Transcript Watching What We Eat

Watching What
We Eat
Brian Halweil and Danielle Nierenberg
State of the World 2004
Watching What We Eat
Overview:
1. A Revolution in Every Bite
2. From Farm to Factory – and Back
3. Food Without Pollution
4. Eat Here
5. The Rise of Food Democracy
6. Policy Priorities
Watching What We Eat
The rise in international food
trade and the proliferation of
heavily processed and
packaged foods has
distanced most people from
what they eat, both
geographically and
psychologically
Watching What We Eat
• Artificially low prices for food do not
reflect true costs
Ex.:
- Farmers often unable to make a
decent living
- Need to clean up environmental
problems caused by destructive forms
of agriculture
Watching What We Eat
• Many people in wealthier nations are not aware of
how food items reach their tables
For example...
Fishing Trawlers
- Industrial fleets have fished out 90%
of all large ocean predators in just the
past 50 years
- Many species in sharp decline
Luxury Foods
- From pâté-de-foie-gras to shark fin soup
to caviar, many luxury foods are produced
under brutal and ecologically disastrous
conditions
A Revolution in Every Bite
• Consumers are becoming increasingly
concerned and involved
- Making a political statement with
their food choices
- Refusing to support destructive
forms of agriculture
• Growing demand for fair foods
Ex.:
-
certified organic fruits and vegetables
pasture-raised beef
sustainably caught fish
bird-friendly coffee and cocoa
A Revolution in Every Bite
• 25% of planet’s surface devoted to
food production (more than the
world’s forested area)
• Impossible to separate agricultural
practices from the health of rivers,
wetlands, forests, and the living
environment
• Our food choices rival transportation
as the human activity with the
greatest impact on the
environment
A Revolution in Every Bite
Most profound changes eaters can make:
1) re-evaluating their consumption of meat
2) selecting food produced without agrichemicals
3) buying locally grown food
A Growing Appetite for Meat
• Global meat production has increased more
than fivefold since 1950
World Meat Production, 1950-2002
300
Million Tons
250
200
150
100
50
0
1950
Source: FAO
1960
1970
1980
Year
1990
2000
A Growing Appetite for Meat
If the trend continues…
Projected Meat Consumption in 2020
100
220
80
Pound
60
per
person 40
per year
equivalent
to:
100
1 pig
20
0
1 side of beef
1
Developing
countries
Source: Delgado et al., 1998
2
Industrial
countries
50 chickens
From Farm to Factory –
and Back
Industrialized animal production is the
most ecologically destructive sector of
global farming
Inputs to Industrial Meat
Feed
- 1 calorie of beef, pork, or poultry
needs 11-17 calories of feed
- 95% of soybean harvest eaten by
animals, not people
- Feed containing meat and bone
meal can cause mad cow disease
Water
- Producing 8 ounces of beef
requires over 6000 gallons of water
Inputs to Industrial Meat
Additives
- Cows, pigs, and chickens get
70% of all antimicrobial drugs
in the US
Fossil Fuels
- 1 calorie of beef takes 33% more
fossil fuel energy to produce than
a calorie of energy from potatoes
would
Outputs of Industrial Meat
Manure
- Manure from intensive pig
operations stored in lagoons can
leak into groundwater or pollute
nearby surface water
Methane
- Belching, flatulent livestock emit
16% of the world’s annual
production of methane, a powerful
greenhouse gas
Outputs of Industrial Meat
Disease
- Eating animal products high in
saturated fat and cholesterol is
linked to cancer, heart disease,
and other chronic illnesses
- Factory farm conditions can spread
E. coli, Salmoella, and other foodborne pathogens
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the
human variant of mad cow disease,
has killed at least 100 people
- Outbreaks of avian flu in densely
populated chicken farms can
spread to humans
From Farm to Factory –
and Back
• Growing movement of farmers who choose to
raise their animals outside
• Increasing consumer demand for pasture-fed
or free-range meat
From Farm to Factory –
and Back
Advantages of raising animals outside:
• Nutritionists say that grass-fed meat is healthier
(no antibiotics, no hormones, higher in Omega 3
fatty acids that lower cholesterol, etc.)
