Food And Energy - What You Can Do

by Shelley Hutcheson

Introduction

Even though we have been gardening for years, I didn’t really get interested in where our food comes from until I read Animal, Vegetable,  Miracle  by Barbara Kingsolver - a story of her family’s journey away from the industrial-food pipeline to consuming only food raised on their farm or from their own neighborhood.  Besides being  very eye opening, it is a very well written story.

 

Globalization and Energy Use

As I learned after some research, 15% of the total energy consumed in the United States is used just to feed us.  This includes everything from growing our food (including pesticides and fertilizer) to processing, packaging, marketing and transportation.  Only 20% of that amount is used for actually growing the food.  The rest goes into making our food convenient to use,  enclosing it in packaging that makes us want to buy it, and for transporting it from all over the world to our tables.  It takes the equivalent of 400 gallons of fossil fuel every year to provide each of us with food.  For a family of four that’s equal to about 32,000  miles of driving or like driving to Charleston and back every day for a  year.

We’ve become accustomed to obtaining the foods we want at any time of year, something that was unheard of until after WWII.  Since then there has been a steady shift in our food supply from local and regionally produced foods that have flavor, freshness, and nutrition intact, to a global food supply chain where now about 13% of all our food is imported.  Some of the more perishable items, especially fruits, are air-freighted which is by far the least fuel-efficient means of transportation.

 

Vulnerability of our food supply

Even though we have a seemingly endless array of food on the store shelves, the United States has lost 93% of the agricultural products we once grew.  Now, fewer than 30 plant species provide 95% of the world’s nutritional needs.  We’re now in danger of losing a lot of our plant and animal diversity which leaves our remaining varieties and breeds more susceptible to pests and disease.  Five  corporations control nearly half of the grocery sales in the U.S.  and they have a large say in what we eat, how much it costs and where it comes from.

 

Turning Point

For me it seemed as though 2007 was a turning point of sorts.  Global warming and “going green”  became mainstream topics.  Almost everyone can identify with the spiraling costs of gasoline for our vehicles, fuel to heat our homes, and food.

As it turns out, there are a lot of folks around the world who are concerned about the increasing globalization of our food.

•              There are grass-roots organizations such as ”locavores”  composed of people who are striving to eat only locally obtained food.

•              Web sites are available that have tools and resources for finding locally produced foods.

•              County and state agencies across the country are mandating that local foods be incorporated into use by public schools,  universities, and other public places.

•              People are seeking out farmer’s markets and their numbers are increasing.