Friday, April 20

Hoch Shanahan uses on an average week:

• 1.9 tons of meat
• 3.6 tons of produce
• 3/4 ton of pasta
• 1100 hamburger buns
• 850 gals of soda
• 234 gals of milk
• 810 gals of juice

Sustainable Foods Facts

Industrial/Conventional Agriculture:

• Crops only absorb 30 to 50% of nitrogen and 45% of phosphorous applied as fertilizer, and the rest runs off to pollute water and other ecosystems
• Only 0.1% of pesticides applied actually reach the target pests
• Long-term exposure to pesticides increases risk of cancer and disruption of the reproductive, immune, endocrine, and nervous systems – an estimated 2 million poisonings and 10,000 deaths per year are caused by pesticides
• 70% of pollution in rivers and streams is caused by current agricultural practices
• The average distance produce had traveled before arriving at the Jessup Terminal Market in Maryland was 1,600 miles for vegetables and 2,400 miles for fruit - environmental externalities add 16.3% to the cost of conventional/global food Alternative Agriculture
• Sustainable methods include crop rotation, cover crops, soil management, biodiversity, nutrient management, integrated pest management, and rotational grazing
• The main reason for eating local food is to cut down on the distance food is transported to avoid the associated energy and pollution costs
• The most commonly cited reasons for eating organic food are food safety, the environment, animal welfare, and taste - organic systems do not use agrochemicals and reduce external inputs- Pimentel et al. showed that organic agriculture improves soil carbon, nitrogen, and beneficial fungi levels and leaches less nitrates than conventional agriculture

Inefficiency of Meat:

• It takes 7 kg of grain to produce 1 kg of beef, 4 kg of grain to produce 1 kg of chicken, 2 kg of grain to produce 1 kg of pork
• Livestock consumes 66% of all U.S. grain

Sources:
Horrigan L, Lawrence RS, Walker P. How sustainable agriculture can address the environmental and human health harms of industrial agriculture. Environmental Health Perspectives 2002 110(5):445-456.
Seyfang G. Ecological citizenship and sustainable consumption: examining local organic food networks. J. of Rural Studies 2006 22:383-395.

Tilman D, Cassman KG, Matson PA, Naylor R, Polasky S. Agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices. Nature 2002 418:671-677.

Pimentel D, Hepperly P, Hanson J, Douds D, Seidel R. Environmental, energetic, and economic comparisons of organic and conventional farming systems. Bioscience 2005 55(7):573-582.