Global food system Flashcards
(26 cards)
Give an overview of the Globalisation of the Food System
- Driven by migration, trade, and empire expansion
- Crops moved from native origins to new regions
- Trade linked producers and consumers globally
- Resulted in vast food choices for Western consumer
Distinct agricultural systems arose in multiple regions around the world.
- When did this happen?
- Give some examples and key features of regions.
- Around 12,000 years ago
- East Asia: Rice and millet cultivation, wet-rice farming
- West Africa: Yams, millet, sorghum farming
- Mesoamerica: Maize (corn), beans, squash cultivation
- Andes: Potato and quinoa farming, terrace agriculture
Describe some of the grain crops in the Middle Eastern Fertile Crescent (12,000 yrs ago)
- Emmer wheat - staple grain
- Barley - vertitle ceral
- Flax - seeds and fibers (linen)
- Chickpea - protein rich
- Lentil - early pulse, protein rich
- Pea - food but also enrich soil through nitrogen fixation
Describe some of the vegetable crops in New Guinea from 10,000 yrs ago
- Sugar cane - sweetener and energy
- Yams - staple
- Sago palm - source of starch extracted from palm pith
- Taro - root crop
- Karuka - nut bearing tree, protein
- Banana - diet variety
How does archaeology show ancient long-distance crop movement? Give an example.
- People moved crops and products thousands of years ago
- Example: Wheat, domesticated in the Fertile Crescent ~12,000 years ago
- Wheat reached China >4,000 years ago
- Movement happened along early trade routes like the Silk Road linking West and East Asia
How did Islamic empires influence the movement of crops and agricultural trade?
- Islamic empires (650–1258 AD) supported extensive trade networks
- Facilitated the movement of crops from Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia into Europe
Key crops introduced:
- Sugarcane
- Sorghum
- Citrus fruits
- Bananas
- Aubergine (eggplant)
- Watermelon
How did European colonisation affect the movement of crops across continents?
- European colonisation of the Americas (from late 1400s) triggered global crop exchange
- Sugarcane (originally domesticated in New Guinea) plantations established in Americas
- Sugarcane became central to the Atlantic slave trade triangle
Key crops taken from Americas to Africa by 1500s:
- Maize (corn)
- Cassava
- Peanut
- Sweet potato
- Potato
‘Columbian Exchange’
What determines whether introduced crops are adopted by societies?
- Fits existing agricultural & cultural practices → easier adoption
- Similar native crops help (e.g., root veggies)
- Example: Sweet potato from Mesoamerica to Philippines (16th C.) → rapid adoption due to existing taro, yam cultivation
- Amano et al. 2020, The Holocene
What characterised early long-distance trade and why?
- Focused on high-value luxury goods
- Asian spices traded to Arab & European elites (1000 BCE – 1500 CE)
- Spices included cinnamon, pepper, clove, nutmeg, mace
- Difficult and expensive to obtain → symbols of high status
How did global trade of crop products change from 1500–1900 CE?
- Crop products became cheaper over time
- Increased trade in spices & intoxicants: sugar, cacao, tobacco, coffee, tea, opium
- Driven by new trade routes and improved ship technology
- Colonial production often relied on slave labor
What factors made crop products cheaper and trade more globalized in the 20th century?
- Trade liberalisation accelerated globalisation
- Tariff reductions since 1940s promoted international trade
- Major trade expansion 1970–1990
- Example: NAFTA (1994) boosted trade among Mexico, USA, Canada
- Focus on countries producing what they do best → optimizes global food production
How does regional diversification of crop production relate to global homogenisation?
- International markets increase crop diversity within regions
- But globalisation causes regions to grow more similar crop types
- Result: regional diversification coexists with global homogenisation of crops
Describe the limited diversity in the current global human diet
- 7,000 edible plant species exist worldwide → 90% of global plant calories come from just 15 species
- 60% of calories from rice, wheat, sugar, and maize
- Of 15,000 bird & mammal species, 76% of animal protein comes from milk, eggs, chicken, pork, beef
Why is crop diversity important for food stability?
- Crop diversity buffers national yields against climate variation (Renard & Tilman, 2019)
- Regression analysis shows crop diversity & irrigation stabilize yields year-to-year
- More diverse cropping systems improve resilience to climate fluctuations
What are the risks of low crop diversity?
- Reduced resilience to climate extremes
- Higher vulnerability to pests and diseases
- Limited access to essential micronutrients
What is the land footprint embodied in international trade?
- Over 50% of EU’s cropland, grazing, and forest land consumption occurs abroad
- EU relies on global cropland through trade to meet food demands
Examples of cropland used for EU consumption:
- 23% of Argentina’s cropland
- 20% of Brazil’s cropland
- 6% each of China’s & SE Asia’s cropland
- 5% each of Africa’s & US cropland
How has food production and consumption globalized over time?
- Long history of crop migration & trade, increasing recently
- Modern regions grow more diverse crops but global crop types homogenise
- International trade shifts land use & environmental impacts to producer countries
- Similar to ‘export’ of CO₂ emissions
What are the effects of industrialisation on agricultural production?
- Reduced labour needed, increased productivity
- Use of mechanisation and synthetic chemicals
- Agriculture became less important as an employer
- Agricultural output shrank as a share of economy but grew in absolute terms
What was the Green Revolution and its impact on crop production?
- Late 20th century boost in production of key crops
- Publicly funded breeding of high-yield, locally adapted wheat, rice, maize
- Widely adopted across Asia and the Americas
- Improvements for other major crops (e.g., cassava) came later, less successful due to limited scientific base
Key points about modern meat production due to industrialisation
- Animals often confined in high concentrations
- Fed crop-based diets for efficiency
- Relatively efficient in terms of GHG emissions per unit produced
- Challenges: animal welfare, high water use, pollution, antibiotic use
How has productivity increased in agriculture and livestock?
- Crops: mechanisation, chemical inputs, modern varieties → higher yields, more output per labor unit
- Livestock: concentrated animal operations similarly boost productivity
What is the Planetary Health Diet (PHD) and its main goals?
- Proposed by EAT-Lancet Commission (2019)
- Aim: improve health and environmental sustainability
- Increase plant-based food consumption by 50%
- Reduce red meat and sugar consumption by 50%
What are the challenges and policy recommendations for adopting the Planetary Health Diet?
Challenges:
- Reliance on animal-based foods in some regions (e.g., Kenya)
- Economic barriers: unaffordable for ~1.58 billion people
- Soil fertility depletion requires sustainable agriculture
- Behavioral & cultural factors affect diet changes
Policy recommendations:
- Economic incentives (taxes, subsidies)
- Region-specific, culturally sensitive solutions
- Promote indigenous crops and local food production
What does the EAT–Lancet Commission (2019) say about food in the Anthropocene?
- Current food system drives climate change, biodiversity loss, poor health
- Transition to Planetary Health Diet (PHD) can prevent ~11 million premature deaths/year
- Helps maintain planetary boundaries (freshwater, nitrogen)
- Reduce meat & dairy in high-income countries
- Improve nutritious food access in low-income regions
- Shift to plant-based, nutrient-dense diets
- Promote sustainable farming, reduce resource waste
