The Food System-Journey 1

8/3/2019 The Food System-Journey 1

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The Food SystemA FeelGood/Organic Valley

Changemaker Journey


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Our relationship to food is the most basic

relationship we have with our environment.

The natural ecological systems of soil, water,

and air are needed to produce every ingredient

of every meal. If we do not feed ourselves in a

way that sustains our environment, ouragriculture and our communities, then as a

species we are not long for this world.

Neal MacGregor

Fair Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable

Food System for All


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Food System Basics


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What is the primarysource of all our food?

a) The grocery storeb) Mom

c) Farmers

d) The Sun


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Answer:d) The Sun!

Plants capture and store the suns energythrough photosynthesis. Whether we eat

the plants or we eat the animals that eat

the plants, we are consuming the energy

of the sun.


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How our food

gets from plant

is the food system.

...to plate


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A challenge: Take the

elements of our food system

and put them in order!


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Our Food System


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The food chain


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Our Food System

Biology

(soil and plant)Biology

(Human Eater)

Industrial Food System


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Our Industrial

Food System:

An exploration in12 questions


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Energy Use


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After the sun, what is the second major

energy source for our food system?

a) Fossil fuels

b) Farm laborers

c) Naturally occurring microbes

d) The Iron Chef


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Answer:a) Fossil Fuels

After the sun, the greatest energy input

to our food system comes from fossil

fuels.

We use the equivalent of 10 barrels of oil

per person per year for total food

production in the U.S., compared to 9

barrels for cars, and 7 barrels for houses.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

FOOD CARS HOUSES

BARRELSOFOIL

FOOD PRODUCTION

CONSUMES THE MOST OIL


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How many calories of fossil fuel

energy are needed to create 1.4

calories of food energy?

a) 1.4

b) 3.4

c) 10.3d) 40


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Answer:d) 10.3

0

2

4

6

8

10

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Fossi l Fuel Energy In Food Energy Out

CALORIE

S

FOOD SYSTEM EFFICIENCY

It takes 10.3 calories of fossil fuel energy to

create 1.4 calories of food energy.


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What part of the food

system uses the most

fossil fuel?

a) Packaging

b) Transportation

c) Pesticides and fertilizers

d) Farm machinery


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Answer:c) Pesticides and

fertilizersAs much as forty percent of energy used

in the food system goes towards the

production of artificial fertilizers

and pesticides.


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Why do we need so much

pesticide and fertilizer?

a) F*#@ing bugs!

b) Its the only way to get

high yields

c) Monocroppingd) All of the above


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Answer:c) Monocropping!

Monocropping also tends to

emphasize the use of expensive

specialized farm

equipment, adding to industrial

agricultures high dependency

on fossil fuels.

Monocroppingthe high-yieldagricultural practice of growing a single crop

year after year on the same land rather than

rotating through other cropsdamages the

soil ecology and creates a more fragile

ecosystem, leading to an increased

dependency on pesticides and artificial

fertilizers.


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In the last 100 years, what

percentage of US fruit and vegetable

varieties have disappeared?

a) 10%

b) 30%

c) 76%

d) 90%


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Answer:d) 90%Its a global crisis. 75% of the biodiversity

in agriculture was lost in the last 50

years. For example: 90% of the wheatvarieties grown in China a century ago

are now extinct. In India, there were

once 30,000 rice varieties, but now only

a dozen varieties cover Indias major rice

growing areas. We once had 7000

varieties of apples in North America.

Today, 96% of them are extinct.

The same trend is happening with

domesticated animal breeds.

The loss of biodiversity means the loss

of resiliency in our food system, andputs all of us more at risk in an era of

severe climatic change.


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Environment


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Which two things, essential to food

production, are being depleted by

our food system?

a) Soil & water

b) Water & farmers

c) Oil and water

d) Fertilizers & pesticidese) Farmers & talented contestants

for American Idol


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Answer:a) Soil & water

Soil Erosion: It takes hundreds of years for

soil to be created, while it can be lost toerosion in a single season. Agricultural

practices In the US result in a rate of soil

loss that is 10 times faster than the rate of

soil formation.

