From pasture to plate
This graphic story shows how some of the most popular foodstuffs in the U.S. are made, with an emphasis on how fossil fuels enter into the production chain. The amount of fossil-fuel energy used to make a steak, potato, soda and an organic salad may surprise you.
Sources: Michael Pollan, David Pimentel (Cornell University), Idaho Potato Commission, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, United States Department of Agriculture, University of California at Berkeley Center for Weight and Health, University of California at Davis Agricultural Sustainability Institute, University of Michigan Center for Sustainable Systems.
Design by Melissa Moser. Graphics by Ashley Zammitt.
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Comments (14)
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cynical debergerac
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... Any way to change this? Is it possible to feed millions and millions and millions of people without these automated processes? Is there a viable alternative to fossil fuels to run the entire food processing industry? No? Then shut up unless you have a solution. Cry me a friggin river. |
Ninette Jones
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Grass Fed There is still not enough land mass to feed everybody grass fed Beef--It takes two acres to raise a steer and a lot of water to produce one pound of beef. There is a campaign to kill all the critters that compete with cows for grass--they kill the wild pig, and the wild horse and anything else that will take the grass out of a poor cow’s mouth. The meat industry is still the number one cause of degradation to the planet-- it far surpasses fossil fuels--so whether you eat grass fed cow or corn fed cow that cow still produced up to eighty pounds of waste a day-- per cow--and its carcass will still rot in your colon--so how can you justify grass fed as an alternative--the only alternative is to go vegan--then you can really make a huge difference for the planet and for your health. |
Walter
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Response to cynical debergerac I am a sustainable micro-farmer and I grew enough food last year on one acre (measured in calories) to feed 2 other people besides myself and with extremely low carbon inputs and human labor (my carbon input was gas for my tillers). The ratio was 1:2 - one calorie produced two calories. This year I should double that and produce enough food for 5 people besides myself on 2 acres with a calorie input/output ratio of 1:4. Since the industrial ag ratio is 10:1, I was already 20 times more efficient last year and this year I hope to achieve a level 40 times more efficient. I agree with you that people should put up or shut up. I am doing just that. |
candy
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... Walter is right on! My spouse and I have 12 raised beds for vegetable and fruit gardening on our city lot. We buy no vegetables in the winter. Food, not lawns. |
Gordon South
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Health professional; Its time to quit being cynical about real problems and see there are real solutions. The facts are that we cannot sustain the current system of food production to feed the world, or even our own country. It incredibly inefficient and dangerous that we depend on an oil based system of food production. Its alarming that we depend on food reserves that could last us about a year in times of severe drought. California is a good example of overdependency on an inefficient food supply chain, as we see thier decreased yields have placed major stress on thier economy. We need local, sustainable solutions. |
Jewel
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Response to Walter Congratulations on your achievement in "feeding" yourself and 2 other people, and on your objectives of doing much better. The target that seems more important to me is in fact how menay people you can feed in addition to yourself rather than the energy ratio involved. Our current practices seem to allow a ratio of no more than 1 to 100 based on the percentage of the population involved in food production. And it may be much lower since a lot of food stuff is exported from the United States. Within the last 3 weeks I drove accross Ohio and Indiana on blue highways. The landscape is dominated by very large fields of corn and soy beans. Almost all of that goes to feeding people either directly or indirectly through the system we call "industrial ag". I am unable to envision how a transformation based on your "sustainable micro-farming" can replace the function of all of (or even a significant fraction of) the current "industrial-ag" which is producing foodstocks accross hundreds of thousands of acres of thinly populated rich farm lands from the Appalachins to the Rockies, not to mention California's central valley. I am sincere in my congratulations to you on your accomoplishments as I spent my pre-college years on a "truck-farm" on which was grown vegetables, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, etc. and memories of the effort required are still bright after many decades. Can you tell us how to replace the food stocks that "industrial ag" now gives us including time lines and redistribution of producer population if that is required. |
Julie
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Response to Ninette I agree that the ecological footprint of the beef industry far outweighs the nutritional benefits of beef consumption, but one of your arguments is flawed.... "Wild" pigs and "wild" horses are actually feral animals - animals that have reverted from the domesticated state to a stable condition more or less resembling the wild - and are no more natural components of the landscape than cattle. These animals often outcompete native species and wreak havoc on the functionality of the ecosystems they invade. Lesson: know your facts before you persecute the management of "wild" animals. |
