273
Solid Waste—Landfill” (FC: 5568041). On the customer side, spoiled and unused
food items along with discarded packaging are sent to landfills (FC: 5568041) and
recycled (Municipal Solid Waste—Recycling FC: 5568041). In addition, wastewater is generated by consumption of the food items (FC: 3331999).
The meat supply chain starts with livestock like cows, pigs, and chickens, which
are brought by truck and rail to facilities that slaughter and pack the meat. Livestock
are the main input, and processed meat products are the secondary food source output. These facilities may resemble modern factories, or may be traditional butcher
shops. If a butcher shop, this facility combines production, transportation, storage,
and distribution in one operation. Water and electricity are used in these facilities.
Seafood may or may not be considered “meat” depending on the culture and industry language, but seafood processes are similar. The traditional supply of live animals is through grazing and foraging in grasslands or by catching wild fish. The
industrial feedlot system utilizes bulk grains like corn, and also hay, as the major
inputs rather than relying on wild food sources for the animals. The majority of bulk
grains go to feed livestock.
Packaged meat is transported by refrigerated truck from the packing facility
across public roadways to logistical warehouses, and then distributed to groceries
and restaurants. Packaged meat is produced in large quantities for mass international export by a limited number of global regions, and many countries import
meat products from those major regions. Those meat exporting regions tend to coincide with large surpluses of bulk grain production. Packaged meat is stored using
commercial refrigeration at various points along the transportation chain, including
at the packing facility and at the warehouse. Meat has a short shelf life measured in
days to months (refrigerated) depending on the product, so refrigeration is an essential modern technology. Refrigeration requires large amounts of electricity and is
moderately expensive. One of the most important roles of animals in the food supply chain is as storage of calories. Field crops are seasonal, but animals can be kept
alive until needed and then slaughtered. As a result, one of the key storage reservoirs
in the food system is in livestock, before the animals enter the meat infrastructure.
A major trigger of famine in developing countries is that livestock can die en masse
from drought or lack of feed, and this suddenly eliminates a major stored supply of
food that is normally available.
Bulk grain agricultural products are foundational to the modern civilization’s
food supply chain. Bulk grain production e.g., for corn, soybean, or wheat, is an
industrial scale process involving significant capital placed in improvements and
maintenance and cultivation of entire regions and large fractions of the Earth’s
surface. The most suitable land for grain production is well-drained but flat, with rich
organic soil and moderate temperatures and abundant rainfall during the growing
season. The US–Canadian Great Plains are arguably the most advantaged major
rain-fed grain-producing region in the world, but southern Brazil, parts of Australia,
parts of southern Africa, and much of Europe are also excellent grain regions.
Industrial grain production requires many industrial inputs. Fertilizer is used to
maintain soil phosphorous and nitrogen, and this fertilizer is an energy-intensive or
mined product shipped from regional and global sources. Herbicides and pesticides
10 Infrastructure
Solid Waste—Landfill” (FC: 5568041). On the customer side, spoiled and unused
food items along with discarded packaging are sent to landfills (FC: 5568041) and
recycled (Municipal Solid Waste—Recycling FC: 5568041). In addition, wastewater is generated by consumption of the food items (FC: 3331999).
The meat supply chain starts with livestock like cows, pigs, and chickens, which
are brought by truck and rail to facilities that slaughter and pack the meat. Livestock
are the main input, and processed meat products are the secondary food source output. These facilities may resemble modern factories, or may be traditional butcher
shops. If a butcher shop, this facility combines production, transportation, storage,
and distribution in one operation. Water and electricity are used in these facilities.
Seafood may or may not be considered “meat” depending on the culture and industry language, but seafood processes are similar. The traditional supply of live animals is through grazing and foraging in grasslands or by catching wild fish. The
industrial feedlot system utilizes bulk grains like corn, and also hay, as the major
inputs rather than relying on wild food sources for the animals. The majority of bulk
grains go to feed livestock.
Packaged meat is transported by refrigerated truck from the packing facility
across public roadways to logistical warehouses, and then distributed to groceries
and restaurants. Packaged meat is produced in large quantities for mass international export by a limited number of global regions, and many countries import
meat products from those major regions. Those meat exporting regions tend to coincide with large surpluses of bulk grain production. Packaged meat is stored using
commercial refrigeration at various points along the transportation chain, including
at the packing facility and at the warehouse. Meat has a short shelf life measured in
days to months (refrigerated) depending on the product, so refrigeration is an essential modern technology. Refrigeration requires large amounts of electricity and is
moderately expensive. One of the most important roles of animals in the food supply chain is as storage of calories. Field crops are seasonal, but animals can be kept
alive until needed and then slaughtered. As a result, one of the key storage reservoirs
in the food system is in livestock, before the animals enter the meat infrastructure.
A major trigger of famine in developing countries is that livestock can die en masse
from drought or lack of feed, and this suddenly eliminates a major stored supply of
food that is normally available.
Bulk grain agricultural products are foundational to the modern civilization’s
food supply chain. Bulk grain production e.g., for corn, soybean, or wheat, is an
industrial scale process involving significant capital placed in improvements and
maintenance and cultivation of entire regions and large fractions of the Earth’s
surface. The most suitable land for grain production is well-drained but flat, with rich
organic soil and moderate temperatures and abundant rainfall during the growing
season. The US–Canadian Great Plains are arguably the most advantaged major
rain-fed grain-producing region in the world, but southern Brazil, parts of Australia,
parts of southern Africa, and much of Europe are also excellent grain regions.
Industrial grain production requires many industrial inputs. Fertilizer is used to
maintain soil phosphorous and nitrogen, and this fertilizer is an energy-intensive or
mined product shipped from regional and global sources. Herbicides and pesticides
10 Infrastructure