Water Depletion: Agriculture consumes

about 70% of the worlds fresh watersupply, resulting in groundwater depletion

and greatly reduced river flow.In 2007, 1.73 billion tons of topsoil was

lost to erosion, equal to about 200,000

tons each hour.


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What is the SECOND highest

contributor to climate change?

a) Energy production

b) Cars

c) Deforestation

d) Cow farts


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Answer:d) Cow Farts

Methane gas is the result of livestock

digestion and anaerobic

decomposition of manure. Livestock is

the second highest contributorafter

energy productionto atmosphere-

altering gases.

Methane is 20x more poisonous than

CO2.

18% of greenhouse gases are

attributed to livestock production.


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Consumption


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On average, how much

meat do Americans

consume per day?

a) pound

b) pound

c) 1 poundd) >1 pound


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Answer:

b) pound per dayIts twice the worlds average, and 6 times

more than health experts recommend.


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How many animals are

killed in the US every

year for food?a) 10 billion

b)1 billion

c)100 milliond) 10 million


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Answer:a) 10 billionYes, its hard to believe. And that is just in

the US. Worldwide, the number is

estimated to be 58 billion.

70% of the agricultural land on earth

30% of the earths land surfaceis

directly or indirectly devoted to raising

the animals we all eat.


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Health


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Which of the following diseases

are connected to the processed

foods we consume?

a) Obesity

b) Diabetes

c)Hypertension

d)Heart disease

e)Cancer

f)All of the above


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Answer:f) All of the above

Thanks to cheap, highly-processed and

high-caloric foods, 32% of all childrenand 34% of all adults in the US are

categorized as overweight or obese. And

diabetesalso related to dietis now

one of the most common chronic

diseases among children.

Cancers, hypertension and heart diseaseare also connected to unhealthy diets,

and are on the rise.

It is the increased energy density of

processed foods that is causing the TypeII

diabetes and obesity now affecting 400

million people worldwide. 2.7million

deaths annually are attributable to low

fruit and vegetable intake.


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Waste


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If you took all the food the US

and UK throw away every year,

how many people would it feed?

a) 1.5 billion

b) 1 billion

c) 100 million

d) 10 million


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Answer:a) 1.5 billion

In the USA, we waste about 40

percent of our total food supply.

As a planet we waste about 30%.

Tristam Stuart, author of the bookWaste, calculated that the hunger

of 1.5 billion people could be

alleviated by eradicating the food

wasted by British consumers and

American retailers, food services

and households.


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Enough food is

produced today to feed

everyone on the planet.a) True

b) False

c) It depends


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Answer:c) It dependsA lot of the meat production in the USA is

dependent on grain, which is fed to the

animals.

Because of our heavy consumption of

meat, total USA grain consumption is 800

kg per person per year. Compare that to

India, where it is 200 kg per person per

year.

This means that current grain production

provides enough for 2.5 billion people with

a USA diet, but 10 billion people with an

Indian diet.

1/3 of the grain crop gets fed to animals. It

takes 10x as much grain to feed a human if it

passes through an animal first.


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Given all this, what do you

think of this statement?

Hunger is not an issue of food,

its an issue of relationship.


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Source Materials and

Additional Resources


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Useful Video Resources

Carolyn Steel: How food shapes our cities

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/carolyn_steel_how_food_shapes_our_cities.html

Mark Bittman on whats wrong with what we eat

http://www.ted.com/talks/mark_bittman_on_what_s_wrong_with_what_we_eat.html

The Story of Food

http://vimeo.com/7573579

Michael Pollan

Food Chain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OmrfrsnWng8

No Free Lunch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4U097wiZGk4

Supermarket Secrets: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=snP40-

unO0A

Why Eat Local? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DhaG_Zi6izU

Michael Dimock Sustainable Food Systems and Global Poverty

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkmNV0T9_-Y

Biotechnology: Owning the Right to Life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k RBD0bUzRY


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Major Source Documents for

this Journey

Fair Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable Food System for

All, by Neal MacGregor

A Viable Food Future

http://usc-canada.org/UserFiles/File/policy/ViableFuture-

web.pdf

US Food System Fact Sheet

http://css.snre.umich.edu/css_doc/CSS01-06.pdf