Transcript Document

The origin of our food: Why do we care?
http://ittybittyfarminthecity.blogspot.com/2010_06_01_archive.html
GK-12 Global Watersheds Program, Brenda Gail Bergman, 2013
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Guiding questions
Why should we care about where our food comes
from?
In what ways might the impacts, production, and
quality of food produced by small-scale local
farms be different from the impacts, production,
and quality of food produced far away?
How can we make food choices that are positive
for our health, other humans, animals, and the
environment?
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What you will prepare for the portfolio:
Why do we care? Reasons that
producing and procuring our food
locally can make a difference
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Why do we care?
-Energy use / greenhouse gas emissions
-Human rights
-Animal rights
-Other environmental impacts
-Nutritional value of the food
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ENERGY USE
Out of the total U.S. energy consumption,
how much do you think is attributed to the
food system?
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Food transport over long distances is a recent
phenomenon
http://kirikiva.com/PDF/Foodmiles.pdf
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Map for scale: Approximate average distance for vegetables to
travel to reach markets, based on central place in the U.S.
(~1,500 miles in 1997)
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Map for scale: Approximate average distance for fruits to travel
to reach markets, based on central place in the U.S. (~2,150miles
in 1997)
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Where the energy goes:
Energy used in the food system as a proportion of total energy used
in the US in 2002
Graph by Michael Bomford, based on data in Canning et al, 2010, Table 6, pp.
22-23.
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Daily per capita energy input to the US food system
-Exceeds 17,000 calories before food reaches the home.
-This is more than eight times the average caloric requirement for a
healthy diet.
-Most of this energy is used to provide highly-processed, highcalorie foods
Graph by Michael Bomford, based on data in
Canning et al, 2010, Table 6, pp. 22-23
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Percent change
20%
15%
Per Capita Energy Use in the U.S.,
1997-2002
Why this
increase?
10%
5%
0%
Per capita E use
Per capita E use for food
-5%
Graph by B.G. Bergman. Data source: Canning et al., 2010. Energy use in the
U.S. Food System. USDA.
Food is an area in which our daily decisions
can make a difference regarding some of the
world’s major challenges!
WHAT CAN WE DO?
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HUMAN RIGHTS
www.planetmattersandmore.com
Who grows and processes your food?
What kind of working and living conditions do factory farm
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workers have?
Farm labor is exempt
from most federal and
state minimum wages
and work-hour
limitations!
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Respondents to National Agricultural Workers’ Survey:
• One-third earned less than $7.25 an hour.
• 75% did not have a job year-round. (-US Department of Labor)
In 2 of the most important agricultural regions in CA:
• ¼ of farmworkers live below the federal poverty line,
• Between 45 and 66 % are food insecure. (-The California
Institute for Rural Studies )
Farmers and farm workers suffer from increased rates of
certain cancers, respiratory diseases, noise-induced hearing
loss, skin disorders, chemical toxicity, and heat-related
illnesses. (-www.osha.gov)
Many farm workers are not formally registered. They have
the lowest working and living conditions, and are not even
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included in most of these studies.
Case study – tomatoes
Tomatoes are important to
consider, because they make up
nearly ¼ of all U.S. vegetable
consumption (source: Harvard.edu)
How much do you pay for a
pound of tomatoes in the
grocery store?
Picture source:
http://fat-reducingtips.blogspot.com 16
Tomato pickers in Florida are paid less than two pennies
for each pound of tomatoes they pick.
Over the last decade, over 1,200 victims of human
trafficking were found picking produce in Florida.
Kept in cramped and dirty trailers, constantly monitored,
and had wages garnished to pay an invented debt
Source: http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/21/your-tomato-possible-ties-to-slavery/
Sources of Action: Student/Farmworker Alliance; Fair
Trade; Campaign for Fair Food
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Animal Rights
Are there any rights that all animals should have?
80% of the meat industry was controlled by only
four firms in 1988 (-USDA)
Watch concentrated chicken farming (~4 minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enwU5jIXSlU
Photo source:
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Examiner.com
How do your ideas about animal rights
compare to what you saw in the video?