• Animals raised on pasture require little, if any,
grain, resulting in less pressure on farmland to
raise monocultures of corn and soybeans to feed
livestock
• Farmers enjoy lower costs: no antibiotics, no
growth promotants, no pricey feed, no huge sheds
to maintain
Problems with ChemicalIntensive Agriculture
• Fertilizers and pesticides pollute
surrounding environment
– reducing biodiversity
– contaminating groundwater and
drinking water supplies
• Health risks associated with exposure to
pesticides that are known or suspected
carcinogens
• Vicious cycle: pests develop resistance to
pesticides, requiring heavier doses and more
potent chemicals
Organic Farms Yield More
Than Just Crops
Plants
- 5 times as many wild plants, and
many more species
Birds
- 2 times as many birds
Soil Life
- 2 to 5 times as many arthropods
(including butterflies and spiders)
and soil life, like earthworms
Food Without Pollution
• Other benefits of organic farming:
– No cost to public for removing
chemical fertilizers and pesticides
from drinking water supplies
– Emphasis on cover crops, compost,
and manure increases organic
matter in soils, reduces erosion,
and increases productivity
– Organic produce is more nutritious,
containing higher concentrations of
antioxidants and other healthpromoting compounds
Food Without Pollution
• Growing demand for organic foods
Global Sales of Organic Foods, circa 2002
United
States
($11 bill.)
Total = $23 billion
Canada
Canada
($850 mill.)
Japan
Japan ($350 mill.)
Rest of World
Germany
Rest
of world ($825 mill.)
United Kingdom
Germany ($2.8 bill.)
Italy
France
United
Kingdom ($1.6 bill.)
Other Europe
Italy
($1.2 bill.)
United States
France ($1.2 bill.)
Other Europe ($3.2 bill.)
Source: IFOAM
Eat Here
• Today, the average food item in
the U.S. travels 1,500–3,000
miles (25% farther than in 1980)
• However, eating local foods
- preserves regional cuisines
- keeps money within the community
- saves energy (less hauling, packaging,
processing, and brokering required)
- reduces greenhouse gas emissions (less
transport)
Eat Here
A meal made from imported vs local ingredients in Britain
generates 650 times more transport-related carbon emissions
Strawberries
8,772 km
CALIFORNIA
All these food items can be
grown in a British climate
Potatoes
2,447 km
Broccoli
8,780 km
GUATEMALA
Blueberries
18,835 km
NEW ZEALAND
Beef joint
21,462 km
AUSTRALIA
Source: Jones
All British
48 km
ITALY
Green beans
9,532 km
THAILAND
Carrots
9,620 km
SOUTH AFRICA
Eat Here
Local foods are fresher, healthier, and less expensive
Food Democracy
• More farmers, consumers, chefs, and food
businesses are resisting the temptation to eat
blindly, and are instead eating deliberately
• They are part of a growing movement to reestablish our lost connection to food and the
people who produce it
• Consumers seeking better
food choices are the
driving force behind change
Policy Priorities
Government Action
• Shift the more than $300 billion spent
on agricultural subsidies each year into
support for ecological farming
• Consider taxing pesticides, synthetic
fertilizers, factory farms, and other
polluting inputs or farming practices
Policy Priorities
Government Action
• Work with farming organizations to
increase the share of their land under
organic production to 10% over the
next 10 years by:
– improving organic certification programs
– boosting organic know-how at agricultural
universities, research centers, and
extension agencies
– providing subsidies or tax credits to
farmers in the first few years of
conversion
Policy Priorities
Government Action
• Reform international trade agreements to
eliminate export subsidies, food dumping,
and other unfair trade practices that
restrict the ability of nations to protect
and build domestic farm economies
• From the national to the local level, use
food procurement for schools, hospitals,
government offices, etc. to support
ecologically raised crops from local
farmers
What Can You Do to
Make a Difference?
About the Authors
Brian Halweil is a Senior Researcher
at the Worldwatch Institute
Danielle Nierenberg is a Research
Associate at the Institute
More information on
State of the World 2004
at www.worldwatch.org