How can we continue feeding humanity in a future of declining resources and environmental crises?
With growing recognition of the role that our food system plays in the climate crisis and health epidemics like diabetes, a movement is underfoot to buy local, organic food. But this movement is still far too small. And even many of those who are making voluntary decisions to buy local and seasonal don't fully understand just how dangerously at risk and dependent upon fossil fuels is our food system.
Post Carbon Institute, in collaboration with the Soil Association in the UK, recently published a report that explores the growing vulnerabilities of the current food system, and the steps needed to transition to a post-carbon food system.
Below the fold is a summary and a link to the full report.
Summary
The American food system rests on an unstable foundation of massive fossil fuel inputs. It must be reinvented in the face of declining fuel stocks. The new food system will use less energy, and the energy it uses will come from renewable sources. We can begin the transition to the new system immediately through a process of planned, graduated, rapid change. The unplanned alternative-reconstruction from scratch after collapse-would be chaotic and tragic.
The seeds of the new food system have already been planted. America's farmers have been reducing their energy use for decades. They are using less fertilizer and pesticide. The number of organic farms, farmers' markets, and CSA operations is growing rapidly. More people are thinking about where their food comes from.
These are important building blocks, but much remains to be done. Our new food system will require more farmers, smaller and more diversified farms, less processed and packaged food, and less long-distance hauling of food. Governments, communities, businesses, and families each have important parts to play in reinventing a food system that functions with limited renewable energy resources to feed our population for the long term.
The 39 page report provides a detailed understanding of the role of fossil fuels in our current food system, the risks presented by climate change and the depletion of oil and natural gas, and concrete recommendations for individuals, governments, communities, and businesses.
The report can be downloaded in either low-resolution pdf (1.6MB) or print quality pdf (10.7MB).
I hope that readers find the report not only eye-opening but a call to action. There's nothing more important to our sustainability and health than food.