The term "food system" is used frequently
in discussions about nutrition, food, health, community economic development
and agriculture. A food system includes all processes and infrastructure
involved in feeding a population: growing, harvesting, processing, packaging,
transporting, marketing, consumption, and disposal of food
and food-related items. It also includes the inputs needed and outputs
generated at each of these steps. A 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. Food
systems are either conventional
or alternative
according to their model of food lifespan from origin to plate.
Conventional food systems
Conventional food systems operate on the economies of scale. These food systems are
geared towards a production model that requires maximizing efficiency in order to lower consumer costs and
increase overall production, and they utilize economic models such as vertical integration, economic specialization, and global
trade.
The term “conventional” when describing food systems is
large part due to comparisons made to it by proponents of other food systems,
collectively known as alternative
food systems.
History of conventional food systems
The development of food systems can be traced back to the
origins of in-situ agriculture and the production of food surpluses. These
surpluses enabled the development of settled areas and contributed to the
development of ancient civilizations, particularly those in the Fertile
Crescent. The system of trade associated with the exchange of foodstuffs
also emerged in East Asia, North America, South America, and Subsaharan Africa
with common commodities of exchange such as salt, spices, fish, grains,
etc.Through events in world history such as the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Crusades, the
expansion of Islam,
the journeys of Marco Polo, and the exploration and colonization of the Americas by
Europeans led to the introduction and redistribution of new foods to the world
at large, and food systems began to intermingle on a global scale. After World War
II, the advent of industrialized agriculture and more
robust global
trade mechanisms have evolved into the models of food
production, presentation, delivery, and disposal that characterizes
conventional food systems today.
Impacts of conventional food systems
Lower food costs and greater food variety can be directly
attributed to the evolvement of conventional food systems. Agronomic
efficiency is driven by the necessity to constantly lower production expenses,
and those savings can then be passed on to the consumer. Also, the advent of
industrial agriculture and the infrastructure
built around conventional food systems has enabled the world population to
expand beyond the “Malthusian catastrophe” limitations.
However, conventional food systems are largely based on the
availability of inexpensive fossil fuels, which is necessary for mechanized agriculture, the manufacture or
collection of chemical fertilizers, the processing of food products, and the
packaging of the foods. Food processing began when the number of consumers
started growing rapidly. The demand for cheap and efficient calories climbed
resulting in nutrition decline.[7]
Industrialized agriculture, due to its reliance on economies of scale to reduce
production costs, often leads to the compromising of local, regional, or even
global ecosystems
through fertilizer runoff, nonpoint source pollution, and greenhouse gas emission. Also, the need to
reduce production costs in an increasingly global market can cause production
of foods to be moved to areas where economic costs (labor, taxes, etc.) are
lower or environmental regulations are more lax, which are usually further from
consumer markets. For example, the majority of salmon sold in the United States
is raised off the coast of Chile, due in large part to less stringent Chilean
standards regarding fish feed and regardless of the fact that salmon are not
indigenous in Chilean coastal waters. The globalization of food production can
result in the loss of traditional food systems in less developed countries, and have negative
impacts on the population health, ecosystems, and cultures in
those countries.
Alternative food systems
Local food systems
Local food systems are networks of food production and
consumption that aim to be geographically and economically accessible and
direct. They contrast to industrial food systems by operating with reduced food
transportation and more direct marketing, leading to fewer people between
the farmer and the consumer. As a result, relationships that are developed in
local food systems emerge from face-to-face interactions, potentially leading
to a stronger sense of trust and social connectedness between actors. As a
result, some scholars suggest that local food systems are a good way to
revitalize a community.The decreased distance of food transportation has also
been promoted for its environmental benefits.
Both proponents and critics of local food systems warn that
they can lead to narrow inward-looking attitudes or ‘local food patriotism’,
and that price premiums and local food cultures can be elitist and exclusive.
