1 / 17

CLIMATE CHANGE & AGRICULTURE

CLIMATE CHANGE & AGRICULTURE. ‘Modern agriculture has become the art of turning oil into food.’ -B. Clark & R. York (2008:13). “…I want to highlight the fact that among options for mitigating climate change, changing diets is something one should consider." -Rajendra Pachauri, IPCC head.

rupali
Download Presentation

CLIMATE CHANGE & AGRICULTURE

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. CLIMATE CHANGE & AGRICULTURE • ‘Modern agriculture has become the art of turning oil into food.’ • -B. Clark & R. York (2008:13) • “…I want to highlight the fact that among options for mitigating climate change, changing diets is something one should consider." • -Rajendra Pachauri, IPCC head

  2. The ‘Meatification’ of Human Diets 44% increase by 2030 (FAO proj.) UNEVENNESS • ‘Developed World’: 80 kg/person • ‘Developing World’: ~30 kg/person

  3. Farm animal vs. human population • -late 19th C – global chicken population ~100,000,000 • -today: chickens killed annually ~50,000,000,000 • -in the US, more chickens killed in 1 day today than were killed all year in 1930 Source: FAO

  4. Mechanization But… ‘Nature doesn’t know monocultures’ Simplification & Standardization

  5. Mechanization agro-ecosystems: relatively closed-loop cycles of nutrients and energy and managed diversity Simplification & Standardization ‘Soil Mining’ Fertilizer esp. Nitrogen, Potassium, & Phosphorous

  6. Mechanization agro-ecosystems: relatively closed-loop cycles of nutrients and energy and managed diversity ‘Enhanced Seeds’ Simplification & Standardization ‘Soil Mining’ Increased vulnerability to weeds, insects disease… Fertilizer esp. Nitrogen, Potassium, & Phosphorous Agro-Chemicals Herbicides, Insecticides Fungicides, Disinfectants

  7. Mechanization agro-ecosystems: relatively closed-loop cycles of nutrients and energy and managed diversity ‘Enhanced Seeds’ Simplification & Standardization ‘Soil Mining’ Increased vulnerability to weeds, insects disease… Fertilizer esp. Nitrogen, Potassium, & Phosphorous Agro-Chemicals Herbicides, Insecticides Fungicides, Disinfectants disarticulation of livestock from landscape Animal- Pharma

  8. Mechanization agro-ecosystems: relatively closed-loop cycles of nutrients and energy and managed diversity ‘Enhanced Seeds’ Simplification & Standardization ‘Soil Mining’ Increased vulnerability to weeds, insects disease… Distance & Durability of Food Fertilizer esp. Nitrogen, Potassium, & Phosphorous Agro-Chemicals Herbicides, Insecticides Fungicides, Disinfectants disarticulation of livestock from landscape ‘Food miles’ Animal- Pharma

  9. Agriculture as through-flow, industrial process Mechanization agro-ecosystems: relatively closed-loop cycles of nutrients and energy and managed diversity ‘Enhanced Seeds’ Simplification & Standardization ‘Soil Mining’ Increased vulnerability to pests, weeds, disease… Distance & Durability of Food biophysical overrides hinge on FOSSIL ENERGY & DERIVATIVES Fertilizer esp. Nitrogen, Potassium, & Phosphorous Agro-Chemicals Herbicides, Insecticides Fungicides, Disinfectants disarticulation of livestock from landscape ‘Food miles’ Animal- Pharma ‘Treadmill effect’ INPUTS OUTPUTS

  10. Agriculture as through-flow, industrial process water consumption Mechanization agro-ecosystems: relatively closed-loop cycles of nutrients and energy and managed diversity C02 emissions ‘Enhanced Seeds’ C02 emissions Simplification & Standardization ‘Soil Mining’ Increased vulnerability to pests, weeds, disease… Distance & Durability of Food persistent toxicity Fertilizer esp. Nitrogen, Potassium, & Phosphorous Agro-Chemicals Herbicides, Insecticides Fungicides, Disinfectants disarticulation of livestock from landscape water pollution ‘Food miles’ C02 emissions C02 + CH4 emissions Animal- Pharma water pollution WASTES ‘Treadmill effect’ water pollution violence INPUTS OUTPUTS

  11. grain-fed livestock: “reverse protein factories”(Lappe) 16:1 5:1 3:1

  12. protein, carbohydrates, minerals, etc. lost in cycling feed through livestock • = as livestock production expands,extra land space needed for agriculture Our ‘Ecological Hoofprint’

  13. Shun meat, says UN climate chief BBC News (Sept. 8, 2008) • “…I want to highlight the fact that among options for mitigating climate change, changing diets is something one should consider." • -Rajendra Pachauri, IPCC head LIVESTOCK Prod’n =18% of anthropogenic GHG - clearing forested land (biggest) - fertilizer (prod’n + transport) - farm vehicles - ruminant flatulence

  14. Animal Welfare Movement Animal Rights – Veganism Farmworker Unions struggles to get back to the land community resistance to factory farming Fair Trade Fragments, or the cusp of bigger changes…? progressive farmer organizations (e.g. NFU, NFFC) Food Miles Soaring Organic Demand community gardening & permaculture movement Community Share Agriculture (CSAs) Civil disobedience… GMO crop-burners Guerrilla Gardening rising concern about climate change

  15. Farmworker Unions and Mobilizing ‘Illegals’ Animal Rights – Veganism Animal Welfare Movement struggles to get back to the land community resistance to factory farming challenge: widen & connect! Fair Trade progressive farmer organizations (e.g. NFU, NFFC) community gardening & permaculture movement Soaring Organic Demand Food Miles Community Share Agriculture (CSAs) Civil disobedience… GMO crop-burners Guerrilla Gardening rising concern about climate change

  16. the ‘intimate commodity’ “To ask the biggest questions, we can start with the most personal – what do we eat?” • Frances Moore Lappe

More Related