42
and issues impacting access to food; culture and social equity; food preservation,
preparation and homemaking roles; food policies; food waste; and recycling.
With the exception of seafood harvesting and some aquaculture, and emergent
vertical farming (including hydroponics and aquaponics), most contemporary food
production is land-based. Because of the foundation of most contemporary food
production in land-use, including soils and ecosystem functions and decisions
related to them, some scholars prefer land-energy–water integration to food–
energy–water integration. While such an approach does have some benefits from a
food perspective, it can obscure, or de-emphasize non-food aspects of land use and
ecosystems, and all of the non-land aspects of food, as well as aquatic food systems
such as fisheries.
Food production, distribution, and consumption each raise important issues
about where to define the boundaries of food systems and how to address external
factors. A consideration of the global food system requires explicit recognition of
the geochemical cycles of water and nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus and the
operations of transnational food corporations. At smaller scales, considerations lead
toward local flows of water and nutrients and pesticides and labor and farm operator
decisions as inputs and outputs, sometimes resulting in imbalanced conditions. For
example, importation of feed from the Midwestern region of the USA results in a
nutrient imbalance in the Chesapeake Bay.
Food systems studied at various scales are explored in different parts of this
book. Here it suffices to note that boundaries for studies of food systems can include
subparts of larger systems such as the following:
• Individual production facilities (e.g., gardens, greenhouses fields, farms, hydroponic and aquaponic systems);
• Facilities that process or convert raw agricultural products into food products;
• Food processing and manufacturing corporations;
• Storage and stockpiling systems for food including refrigeration;
• Landscape systems encompassing many farms or agricultural communities;
• Crop systems which look a particular crop or set of crops across multiple regions
or nations;
• “Foodsheds” that serve a particular population;
• Both raw agricultural products and food products (because the differences can be
subtle);
• Market and nonmarket economics of trade and exchange of food;
• Restaurants, grocery stores, and food markets;
• Wholesale, warehouse, and retail supply chains for a particular food product or
location;
• National and international government agencies for food policy and regulation;
• National and international producers and consumers civil society organizations, and
• Local, state/provincial, national, and international food policy systems.
Food systems include some significant complications as compared with water
and energy systems. For example, there is an immense variety of food product
P. Saundry and B. L. Ruddell
and issues impacting access to food; culture and social equity; food preservation,
preparation and homemaking roles; food policies; food waste; and recycling.
With the exception of seafood harvesting and some aquaculture, and emergent
vertical farming (including hydroponics and aquaponics), most contemporary food
production is land-based. Because of the foundation of most contemporary food
production in land-use, including soils and ecosystem functions and decisions
related to them, some scholars prefer land-energy–water integration to food–
energy–water integration. While such an approach does have some benefits from a
food perspective, it can obscure, or de-emphasize non-food aspects of land use and
ecosystems, and all of the non-land aspects of food, as well as aquatic food systems
such as fisheries.
Food production, distribution, and consumption each raise important issues
about where to define the boundaries of food systems and how to address external
factors. A consideration of the global food system requires explicit recognition of
the geochemical cycles of water and nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus and the
operations of transnational food corporations. At smaller scales, considerations lead
toward local flows of water and nutrients and pesticides and labor and farm operator
decisions as inputs and outputs, sometimes resulting in imbalanced conditions. For
example, importation of feed from the Midwestern region of the USA results in a
nutrient imbalance in the Chesapeake Bay.
Food systems studied at various scales are explored in different parts of this
book. Here it suffices to note that boundaries for studies of food systems can include
subparts of larger systems such as the following:
• Individual production facilities (e.g., gardens, greenhouses fields, farms, hydroponic and aquaponic systems);
• Facilities that process or convert raw agricultural products into food products;
• Food processing and manufacturing corporations;
• Storage and stockpiling systems for food including refrigeration;
• Landscape systems encompassing many farms or agricultural communities;
• Crop systems which look a particular crop or set of crops across multiple regions
or nations;
• “Foodsheds” that serve a particular population;
• Both raw agricultural products and food products (because the differences can be
subtle);
• Market and nonmarket economics of trade and exchange of food;
• Restaurants, grocery stores, and food markets;
• Wholesale, warehouse, and retail supply chains for a particular food product or
location;
• National and international government agencies for food policy and regulation;
• National and international producers and consumers civil society organizations, and
• Local, state/provincial, national, and international food policy systems.
Food systems include some significant complications as compared with water
and energy systems. For example, there is an immense variety of food product
P. Saundry and B. L. Ruddell