Food Sustainability Lecture Flashcards

Sustainability Definition:
- Production of food (plants and animal products) using farming techniques that protect:
  - The environment
  - The public
  - Community
  - Animal welfare

Crops:
- Planting with heavy machinery (uses fuel, contributes to climate change).
- Fertilizing using synthetic fertilizers (negative environmental effects).
- Use of herbicides and pesticides (negative effects on environment and potentially on health).
- Watering crops (especially crops for animal feed), which uses a lot of land and water.
- Organic produce avoids synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides.
Harvesting:
- Increasingly done with heavy machinery (uses fuel, contributes to climate change).
Post-Harvest:
- Processing and packaging in factories.
- Distribution (fuel use).
Consumption:
- Food waste.
- Packaging (contributes to waste).
We need to consider more environmentally friendly ways of producing food.

World population is growing.
Climate change necessitates finding ways to produce food with limited environmental impact.
How food is produced, types of food consumed, and food waste impact world's food systems.

Definition: Unreliable access to a sufficient supply of nourishing food.
Leads to malnourishment.
Limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
Consequences:
- Increased infant mortality (especially with food insecurity during pregnancy).
- Low birth weight in infants.
- Decreased life expectancy.
- Connection between poverty, food insecurity, and obesity.
At-Risk Groups:
- Those living in developing countries.
- Those living below the poverty level.
- Single-parent families.
- Those in rural areas with limited access to grocery stores.
- Those with chronic disease or disability (healthcare costs).
- Elderly with lack of income.
- Those addicted to drugs or alcohol.
Millions in the US experience food insecurity.
Food-secure households always have access to food and nourishing food.

Existing Programs: SNAP, WIC, school lunch and breakfast programs.
Other Programs:
- Healthy corner store initiatives (stocking produce).
- Calling for more grocery stores in underserved areas.
- Mobile food trucks (accept SNAP).
- Improved transportation access to grocery stores.
- Urban and community gardens.

Began after World War II to increase food production.
Led to the development of:
- Synthetic fertilizers.
- Pesticides.
- Powerful farming equipment.
Boosted food production at a cost
Change in how animals were raised and increased reliance on fast food and processed food.
High production at a low cost.

Pesticides: Chemicals to control pests.
Synthetic Fertilizers: Add nutrients back into the soil, depleted by growing the same crop repeatedly.
Powerful Machines: Used for planting, harvesting, and spreading fertilizers and pesticides.
Large Farms:
- Destruction of forests for land.
- Monoculture (growing the same crop over and over).
Bioengineered Foods:
- Genetically modified foods (e.g., corn modified to produce a toxin to kill pests).

Deforestation and overgrazing.
Cash crops are grown instead of food crops, sometimes with subsidies.
Land is used to grow food for livestock.
Depletion of topsoil.
Pesticides and fertilizers pollute soil and water.
Animal waste issues.
Depletion of groundwater for irrigation.
Resistant species of insects develop.
Increased greenhouse gases from mechanized production and methane from animal waste.

Financial incentives in the 1960s farm bill led to increased production of corn, soybean, wheat, and rice.
Decline of small farms.
Reduced diversity of foods, fruits and vegetables grown in the US.
Much of corn produced for high fructose corn syrup used in processed foods.

Protect against crop losses.
Reduce incidence of disease.
Improve yield.
Types: Insecticides, herbicides, fungicides (natural or synthetic).
Synthetic pesticides are made from petroleum based products that can negatively impact the environment.
EPA regulates the use of pesticides.

Buy and consume organic fruits and vegetables.
Wash and scrub fresh fruits and vegetables.
Remove and discard outer leaves or skin.
Eat a variety of foods from various sources to limit specific pesticide exposure.

Growth hormones given to animals to help them grow fast.
- Increases muscle mass and milk production.
- One third of US dairy cows receive growth hormone, risks are still being studied.
- Organic milk cannot have growth hormones.
Antibiotics routinely given to animals raised for food production to reduce disease outbreaks.
If we eat that chicken or beef, and we're consuming these antibiotics, what effect does it have on us?

Food industry lobbyists spend millions each year (livestock, dairy, sugar, and alcohol).
Influence voters and block proposals (e.g., taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages).
Lobbying efforts promote foods that we are encouraged to eat less of.