There are many ways food is important to us. It nourishes us, gives us a boost in energy, and is very tasty especially with how much easier it is getting or making food with how much technology has advanced. However, how we get rid of our food and extra waste is also important to discuss about. It currently contributes to a lot of gashouse emissions. Not many people are actively conscious about how production of food actively drains our resources and starts massively affecting the world.

The food industry overall is responsible for 26% of greenhouse gas emissions, which is approximately a quarter of the total emissions caused. Red meat like beef and lamb are the meats that produce the most emissions. Chicken, pork, seafood, or dairy give off less emissions for the environment. It takes a lot to raise cows and lambs in terms of material and resources. As well as how it is transported that contributes to how much emissions are given off overall. Many people waste food by overbuying or not saving up enough of the leftover scraps for other purposes. Fast chain restaurants are also to blame for extra food waste. Some places deliberately destroy the food afterwards so others dumpster diving or trying to donate to other locations at the end of the day, are not able to get anything.

When food chains don’t receive as many customers as they should on a daily basis, the food stored ends up going to waste along with the food spoiling or not having enough space in the freezer for more food. According to a 2018 study by Joseph Poore and Thomas Nemecek, supply chains make up 18% of food emissions. Although it is not the biggest factor compared to livestock and fisheries which make up 31%, crop production takes up 27%, and land usage causes 24% of food emissions. Land usage is mentioned in there due to cattle and crops needing so much land that they have to start destroying natural habitats and it leaves many wild species in need of resources or a home. Food chains is one of 4 major factors which contribute to emissions from the food industry.

The current effects of food industry to the environment consists of taking half of the world’s habitable land, requires energy, both fresh water and ocean water is caused by agriculture, there is a bigger ratio of livestock to wild animals in total. If the food industry and how we view food doesn’t change in the meantime, more and more resources will be in high demand while food is being unnecessarily wasted in places that can afford to not think about where the food really goes to afterwards. This means the carbon footprint of the food industry will continue to soar higher without any action to prevent it. There is a lack of human subconscious.

         According to Kritika Mahadeven, the author of the second source, there are plenty of solutions. Like eating locally—while it is not essentially the most sustainable, less energy is required when you eat locally and doesn’t make more fumes because you don’t use transport for a long amount of time in comparison to deliveries. Using insects as alternative for protein instead of regular meat is also another way—which is common in some nations, reducing food waste by planning what you are going to eat and not recklessly spending money at the groceries, avoiding bottled water creates less energy put into packaging/transport, and also making consumers understand the relevance of eating sustainably + understanding consequence of food related actions). Sustainable consumption is use of goods/services that bring a better qual of life while not using much natural resources, toxic materials, and emissions of waste in order to not put the resources of the future generation in danger. The requirements to fill food security is that all 4 dimensions must be fulfilled simultaneously (availability, access, food system stability, utilization of food). So, it might take a while in order to achieve that goal.

For the third source, four studies were used to assess and acknowledge the needs/gaps regarding support systems for climate change adaptation in Bangladesh, Bolivia, Mbaye, and Ghana. The project in Ghana made resource scarce farmers manage their own production (soils) to increase resistance 2 climate change but does not focus on the social part (marketing, land tenure, and labor) There were 5 big climate risks in Mbaye that worked against the nation (heavy rain, coastal erosion, floods, heat wave, season droughts). “Climate change will have a profound influence on the agro-ecological conditions under which farmers and rural populations need to develop their livelihood strategies, manage their natural resources and achieve food security.“ (p5)

Bangladesh’s ministry of agriculture refuses to cooperate with others that directly help/assist the farmers. Lack of participation in local government is not something that benefits anyone in the long run. And in Bolivia, political rhetoric has changed but their system still is centralized and put in a linear matter. “Moreover, in Bolivia–‘participatory innovation’ seems to be highly grassroots-focused, thus ignoring required institutional and technical innovations at the above local level.” Some countries may face a similar issue to Bolivia’s power struggle and change in politics—which is unpredictable. The author also talks about how changing the roles of climate change adaptation processes would be focusing on the socio-institutional changes along with technology, going from rural areas to space (readapting at other places). Involving more than just the public view (community media, society).

While all these sources seem different, the common goal is to get countries and consumers to work towards a more sustainably sourced food industry. The first source does an overall review and talks about how much resources is required to fulfill a growing population along with discussing other parts of the food industry that create more emissions like fast food chains, fisheries.

The second source goes on to examine how consumers view the sustainability and the reason why it is not common to talk about it. They also list that there is plenty of work while giving us methods that help reduce gashouse emissions from our food consumption. In the future, companies and the government should strive to spread information about things best for our health, including how much food is wasted along with what happens to food that gets thrown away. More information about what happens in these factories would also make citizens more conscious of their choices for food and much more efficient.

The third source gives a good example of what realistically can happen in many countries. 4 countries were studied for the purpose of assessing what was lacking or needed to be enforced, and each one while facing issues in the food industry—have a different reason for how all that food gets destroyed. The four countries are Ghana, Mbaye, Bolivia, and Bangladesh. However, there are organizations that are working to solve these issues. Only flaw is that there is not an organization that is ahead in innovation. There is still other things these organizations need to work on.

While these all sound like they have similar viewpoints, they all focus on different aspects of what could be done. The first source is a very vague article that only shows a large display of information that is easy to absorb. It is great they have a lot of information, but it does not show a solution and only highlights the issues of what is currently happening. You can make an inference based on what we were given but its sole purpose is to make a observation of how the food industry is affecting the world.

The second source does briefly talk about the government as well as parts of history, but it does it in a more passive way. It focuses on way of communication between the government and its citizens. The third source discusses a study from several places and gives us good examples of why communication, when it comes to food, can be poor, whether it is due to corruption or natural occurrences. It is good to put these things into consideration so we can actively look out for those problems, so it does not bring further harm to the country.

         Overall, while these sources expand on different aspects of the food industry, they all make decent assumptions and gives us information that can help us try to prevent an increase in food production in the future.

Sources Cited:

1.      Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser, January 2020, Environmental impacts of food production. Access date: March 5^th. [https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food#:~:text=As%20I%20have%20shown%20before,on%20our%20carbon%20%27footprint]

2.      Kritika Mahadeven, October 2013, Sustainable Food Processing Chapter 22.

Access date: March 7^th  [https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/doi/10.1002/9781118634301.ch22 ]

3.      Facing the Challenges of Climate Change and Food Security: The Role of Research, Extension and Communication for Development. Access date: March 8^th

[https://web-b-ebscohost-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/ZTAwMHhuYV9fNjgyMDk0X19BTg2?sid=8e25124d-57fe-4020-ac22-5ea00e3e2405@sessionmgr102&vid=0&format=EB&lpid=lp_C1-2&rid=0 ]