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Re: Farmers'Markets and energy efficiency
Duncan and saneters,
Yes, the energy question in regard to food systems is incredibly complex. I
undertook a rather extensive literature search and review on this subject
two years ago and I wasn't thrilled with what I found. As far as I know,
there are no studies that have compared the energy use of "local" and
"global" food systems. The closest thing is a modeling study done by Jill
Auburn in California which predicted that decentralized distribution of
fresh produce (food produced in a county being consumed in that county)
would save one-fourth the fuel and one-third the cost of centralized
distribution (shipping food to warehouses and then shipping it back to
markets). After giving up on finding other (local vs. global) comparative
studies, I searched for data on relative energy use by food system sector
(production, processing, transportation, restaurants, home preparation,
etc.). Again, I was not thrilled with what I found. What studies have been
conducted regarding energy use in the food system are rather dated, having
been done during the 1970's following the "energy crisis." In my opinion,
knowledge and understanding of food system energy use issue is very poor.
This is extremely unfortunate because the modern, global food system hinges
on a "cheap and efficient" transportation system. Without being able to
move food around as we do, the whole industrial, agro-food complex would
crumble.
As one whose work focuses on regional food system issues (and who routinely
seeks out local produce), I am particularly intrigued by the transportation
issue. However, whatever energy saving might be accrued in this sector by
such things as farmers' markets might be mitigated by other factors. For
example, home food preparation reportedly consumes some 25% of the energy in
the food system. Depending on what your making and how your preparing it,
cooking from scratch at home can be very energy intensive compared to other
options (prepared foods, eating out). Also, lots of small farms
transporting small quantities of produce in small (and many times older,
gas-using) trucks to farmers' markets may very well use more energy than the
huge, diesel semis that haul tons of produce from thousands of miles away.
Who knows? And how far does the average consumer drive to shop at a
farmers' market? I have seen one study that reported that more energy is
used to drive to a supermarket to buy a can of corn than is used in the
production of the corn.
That said, one of the main conclusions I draw from the existing body of
literature on energy and food systems is that there are indeed significant
energy savings that could be realized in regard to transportation. The need
right now is for research to better document and understand how and where
the existing system uses energy resources and examinations of how to make
alternative (and perhaps local) systems more sustainable.
By the way, the literature review mentioned above will be published soon and
will be available in hard copy and on our web site (addresses below).
-John