Is Local Food the Answer?
Laura Schaefli
GPHY 101 www.thewriteingredients.com www.gofatherhood.com
Threats to Food Security
• Food safety
• Exportation
• Oil dependency
• Industrialized farming
• Climate change
Sustainable Consumption
Environmental
Health
Social Equity and Human
Health
Economic
Vitality
United Nations Environment Program (modified)
Where Canadian Crops Go
Kissinger and Rees 2009
Canadian Percent Land Use for Food
Exports as a share of total Canadian production
(Kissinger and Rees 2009)
Statistics Canada 2006
What do we mean by ‘local’?
Reductions in Transport Emissions o Not many studies in Canada compare
international and local food transport oThough most existing
studies agree that shifting consumption to locally based foods would reduce transport emissions (Lynch et al. 2011)
o The problem: agricultural production is not uniform in Canada
Is Transportation Really the Problem?
o International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): production is the most energy-intensive part of agriculture o Elimination of natural biodiversity o Genetic monoculture
o High fertilizer and pesticide use www.conservation-issues.co.uk Confused flour beetle
Monoculture: Cavendish bananas
Aphids www.culinate.com The Environmental Impacts of Fertilizer
www.wri.org
The Environmental Impacts of Pesticides o Certain widely used pesticides are known to cause neurological and developmental damage in fish
(Environment Canada 2011) o Pesticides are also suspected of contributing to massive bee declines (colony collapse disorder)
o Some science links pesticides with human health problems too e.g. Cessna et al. 2005
www.rentokil.com
The Problem of Scale: Alternative
Methods of Production and Harvest o Large scale production and economies of scale o Perhaps need a different relationship with the land: o Organic pest controls o Crop rotation