.environmentmagazine.org/sebin/f/z/ecosystem-photo3.jpg)