Sustainability and Food Production

Lesson 1: Introduction

• This lesson introduces sustainability and environmental balances in relation to food production, processing and consumption.
• Students will be able to relate these concepts to their roles in the food system.

Importance of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

• The 17 SDGs are an urgent call for action by developed and developing countries in a global partnership.
• Achieving the SDGs requires strategies that address poverty and deprivation.
• Strategies that improves health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth are also needed.
• Climate change must be tackled and oceans and forests preserved.

Sustainability and Environmental Balance

• Sustainability and environmental balance are key in food production, processing, and consumption.
• Food production should minimize environmental impact and preserve natural resources.
• Water, soil, biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, waste management across the food chain must be considered.
• The quality of being able to continue over a period of time
• Causing little or no damage to the environment means to be able to continue for a long time
• Goods and services should be produced without using resources that cannot be replaced.
• It should not damage the environment.
• Environmental balance is a system of maintenance and sustainability.
• Environmental balance provides the conditions necessary for people and living things to continue their existence and development in accordance with natural structures.

Food and the SDGs

• Food and agriculture are the prime connection between people and the planet.
• Food and agriculture can help achieve multiple SDGs.
• SDG 2 aims to end malnutrition and ensure access to safe and nutritious food by 2030.
• In 2019, 2 billion people lacked regular access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food.
• If trends continue, over 840 million people (9.8% of the global population) will face hunger by 2030.
• Targets 2.4 and 2.5 recognize that the environment is important to achieve zero hunger.
• Need to produce food for an additional 2 billion people by 2030 is imperative.
• It is crucial to preserve and enhance the natural resources required for the well-being of present and future generations.
• Agriculture's unsustainable expansion has caused soil erosion, water pollution from agrochemicals, and greenhouse gas emissions.
• Climate change is causing droughts, landslides, and floods more frequently and intensely, severely affecting food security.
• Environmental considerations are essential to achieving SDG2 targets.
• Only resilient food systems working in harmony with nature can provide the healthy, safe, and reliable food we need and agriculture are also intimately connected to all other SDGs.
• Sustainable agriculture is key to feeding a growing population.
• Sustainable agriculture revitalizes rural landscapes, delivers inclusive growth, and drives positive change throughout the 2030 Agenda.

Triple Planetary Crisis

• Climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss are the three main interlinked issues humanity faces, known as the triple planetary crisis.
• Each issue has its causes and effects.
• Every issue needs resolution to secure a sustainable future.

Climate Change and Food Security

• Climate change threatens global food security and nutrition, impacting agrifood systems globally.
• It puts at risk the current ability to feed and nourish the world population and threatens the livelihoods of over 1 billion people.
• Food production and access to food in vulnerable regions are increasingly pressured.
• Long-term, climate change deeply impacts global food insecurity.
• IPCC indicates that climate change is already stressing agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and aquaculture.
• Climate change hinders efforts to meet global food demand.
• Warming temperatures are changing conditions for plants and insects, affecting food quality and harvest size.
• Climate-related disasters affect food system productivity and food security.
• Climate change's impacts are expected to strengthen as climate change accelerates.
• Some regions might become unsuitable for agriculture.
• Climate change will negatively affect food safety, altering weeds, pests, pathogens, and promoting harmful blooms.
• Worst-case scenarios indicate that climate change could push 80 million people into hunger by 2050.
• Agrifood systems must become more resilient to climate change's impacts, drawing on good adaptation practices.
• The method of food production and consumption contributes to climate change through greenhouse gas emissions.
• Farming, land use, and food supply chains significantly contribute to the world's carbon balance.
• Food systems account for over a third of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the FAO.
• Food production affects health and the environment.
• All steps of food production create gases that contribute to climate change.
• Agriculture and land use contribute most to food-related greenhouse gases.
• Methane from livestock, nitrous oxide from fertilizers, and carbon dioxide from deforestation are examples.
• Other agricultural emissions come from manure management, rice cultivation, and burning crop residues.
• Refrigeration, transport, industrial processes for packaging, and food waste management are smaller contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.
• Animal-based foods have higher greenhouse gas emissions intensity.
• Meat production needs grasslands, created by cutting trees that release carbon dioxide, leading to high emission.
• Cows and sheep emit methane.
• Cattle waste and fertilizers emit nitrous oxide.
• Shrimp farms disturb mangroves, released stored carbon.
• Plant-based foods emit less greenhouse gases.
• Emissions are compared by food, protein, or calories.

