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The Food System

© Bob Ewing

In previous articles, we explored different foods and began a discussion on key issues such as food security. We will return to food security and sustainability, in future weeks, but this week we begin our look at how food travels from where it is produced to where you eat it. This, simply put, is known as the food system.

However, the journey your dinner takes is anything but simple. Of course, if you grow your own food, you will simplify the process tremendously, because you only have to step out to your garden pick what you need and prepare it. The farther your meal has to travel, the more complex the infrastructure that is needed to make that travel possible.

The food system can be as simple as the grow-your-own example or it can involve hundreds of people, thousands of miles and tons of machinery to move it from where it is grown to your kitchen. For example, industrial agriculture is designed to produce large quantities of a particular product for a vast market. However, there are alternatives. Creative partnerships have emerged which are designed to reduce the cost both economically and environmentally of industrial food production and increase the fresh food supply. How far you have to ship food is a core issue. If you stop and think about it, which is fresher, an apple picked in a local orchard or one picked two thousand miles away, packed in crates, then in a container and loaded unto a truck or train?

Some organizations have developed innovative ways to produce and deliver food. Other organizations have examined rural areas looking for ways to diversify the economic base while remaining eco-friendly. There has been considerable research conducted to increase our knowledge about how food systems can provide a profit for the producer and good, healthy food, at a reasonable cost, for the consumer.

For anyone who is interested in learning more about food production and distribution and their impact on society there are resources which can give them the assistance they need.

Next week, we will examine the dairy industry and what is involved in putting milk in your refridgerator. Until then, be sure to visit some of the other editors here at Suite101.

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