Examples of local food systems include community-supported agriculture, farmers
markets and farm to school programs. They have been associated
with the 100 Mile Diet and Low
Carbon Diet, as well as the food
sovereignty movement and slow food movement. Various forms of urban
agriculture locate food production in densely populated areas not
traditionally associated with farming. Garden
sharing, where urban and suburban homeowners offer land access to food
growers in exchange for a share of the harvest, is a relatively new trend, at
the extreme end of direct local food production.
Organic food systems
Organic food systems are characterized by a reduced
dependence on chemical inputs and an increased concern for transparency
and information. Organic produce is grown without the chemical pesticides and
fertilizers of industrial food systems, and livestock is
reared without the use of antibiotics or growth
hormones. The reduced inputs of organic agriculture can also lead to a
greater reliance on local knowledge, creating a stronger knowledge community
amongst farmers. The transparency of food information is vital for organic food
systems as a means through which consumers are able to identify organic food.
As a result, a variety of certification bodies have emerged in organic food
systems that set the standards for organic identification. Organic agriculture
is promoted for the ecological benefits of reduced chemical application, the
health benefits of lower chemical consumption, the economic benefits that
accrue to farmers through a price premium, and the social benefits of increased
transparency in the food system.
Like local food systems, organic food systems have been
criticized for being elitist and inaccessible. Critics have also suggested that
organic agriculture has been conventionalized such that it mimics industrial
food systems while using pesticides and fertilizers that are organically
derived
Cooperatives in food systems
Cooperatives can exist both at the farmer end of food
production and the consumer end. Farming cooperatives refer to arrangements
where farmers pool resources, either to cultivate their crops or get their
crops to market. Consumer cooperatives often refer to food
cooperatives where members buy a share in the store. Co-operative grocery
stores, unlike corporate grocery stores, are socially owned and thus surpluses
cannot be taken from the store as profit. As a result, food co-ops do not work
for profit, potentially keeping prices more cost representative. Other forms of
cooperatives that have developed more recently include community-supported agriculture,
where community members buy a share in a farm’s harvest, and may also be
engaged in farm labour, operating at both the consumer and producer end of food
systems. Garden sharing pairs individual landowners and food
growers, while variations on this approach organize groups of food gardeners
for mutual assistance.
The benefits of cooperatives are largely in the
redistribution of risk and responsibility. For farming cooperatives that share
resources, the burden of investment is disbursed to all members, rather than
being concentrated in a single individual. A criticism of cooperatives is that
reduced competition can reduce efficiency
Fair Trade
Fair trade has emerged in global food systems to create
a greater balance between the price of food and the cost of producing it. It is
defined largely by more direct trading systems whereby producers have greater
control over the conditions of trade and garner a greater fraction of the sale
price. The main goal of Fair Trade is to “change international commercial
relations in such a way that disadvantaged producers can increase their control
over their own future, have a fair and just return for their work, continuity
of income and decent working and living conditions through sustainable
development” Like organic food systems,
fair trade relies on transparency and the flow of information.Well-known
examples of fair trade commodities are coffee and cocoa.
Transparency
Transparency within food systems refers to full disclosure
of information about rules, procedures and practices at all levels within a
food production and supply chain. Transparency ensures that consumers have
detailed information about production of a given food item. Traceability,
by contrast, is the ability to trace to their origins all components in a food
production and marketing chain, whether processed or unprocessed (e.g., meat,
vegetables) foods.2 Concerns about transparency and traceability have been
heightened with food safety scares 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 possess
extrinsic qualities that do not affect the nature of the food per se, but
affect its production, such as animal
welfare, social justice issues and environmental concerns.
One of the primary ways transparency is achieved is through certification
and/or use of food labels. In the United States, some certification originates
in the public sector, such as the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) Organic label. Others have their origin in private
sector certification (e.g., Humanely Raised, Certified Humane). There are also
labels which do not rely on certification, such as the 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 enhances
transparency, and there are diverse programs promoting purchase of locally
grown and marketed foods.
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