The term food system is often used in discussions about nutrition, food, health, community economic development and agriculture. The food system includes all the processes and infrastructure involved in feeding the population: planting, harvesting, processing, packing, transporting, marketing, consumption, and disposal of food and food-related items. It also includes the necessary inputs and outputs generated in each of these steps. The food system operates within and is influenced by social, political, economic and environmental contexts. It also requires human resources that provide labor, research and education. The food systems are either conventional or alternative according to their age food model from origin to plate.
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Conventional food system
Conventional food systems operate on an economies scale. These food systems are aimed at production models that require maximum efficiency to lower consumer costs and increase overall production, and they use economic models such as vertical integration, economic specialization, and global trade.
The term "conventional" when describing food systems is largely due to comparisons made by supporters of other food systems, collectively known as alternative food systems.
History of conventional food systems
The development of the food system can be traced back to the origins of in-situ agriculture and the production of food surplus. These surpluses enable the development of residential areas and contribute to the development of ancient civilizations, especially in the Fertile Crescent. Trading systems associated with the exchange of foodstuffs also appear in East Asia, North America, South America, and African Subsidies with general commodity exchanges such as salt, spices, fish, grains, etc. Through events in world history such as the conquest of Alexander the Great, the Crusades, the expansion of Islam, the journey of Marco Polo, and the European exploration and colonization led to the introduction and redistribution of new food to the world at large, and food systems began to blend on a global scale. After World War II, the emergence of industrial agriculture and stronger global trade mechanisms have evolved into the food production, serving, delivery and disposal models that characterize today's conventional food systems.
The impact of conventional food systems
Lower food costs and greater food variations can be directly attributed to the development of conventional food systems. Agronomic efficiency is driven by the need to continue to lower production costs, and the savings can then be passed on to consumers. Also, the rise of industrial agriculture and infrastructure built around conventional food systems has allowed the world population to expand beyond the limitations of "Malthusian malastrophe".
However, conventional food systems are largely based on the availability of cheap fossil fuels, which are necessary for mechanical agriculture, manufacture or collection of chemical fertilizers, food product processing, and food packaging. Food processing begins as the number of consumers begins to grow rapidly. The demand for cheap and efficient calories is increasing, leading to a decrease in nutrients. The agricultural industry, due to its dependence on economies of scale to reduce production costs, often leads to the sacrifice of local, regional, or even global ecosystems through fertilizer runoff, non-point source pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. Also, the need to reduce production costs in an increasingly global market can lead to food production being shifted to areas where the economic costs (labor, taxes, etc.) are lower or looser environmental regulations, which are usually farther away from the consumer market.. For example, the majority of salmon sold in the United States is raised off the coast of Chile, largely due to Chile's less stringent standards on fish feed and despite the fact that salmon is not native to the coastal waters of Chile. The globalization of food production can lead to the loss of traditional food systems in less developed countries, and have a negative impact on the health of the populations, ecosystems and cultures in these countries.
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Alternate food system
Alternative food systems are those that are outside the scope of conventional farming.
Local food system
The local food system is a network of food production and consumption aimed at being accessible geographically and economically and directly. They are different from industrial food systems by operating by reducing food transport and more direct marketing, leading to fewer people between farmers and consumers. As a result, relationships developed within the local food system arise from face-to-face interactions, potentially leading to stronger trust and social connectivity among principals. In addition, consumers can also encourage farmers to be environmentally friendly by teaching them about practices such as organic farming. As a result, some experts argue that the local food system is a good way to revitalize the community. Decrease in the transportation distance of food has also been promoted for its environmental benefits. In addition, farmers can enjoy a better quality of life because producing healthier foods will allow them to be paid more, and not live below the poverty line.
Both supporters and critics of the local food system warn that they can lead to a narrow-looking attitude or a 'local food patriotism', and that the price premiums and local food culture can be elitist and exclusive.
Examples of local food systems include community-supported agriculture, farmer markets, and agricultural programs to schools. They have been associated with the 100 Mile Diet and Low Carbon Diet, as well as the movement of food sovereignty and slow food movement. Various forms of urban agriculture look for food production in densely populated areas that are not traditionally associated with agriculture. Sharing gardens, where urban and suburban homeowners offer land access to food farmers in return for part of the harvest, is a relatively new trend, at the extreme end of direct local food production.