Georgia Mountain Lady
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... Ah, shades of Soylent Green. I'm all for Organic, but never for Vegan. With degrees in Biology and Chemistry, 35 years in the Medical profession, I fully believe that Man is an omnivore and as such, needs meat protein. Granted we eat way too much of it, but though I am willing to cut back, there's NO CHANCE I'll quit. Yep, I'm going to raise a calf a year on my back acre along with the chickens and veggies. Do I believe there's going to be catastrophic population reduction in the next 10 -20 years? Sure do, we all know rats start killing each other in over populated situations. It's broke and Mother Nature will fix it. |
Veg boy
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35 years in the medical profession means... You could have been an expert in phrenology. Time served doesn't mean knowledge -- although it can easily mean indoctrination. Did you spend that entire time conducting case studies on human protein consumption, or are you parroting back the gospel of the medical establishment? Significant, scientifically backed arguments are made on both sides of the protein issue. Sure, lots of that science is backed by big ag in one way or another, but there is enough out there to say that the issue is cloudy. Billions (did i say billions? yes I did) of people live without "meat-protein" all over the world. Mother nature hasn't struck them down to them as a problem. Yes, human beings are capable of eating and deriving nutrition from animals. That is a far cry from saying we absolutely have to or need to. I choose to be vegan because I feel healthier than I did as an omni, and because I think it is morally and socially irresponsible to eat animal products. I don't expect others to share my views -- even if I'd like them to -- and I certainly won't think adding a graduate degrees to my opinion makes a definitive source. We live in an information age that consistently seems to overturn the previous generations base level assumptions on what is scientific "fact." I do think people should think about what they eat, where it comes from, and how that affects their lives and world. Lots won't care (and that sucks, IMHO) but sites like this one allow people to see the debate from both sides and make their own minds up. And that is great. |
Mike Cee
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Check out the movie Food Inc. In fact, cows are being fed corn more than they are grass these days for a number of reasons, which has a number of consequences associated that aren't so positive. Water and fuels are being consumed at a large rate to bring all these foods (and clothes and other items) to our fingertips. To change this, govt has to make major policy changes and release incentives, otherwise companies will always seek the quickest way to a fatter bottom line and won't care about all of the "hidden" expenses. |
Stella Jane
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WHY does everyone use the MOST INEFFECIENT animal possible? Look at these 29 TRUE FACTS ABOUT RABBITS: http://www.ardengrabbit.com/facts.html Lots of GRAPHS doing comparison of all meats....FACTS with USDA links, not religious opinions about who should / should not eat this or that! Basically, rabbits do not eat CORN at all, and other foods such as timothy hay and oats will produce SIX POUNDS of RABBIT MEAT for every ONE POUND of Cow Meat. AND no antibiotics needed or used EVER....Highest source of ZINC, lower fat and cholesterol than CHICKEN! AND the rabbit poopies are conveniently small round and immediately useful in gardens with absolutely no processing, tho you can make manure tea, just don't drown the microorganisms --overnight soaking is good. Please everyone, realize that it's the USA habits that need to change. Not a mountain living goat raiser. STOP GENERALIZING and be scientists about it all. Peace and planting....it's what we need! (see you tube song "PEACE AND PLANTING, a Mother's Prayer) Stella Jane |
liz
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... I see the myth of scarcity is still alive and thriving. If most Americans who have lawns replaced just 20-30% of that space with a garden, then got out and put their ample behinds to work in them, we could easily feed ourselves without "Big Ag". The reason this doesn't happen is because a) Americans have become disgustingly lazy, b) most people are disconnected from their relationship to the land and where their food comes from, and c) big corporations own our food "system." Many of the foods we eat in huge amounts are also major allergens, like corn and corn products, wheat, and the hormones and additives in meats and processed foods. Diversity of foods and a largely organic, vegetarian diet are the way to go, both for our health and the environment. |
Melinda
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Makes the case for going local whenever possible There certainly is no way we can avoid fossil fuel consumption in the processing of the American diet...or any diet for that matter. Community gardens can only produce food in the warmer months in northern climates so what's a vegan to do? |
Stacey
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... Melinda, it is very difficult to grow all of your food in northern climates. In winter, I grow herbs in pots near a sunny window, and I also grow sprouts. I am also trying out growing a few leafy greens this fall/winter like kale that are supposed to survive and even taste better after a frost. It's far from a complete solution, but it's a small thing most people can do no matter where they live. |
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