Reducing Food-Related Emissions

• Changes at all stages of the food sector are needed to reduce food emissions.
• Shifting towards plant-rich diets reduces greenhouse gasses.
• Alternative proteins, such as plant-based options, insect-based proteins, and cultivated meat, offer promising prospects.
• Sustainable solutions like better feeds and feeding techniques are needed since people depend on animal products.
• Improved feeds reduce methane, and better manure management reduces gas emissions.
• Smaller herd sizes can also help.
• Better agricultural practices will make a contribution.
• Better agricultural practices include better management of rotational grazing to maintain healthy soil to store carbon and the restoration of degraded lands to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Reducing food waste is also key.
• Reducing waste will lead to improvements.
• Roughly 14% of food gets lost between harvest and sales.
• 17% of food goes to waste.

Biodiversity Loss due to Food Systems

• IPBES reports that 1 million species face extinction, with current extinction rates exceeding the past 10 million years.
• Agriculture threatens to 24,000 of the 28,000 (86%) species.
• Food systems following the "cheaper food paradigm," aim for the lowest costs through inputs like fertilizers, leading to lower production costs and higher demand.
• Intensification in turn causes land clearing.
• Intensification of agriculture has allowed to produce more food at a lower cost but contributes to biodiversity loss.
• Monocultures do not promote sustainability.
• Agroecology and plant-heavy diets should be chosen.
• Loss of pollinators create challenges.
• 95% of food relies on soil, but the UN says a third of soil is degraded.
• Soil degradation reduces quality and quantity.
• Degraded soil loses its capacity to support animals and plants by losing chemical and biological qualities.
• Increased agriculture has led to more grassland and forests being converted.
• Agricultural practices upset soil.
• Agriculture causes surface runoff, soil erosion, loss of nutrients, and disrupted cycles.
• When soil degrades, it declines in health, biodiversity, and productivity.

Negative Effects of Modern Agricultural Practices

• Over-grazing and monoculture damage soil.
• EU- funded research shows this is very detrimental
• Disease and pest outbreaks are also frequent.
• Monoculture also does not promote control.
• Large amounts of pesticides and herbicides pollute.
• Use of chemicals reduce worms and birds.
• Growing single crop year after year reduces availability of nutrients, including soil.
• Lost nutrients replaced by fertilizers is expensive.
• Environmental cost, increased mechanization, more fossil fuels, and greenhouse gas emissions happen.
• Modern ag relies on man chemicals like fertilizers, antibiotics and plastics.
• Fishing is a factor too.
• Wildlife can be impacted by pesticides.
• Plastic substances are also used in chemical fertilizers, adding one more layer to the mix of substances that are leaking into the environment.
• The persistent nature of plastic and its toxicity, plastic pollution, a significant threat to biodiversity is known
• The effects can be felt in water and soil,
• Plastic is contaminating soils, thereby impacting soil, biodiversity and productivity.
• Marine impacts, are the most studied.
• Plastic creates chemical leakages
• Fracking creates substantial amounts of toxic substances into the air and contaminate the local environment.
• Micro and nano plastics create a problematic waste product.
• Plastic waste creates toxic chemicals.
• Air and water contamination impacts biodiversity.
• Food waste accounts for 14% of issues.

Food Systems

• Food systems include: production, aggregation, processing, distribution, consumption, and disposal.
• The food system interacts with waste management.
• A structural change might orignate from another system.
• They are composed of sub systems and interact with other key systems.
• Health, environment, economics and more.
• SFS delivers food security and nutrition.
• SFS is profitable.
• SFS has broad benefits for the society.
• SFS has a positive impact.
• Food needs to be condsiderd from all parts of the system.
• Energy is needed.
• Changes can be made to help food production.

Changing Food Systems & Increasing Challenges

• Current trends are causing these issues
• Limited access to markets.
• The footprint of the product goes on.
• More energy and waste.
• Solutions should be made available.
• There are also problems with food distribution.
• The goals of FAO are to: reduce poverty.
• Promote food security.

Sustainable Food - Looking to the Future

• Should look at behaviour of actors and people.
• Consider our social and political systems.
• Food products flow.
• Promote key factors for sustainability.
• Promote farming, seasonal procucts and choices.
• Work towards long therm sustainability.
• It can be examined.
• Can generate 3 dimensions.
• Social, economic and environmental.
• An actor or services should be viable.
• Need to add values to the stakehodlers.
• Food must be of neutral value.
• These should meet proposed measures.
• The targeted impact is positive.