How can we make choices about the meat we
buy if we want the animals to have a good
quality of life while they are alive?
http://honestmeat.typepad.com/
honest_meat/2008/08/where-isthe-ra.html
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Impacts on water example: CAFOs
1998 that Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations were
a contributing source of water pollution in 20% of
impaired water sources in the United States (-USEPA)
Picture source:
booktrope.com
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Impacts on water example: Grapes
Photo: Mexcican grape farm for export to U.S. Source: Alex Mayer, Michigan Tech University
Before 1960, Americans got almost all of their grapes
from California. Since, we have more than tripled our
grape consumption by eating imported grapes.
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Data source: FAOSTAT database produced by the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
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Mexico is among the countries exporting grapes
to the U.S.
In a study of a Mexican aquifer used for irrigating
grapes exported to the U.S., the Mexican
government found the aquifer was being
depleted by over 23,000 Olympic-sized swimming
pools per year.
These grapes are produced by powerful rich farm
owners who can lobby government for continued
access to the aquifer water.
The local community and ecosystems bear the
consequences.
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Annual Water Balance for the Pesqueira aquifer outside
Hermosillo Mexico, used primarily for irrigating table grapes
exported to the United States
Inflow: Recharge
62
hectometer/year
Outflow: Pumping
for grape irrigation 115
hectometer/year
Outflow: Lateral
outflow
5
hectometer/year
Inflow - Outflow
Inflow - Outflow
-58
hectometer/year
Olympic sized swimming
-23,200 pools/year
Data soruce: Secretaria de agricultura, ganaderia, recursos hidraulicos, pesca y acuacultura.
Actualizacion del estudio geohidrologico de las subcuencas de los rios Sonora, Zonjon, San Miguel, Mesa
Del Seri-la Victoria, Y Cuenca Bacoachi. Convenio No. CEA-ED-081. Convenio adicional No. CEA-ED-08124
CA1. Hermosillo, Sonora. Diciembre de 2004.
During your grandparents’ generation, which
was before this era of food imports, did people
in the United States eat healthy food?
Is it possible for us to increase the amount of
healthy food grown in this region and/or
consumed from this region?
www.nmhoney.com
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Your health
In what ways might the nutritional value or
safety of our food be affected by where it is
produced?
www.prosar.com
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Your health
Source: http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/watch_your_foodometer/
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Vine-ripened tomatoes have higher vitamin C
content! -Harvard.edu
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Factory animal farming and e-coli
www.omafra.gov.on.ca
Watch: Cattle and ecoli (52 seconds)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmvrekIbe-0&list=PL11AEDB04DA38251D
Hamburger processing to remove bacteria (1min, 10 sec)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIO2SnGFwMA&list=PL11AEDB04DA38251D
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Were cows naturally designed to live in
concentrated feed lots?
What do cows naturally eat?
How does
www.americangrassfedbeef.com
changing cows’
food and conditions affect the nutrition and safety
of their meat for human consumption?
In what ways could cows be raised so that their
meat is safer for human health?
Are any farms raising cows this way?
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We have great potential to make a positive change
through our food choices! The movement is growing!
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Community Supported Agriculture typically costs less than half
of the cost of the same produce purchased in a grocery store.
Even in colder climates we can eat
much local food.
• States with the highest access to
local foods : Vermont, Maine,
New Hampshire, North Dakota and
Iowa.
• States with the lowest access
are in the South! Texas (last),
Florida, Louisiana, Arizona and
Nevada.
http://www.strollingoftheheifers.com/locavore-index-2013/
People are growing food vertically
in windows and along walls, in
yards and on rooftops!
NPR.org
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LET’S GROW!
Biologyjunction.com
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Organizations from whom you can learn more:
Student/Farmworker Alliance
http://www.sfalliance.org/about.html
Fair Trade
http://www.fairtradeusa.org/what-is-fair-trade
Campaign for Fair Food
http://www.ciw-online.org/101.html
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