Organic food system
The organic food system is characterized by reduced dependence on chemical input and increased attention to transparency and information. Organic products are grown without chemical pesticides and fertilizers from industrial food systems, and livestock are reared without the use of antibiotics or growth hormones. Reduced inputs on organic farming can also lead to greater dependence on local knowledge, creating a stronger knowledge community among farmers. Transparency of food information is essential for organic food systems as a means by which consumers can identify organic foods. As a result, various certification bodies have emerged in organic food systems that set standards for organic identification. Organic farming is promoted for the ecological benefits of reduced chemical applications, the health benefits of lower chemical consumption, the economic benefits that farmers receive through premium prices, and the social benefits of increased transparency in food systems.
Like the local food system, the organic food system has been criticized for being elitist and inaccessible. Critics also suggest that organic farming has conventions that mimic the food industry system when using pesticides and fertilizers that are organically derived
Cooperative in food system
Cooperatives can exist both at the end of the food production farmer and the end consumer. Agricultural cooperatives refer to the arrangements in which farmers collect resources, either to grow their crops or bring their crops to market. Consumer co-operatives often refer to food cooperatives in which members buy parts in stores. Cooperative grocery stores, unlike corporate grocery stores, are socially owned and thus surplus can not be taken from the store as an advantage. As a result, food co-ops do not work for profit, potentially keeping prices more representative of costs. Other forms of cooperatives that have been developed recently include community-supported agriculture, where community members buy portions of agricultural crops, and may also be involved in agricultural work, which operates in both consumers and end-producers of the food system. The garden-sharing couple are landowners and food growers, while variations on this approach set the food gardener's group to help each other.
The benefits of cooperatives are largely in the redistribution of risk and responsibility. For agricultural cooperatives that share resources, the burden of investing is channeled to all members, rather than concentrating on one individual. Criticisms of cooperatives are that reducing competition can reduce efficiency
Fair Trade
Fair trade has emerged in the global food system to create a greater balance between food prices and the cost of producing it. This is defined largely by more direct trading systems where producers have greater control over trading conditions and get the most from the sale price. The main purpose of Fair Trade is to "transform international commercial relations in such a way that disadvantaged producers can improve their control over their own futures, have fair and equitable returns to their work, income continuity and decent working and living conditions through sustainable development "Like an organic food system, fair trade depends on transparency and information flow. Notable examples of fair trade commodities are coffee and cocoa.
Transparency
Transparency in the food system refers to full disclosure of information about rules, procedures, and practices at all levels in food production and supply chains. Transparency ensures that consumers have detailed information about the production of certain food items. Traceability, on the other hand, is the ability to trace to the origin of all components in the production of food and marketing chains, whether processed or unprocessed foods (eg, meat, vegetables). 2 Concerns about transparency and traceability have increased with food safety fears such as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) and Escherichia coli (E. coli), but do not exclusively refer to food safety. Transparency is also important in identifying foods that have extrinsic qualities that do not affect the nature of the food itself, but affect its production, such as animal welfare, social justice issues, and environmental issues.
One of the main ways transparency is achieved through certification and/or the use of food labels. In the United States, some certifications come from the public sector, such as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic label. Others have their origins in private sector certification (eg, Humanely Raised, Certified Humane). There are also labels that do not rely on certification, such as USDA's Country of Origin Label (COOL).
Participation in local food systems such as Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), Farmers' Markets, food cooperatives and farmer cooperatives also increased transparency, and there are various programs promoting the purchase of locally grown and marketed foods.
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Notes and references
External links
- The American Humane Association: http://www.americanhumane.org/
- Protected sustainability certification: http://www.protectedharvest.org/
- Human Livestock Farming: http://www.certifiedhumane.com
- Univ. from Wisconsin - Agroecology: http://www.agroecology.wisc.edu/
- UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology & amp; Sustainable Food System - http://casfs.ucsc.edu/index.html
- "Bacon as a Weapon of Mass Destruction" - video by Democracy Now!
- The Food Initiative for Cities from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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